Tifton Superior Court Judge William Jesse Forehand, 84, of Tifton passed away Monday, September 23, 2002, at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta of natural causes. His funeral service was held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, September 27, 2002, in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton's First Baptist Church with the Rev. Dr. Wayne Roe and the Rev. Dr. W. Ches Smith, III officiating. Judge Forehand was laid to rest at Oak Ridge Cemetery.
Bob Reinhardt, Emory Walters, Henry Bostick, Sandy Sims, Jerry Kunes, Glenn Whitley, Murphy Rogers, Harry Mixon and Norman Crowe, Jr. serve as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers were the members of the Tifton Judicial Circuit Bar Association, Superior Court Judges of the Second Judicial District, members of the Goodwill Sunday School Class of Tifton's First Baptist Church and Senior Golfers of Springhill County Club.
Born August 27, 1918, in Atlanta, Judge Forehand was the son of the late William Clyde Forehand and Ethel Morse Forehand. He retired as a Superior Court Judge; and he was a member of Tifton's First Baptist Church.\
Judge Forehand was a 1935 graduate of the Georgia Military College and a 1939 graduate of the University of Georgia, where he was a member of Alph Tau Omega, and a 1947 graduate of Atlanta Law School, LLB. He was a newspaperman in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida.
A First Lieutenant in the United States Air Ford, Judge Forehand served as a navigator during World War II. He earned an air medal and seven battle stars.
Judge Forehand became the Solicitor-General for the Tifton Judicial Circuit and retired from Tifton Superior Court in 1996. He was a member of the Tifton County Club, the VFW, an honorary member of the Tifton Rotary Club, and the Seniors Golfing Association.
In October 1992, Chief Judge Forehand of the Tifton Judicial Circuit sat with the members of the Supreme Court of Georgia to listen to oral arguments. The Georgia Constitution allows the Georgia Supreme Court to designate a judge to join them whenever any of the seven justices is disqualified or absent. He also had the rare opportunity to present a case before the United States Supreme Court.
Judge Forehand is survived by his wife, the former Carolyn Marie Stone of Tifton; two daughters and one son-in-law, Blanche Emila Forehand of Augusta and Susan Marie and Benjamin Dover of Marietta; three sisters and one brother-in-law, Sarah F. and Wallace Matthews of Satellite Beach, Florida, Florence Forehand Hill of Winder and Marynelle Forehand Dixon of Hull; one grandchild, William J. Echols of Birmingham, Alabama; and four step-grandchildren, Patrick Dover, Adam Dover, Eric Dover and Courtney Dover.