The Oklahoma Bar Journal December 2023

shareholder, vice president and member of the Board of Directors until his retirement. He was named a Legacy Honoree for his contributions and commitment to the firm for more than 40 years of service. Mr. Mee also served his community, including serving on numerous civic boards such as the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society and the Travelers Aid Society. He headed the professional division of Oklahoma City United Way and served as president of the Economic Club of Oklahoma and on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club. He also served three terms as a council man and mayor of Nichols Hills and was a co-author of Successful Partnering Between Inside and Outside Counsel , published by the American Corporate Counsel Association and the WestGroup in 2000. Mr. Mee was involved in many organizations within his community and was a member of the ABA and the Oklahoma County Bar Association. Memorial contributions may be made to the John Mee Scholarship fund at the OU College of Law. M ichael J. Moore of Oklahoma City died Nov. 7. He was born on Sept. 25, 1949, in Oklahoma City. He received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1974. O tis Warren Morrow of Arkansas City, Kansas, died Jan. 2, 2023. He was born Jan. 24, 1948, in Winfield, Kansas. He graduated from Southwestern College in 1970 and received his J.D. from the Washburn University

School of Law in 1972. Mr. Morrow was the city attorney for Arkansas City for 30 years and served on various boards, including the V.J. Wilkins Foundation. He was also a member of the Rotary Club in Arkansas City, Kansas Bar Association, ABA and Etzanoa Conservancy. Memorial con tributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church or the Etzanoa Conservancy. N anette Jordan Patton of Oklahoma City died Oct. 3. She was born Nov. 14, 1946, in Oklahoma City. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from OSU and received her J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1971. She worked as an attorney and eventually was elected to serve as a district court judge in Oklahoma County. Ms. Patton was a devoted member of the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, the Chi Omega Sorority Alumnae and the All Souls’ Episcopal Church. J udge Gary Morgan Purcell of Norman died Nov. 12. He was born Dec. 26, 1950. He graduated from OU with his bachelor’s degree in economics, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta and was honored as OU’s Outstanding Economics Senior. He received his J.D. from the OCU School of Law in 1975. Judge Purcell was appointed as special judge for Cleveland County in 1977, where he enjoyed 15 years of serving on the bench. He was sworn in as United States federal magistrate judge for the Western District of Oklahoma in 1992. During his 44 years on the bench, Judge Purcell presided over 200,000 cases, spoke at numerous

deployed to Fort Gordon in Georgia, where he received a com mission and completed his mil itary obligation. He worked as a legal intern in New York City with his mentor from Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma before moving back to Oklahoma. He worked various jobs, including at the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant to Andy Coats and at the Attorney General’s Office as first assistant attorney general and chief of the Criminal and Federal divisions for three attorneys general: Jan Eric Cartwright, Mike Turpen and Robert Henry. He was also honored to serve as an assis tant U.S. attorney in the Western District of Oklahoma for then U.S. Attorney David L. Russell. Memorial contributions may be made to Skyline Urban Ministry, the Oklahoma Innocence Project or your local library. J ohn McHenry Mee of Nichols Hills died Oct. 17. He was born March 19, 1930, in Oklahoma City. He graduated from Pomona College in 1951. Mr. Mee received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1954. During law school, he served on the Board of Editors for the Oklahoma Law Review during his two-year tenure with the publication and was a member of Phi Alpha Delta. He served one year as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Mr. Mee served two years in the Judge Advocate General’s Department of the U.S. Air Force, stationed at the flying training headquarters in Waco, Texas. He opened Richardson, Shatel & Cochran, a private law firm in Oklahoma in 1957. In 1971, he joined McAfee & Taft as a

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL