[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 10 (Thursday, January 12, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E23]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





             HONORING THE LIFE OF ROWLAND HILL GEDDIE, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TRENT KELLY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 12, 2023

  Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 
life of Rowland Hill Geddie, Jr. Rowland attended the University of 
Alabama, graduating with a degree in business in 1954. While there, he 
met and married Mary Martha McGaughy in 1953. Together they had four 
children; Rowland Hill Geddie, III (Peggy), Ginger Geddie Roark 
(Steve), Martha Leanne Geddie Ward (Darrell), and Norton Brown McGaughy 
Geddie (Tammy).
  From 1954 to 1956, he served in the U.S. Army at Fort Lee in Virginia 
and Fort McPherson in Atlanta as a Lieutenant. After his military 
service, he began a civilian career. He moved back to Martha's hometown 
of Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1957 after a stint of working at Rich's 
Department Store in Atlanta. While in Tupelo, Rowland ran her family's 
store, McGaughy's, until 1976, when he closed the store as well as its 
affiliated businesses and then began attending the University of 
Mississippi School of Law. In 1978, he graduated with a Juris Doctorate 
in the same class as his son, Rowland H. Geddie, III. Rowland began his 
law career as a solo practitioner, working cases of various types and 
developing a focus in criminal defense.
  In 1981, he found his true calling when he began working with the 
Office of the District Attorney for the First District of Mississippi, 
serving under District Attorney Johnny Young. He prosecuted thousands 
of criminal cases over the course of his twenty-five years in the 
office until his retirement in 2006. He reveled in being in front of a 
jury and the opportunity to allow what he referred to as ``Truth, 
Justice, and the American Way to once again triumph over the forces of 
Darkness and Evil.'' He believed that the courtroom was the last best 
opportunity for a victim's voice to be heard and for justice to be done 
and that such justice became the voice for a victim.
  After the untimely death of Martha, his first wife. in 1982, Rowland 
met June Sawyer Hamilton, and, after a long-distance courtship between 
Tupelo, Mississippi, and Tucson, Arizona, Rowland and June married on 
December 12, 1987. June brought to the family three daughters; Jennifer 
Hamilton Lee (Derek), Molly Allison Hamilton, and April Zilpha 
Hamilton. Rowland loved his family dearly and was an involved 
stepfather to the new family members.
  Rowland was an avid photographer, a pilot, a scuba diver, a lifelong 
CB and ham radio enthusiast, and actor in community theater, a 
motorcyclist, a gun enthusiast, a hunter, a fisherman, a canoeist, a 
camper, and a water skier.
  In addition to his time in the District Attorney's Office, Rowland 
served his community through numerous volunteer roles, including Cub 
Scout Pack Master; Rotarian, serving as president of the Rotary Club of 
Tupelo; Mock Trial Judge for Tupelo High School; a founding member of 
Tupelo Community Theater; and president of the Mississippi Merchants' 
Association.
  Rowland is survived by his loving wife, June; his children, Rowland, 
Ginger, Leanne, Norton, Jenny, Molly, and April; 16 grandchildren; and 
9 great-grandchildren.

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