A sad loss for the NC Legal Profession

I had the honor of clerking for Judge Osteen after law school. You can learn more about this great man here or below:

William Lindsay Osteen





GREENSBORO � The Honorable William Lindsay Osteen, an incredibly kind, handsome, brilliant man, left us and went to be with the Lord on the ninth of August, 2009. He loved the Lord, his family, and all people.

The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, August 12, at First Baptist Church. The family will receive friends following the church service in the church atrium. Burial will follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery

Judge Osteen is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 50 years, Joanne Snow Osteen. He is also survived by his three sons and their families, Judge William L. Osteen Jr. and his wife, Elizabeth Holt Osteen and their children, Anne Bennett and Bill of Greensboro; John Snow Osteen of Long Beach, California; and Robert Bennett Osteen and his wife, Jennifer Justice Osteen and their son, Chace of Charleston, South Carolina.

Bill and Joanne are grateful for our immediate family's support, love, devotion, and caring hearts. He is also survived by extended family who have been greatly caring: his brother, Major General John Luke Osteen Jr. of Brevard; his niece and her husband, Colonel and Mrs. Robert Sanders and their children, of Greer, S.C.; niece, Ann Voigt and her children, also of Greer, S.C.; and his nephew, Luke Osteen and his son, of Highlands, N.C. Additional caring relatives include Mrs. Mabel Souther Herzberg of Brevard and her children, Ruth and Fred Osteen of Brevard, Anne and Van Conn of New York; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Davidson, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Richardson, and Colonel and Mrs. Dan Dopp, all of Virginia.

Bill treated all people he met everywhere with great respect, always remembering their names. Bill's love for people was evident. His sense of humor was well known, with many practical jokes and humorous words. At 79 this great man still had his lifelong keen sense of humor and was an admirable and excellent husband, father and granddaddy.

Our three sons, who are Eagle Scouts, agree that their Dad embodied in his life the Boy Scout laws; he was trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

A native of Guilford County, Bill grew up on a farm on Muirs Chapel Road with his wonderful parents, Ruth Tatum Osteen and John Luke Osteen, and his brother John ("Jack"). Guilford High School and Guilford College provided education, where he was an outstanding athlete and lettered in football, basketball, baseball and golf. Between high school and college he spent two years in the United States Army and received an Honorable Discharge.

In 1956 Bill graduated from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law with an LLB and began a career in law which continued for over 50 years with the start in North Wilkesboro with the McElwee firm. In 1957 he moved back to Greensboro where he practiced law in the firm of Booth, Osteen, Fish and Adams.

In 1960 he was elected to the North Carolina State Legislature where he served two terms as Minority Leader. While in the State Legislature an outside group selected him as "Most Handsome". In 1969 Bill was appointed United States Attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina, where he served until 1973. In 1973 he returned to private practice with J. Patrick "Pat" Adams and together they founded the firm of Osteen & Adams, which grew to include the Honorable N. Carlton Tilley Jr., the Honorable Ralph A. Walker, and Bill's son, the Honorable William L. Osteen Jr.

In private practice, Bill Osteen was generally considered one of the finest criminal and civil trial attorneys in the state. While in private practice he served as a director to the Greensboro Bar Association and as a counselor to the North Carolina State Bar, where he served on the Grievance Committee. He was selected to the American College of Trial Lawyers.



Throughout his career, Bill remained interested in young lawyers and their education. He was significantly involved in both the Wake Forest and the UNC Schools of Law. He was a member of the Chief Justice Joseph Branch Inn of Court at Wake Forest. Bill Osteen's impact on the legal profession, and on attorneys in general, has been outstanding.

Many awards and recognitions have been presented to him: North Carolina Bar Association Award, Guilford College Alumni Association Award, American Inns of Court Foundation Professionalism Award, University of North Carolina School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award, Judge John J. Parker Award in recognition of conspicuous service to the cause of jurisprudence in North Carolina, Judicial Conference of the United States Committee on Codes of Conduct Recognition, Greensboro Bar Association Distinguished Service Award, United States Court Security Officers Certificate of Appreciation and several others.

We are grateful to our many friends and relatives who have shown us love and support, including our ministers and many friends from First Baptist Church; Greensboro and North Carolina lawyers, assistants, and judges; the court security officers and all his friends and fellow employees at the Federal Courthouse; The Fourth Street Barbers; and many judges, lawyers, and friends throughout the country.

Our family is most grateful to the dedicated doctors, nurses and support personnel at Wesley Long Cancer Center, at Wesley Long Hospital, Wake Forest Bowman Gray Hospital, and Charlotte Blumenthal Cancer Center, and the many other doctors who cared, worked, prayed for and supported Bill Osteen throughout his life, but in particular the past few years as he courageously battled cancer.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Bill Osteen's memory will be greatly appreciated by our family if donated to First Baptist Church of Greensboro, 1000 W. Friendly Ave., Greensboro, NC 27401; American Cancer Society, 4-A Oak Branch Drive, Greensboro, NC 27407; or Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro, 2500 Summit Ave., Greensboro, NC 27405.

Hanes-Lineberry N. Elm Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Offer condolences at www. news-record.com/obituaries

Redheads

I also learned why I have a legitimate fear of the dentist and that the outlook is not good for people with red hair.

Based on this my kids should be geniuses!

I hope this article is true - if it is, my kids will be really really smart. I was sick for 16 weeks with Jacob, and I had to get IVs with Maria. I have had to take prescription nausea meds with all three pregnancies. So if mom's sickness = smart kids, we should be golden:

Study: Morning Sickness Tied to Higher Child IQ
The Scoop: Although it can be a major nuisance for moms-to-be, morning sickness may actually make for smarter kids, according to a recent Canadian study. In an effort to understand the effect of first trimester nausea on fetal brain development, researchers followed 121 women who had contacted a pregnancy hotline. Among children (now between ages 3 and 7) born to these women, those whose mothers experienced morning sickness scored higher on certain tests of IQ, memory, and language skills, compared to those whose mothers had no symptoms of nausea or vomiting during pregnancy.

For Baby: Women in the study who reported the most severe bouts of morning sickness symptoms tended to have children with the highest test scores (this was even more pronounced if the mom also had a high IQ). According to researchers, morning sickness is most likely triggered by a rapid rise in human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and thyroxine—two hormones needed during pregnancy to grow and maintain a healthy placenta. While morning sickness is viewed by most as an unwanted side effect of pregnancy, researchers now speculate the condition is a sign of a healthy pregnancy and nourishing placenta. Other studies have linked morning sickness to lower rates of miscarriage, stillbirth, and preterm delivery.