Judge Hugh Dorsey Sosebee, Sr.

Judge Hugh Dorsey Sosebee, Sr. Forsyth . . . Judge Hugh Dorsey Sosebee, 98, of Forsyth, Georgia passed away March 18, 2015. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 21 at the First Baptist Church of Forsyth with burial in Monroe Hills Memorial Gardens. Dr. Dan Whitaker and Dr. H. Darrell Watson will officiate. The family will greet friends from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Friday, March 20 at Monroe County Memorial Chapel. Judge Sosebee was born October 9, 1916 in Forsyth County to the late Thomas Watson Sosebee and Ollie Worley Sosebee. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1938, where he was a member of the Demosthenian Literary Society. He earned his Juris Doctorate degree from Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law. Judge Sosebee served Monroe County and the Flint Judicial Circuit for decades including eight years as the elected Solicitor General. In 1964, he was appointed sole Superior Court Judge of the Flint Judicial Circuit by Governor Carl Sanders and served for nearly 15 years before becoming a Senior Judge in 1978. Judge Sosebee also served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and was a charter member of the Georgia Code Revision Committee. He was the longest serving member of the State Bar of Georgia Board of Governors, a 32nd Degree Mason and member of the Strict Observance Lodge no.18 of Forsyth. Judge Sosebee had a profound and lasting impact on Monroe County. He envisioned and helped to build the county’s first and only hospital, serving on the first board of Monroe County Hospital. He was also a charter member of the Monroe County Chamber of Commerce and served as Monroe County’s attorney as well as the city of Forsyth’s attorney. The bridge over Interstate 75 on Tift College Drive was named after Judge Sosebee in 2011. In 2012, Forsyth’s historic courthouse grounds were dedicated to Judge Sosebee. Judge Sosebee devoted his life to his family, community, State and God. His tireless work, personal honesty and integrity, and dedication to the courts have inspired confidence in the judicial system as whole. His wives, Lois Waldrep Sosebee and Mary Estelle Childres Sosebee preceded him in death. He is survived by his two children, Hugh Dorsey Sosebee Jr. (Linda) and Becky Corley (Keith) of Forsyth; sisters Doris Prine of Gainesville and Ruthelle Sosebee Cagle of Cumming; grandchildren, Mary Kathryn Corley, Laura Elizabeth Corley and Hugh Dorsey Sosebee III, of Forsyth. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to Monroe County Hospital Foundation, 88 Martin Luther King Jr, Drive, Forsyth, GA 31029, First Baptist Church, 95 W Morse Street, Forsyth, GA 31029 or to Mercer University General Fund, Attn: John Patterson, 1400 Coleman Avenue, Macon, GA 31207. Monroe County Memorial Chapel has charge of arrangements.