Memorials

• Publication year: 2010
• Pages: 0017
• Citation: Vol. 71 No. 1 Pg. 0017

MEMORIALS
Vol. 71 No. 1 Pg. 17
The Alabama Lawyer
JANUARY, 2010

J. GILMER BLACKBURN

JACKSON WILSON GUYTON

ROBERT W. LEE

JOHN A. LOCKETT, JR.

DONALD N. SPURRIER

J. Gilmer Blackburn

J. Gilmer Blackburn, a Decatur lawyer who dedicated his life to his family, his church, his profession, his community, and to Auburn University, died May 31^st in Auburn at the age of 81.

Born in Opelika on October 21, 1927, he was the fourth child of Anderson and Vera Blackburn. Mr. Blackburn attended the Lee County School in Auburn, Alabama from the first through the 12^th grades. He was drafted out of high school in 1946 and served in Alaska in the Army with the Alaska Communication System in 1947 on the Alcan Highway.

He entered Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API), now known as Auburn University, in 1947. While at API he participated in student activities and was responsible for the campaign to build the first Auburn Student Union Building. He was a member of the Spades Honorary Society, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and other organizations. He graduated from Auburn in 1950 with a bachelor of science. In 1951, during the Korean Emergency, he was called back into service as a 2^nd Lieutenant serving with the 40^th Tank Battalion, 4^th Infantry Division, in Germany. Prior to leaving for Germany, he and Phyllis Birdsong were married in Albertville in 1951.

Upon returning from the service in Germany, he and Phyllis entered the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Mr. Blackburn returned to his studies at the law school and graduated in 1954. He attended New York University Law School in 1954 under a Kennison National Fellowship and obtained a master of laws (in taxation).

In 1955, he established his law practice in Decatur. He was the first tax attorney in north Alabama. He also lectured extensively on tax matters for the University of Alabama Continuing Education Program and other seminars. He was president of the Morgan County Bar Association, chair of the ASB Tax Section, member of the Committee on Life Insurance Companies (Section of Taxation, American Bar Association) and a member of the Board of Directors of the Alabama Federal Tax Clinic. He was the founding attorney and senior counsel of Blackburn, Maloney & Schuppert LLC.

In 1962, he was elected commissioner of the City of Decatur and served as its mayor for two terms, being unopposed in his second term. As mayor, he was responsible for a major development program called "Operation New Decatur." The program was developed to bring Decatur into the New South. It included urban renewal...