Marshall V. Yount ’37, of Hickory, N.C., died Feb. 7, 2012. He was born Jan. 21, 1917, in Hickory. He was the son of Marshall H. Yount, a native of Catawba County, and Maude Vivian Hutchisson, of Mobile, Ala.
Yount attended Davidson and UNC Chapel Hill, graduating there with a B.S. degree in commerce, and continuing with the UNC School of Law, where he received his LLB degree in 1940. He entered the practice of law with his father, Attorney Marshall H. Yount, Yount & Yount, which practice was interrupted when he began a four-year term with the U.S. Army, returned and practiced law with his father until his father’s death in 1948.
In the Army he was positioned with the Security Intelligence Corp, Fourth Service Command as special agent commissioned second lieutenant, stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco as staff member of the Japanese-American branch office of the Provost Marshal General, promoted and transferred to complete his service with the Provost Marshal General office in Washington, D.C., until he was discharged from the service in 1946. He then returned to Hickory and resumed the law as a sole practitioner until a young lawyer, Oliver Noble, came to Hickory and joined him. That association ended when Noble was appointed a District Court judge.
In 1981 Yount began a practice with Attorney Rufus Walker, son-in-law of his longtime friend and fellow attorney, George D. Hovey. The partnership Yount & Walker was dissolved in 1999 when Yount joined the law firm of Sigmon, Clark, Mackie, Hutton, Hanvey & Ferrell, “of counsel” along with his longtime assistant, Linda Sigmon, where he continued his legal career until his death. Early in his career, Yount served several terms as judge of the Hickory Municipal Court and two terms as judge of the Catawba County Court, but never thereafter sought public office.
He was active in and a supporter of community organizations, charitable and otherwise. He headed the Community Chest; was a deacon and elder of Corinth Reformed Church and consistory member of Corinth Church; a member of the Catawba County ABC Board; member and a director of Hickory Kiwanis Club; member of the American Legion and Loyal Order of the Moose.
In his profession, he served as president of the Catawba County Bar Association and of the 25th District Bar, and was a member of the American Bar Association and American Judicature Society. He was honored in 2004 by being inducted into the General Practice Hall of Fame of the North Carolina Bar Association.
Yount is survived by his wife of 65 years, Jerrie, 1081 16th Ave. NW, Hickory, NC 28601, who was a young secretary to the general in charge at Provost Marshal General office in Washington, D.C., where he met her during the last year of his service. He is also survived by his sons, Douglas, Stanley, Jeffrey (Cathy), and Marshall; grandchildren, Jeremy (Emily), Brian, April, Naomi, Dannon, Jay, Lindy, and Brandon; and great-grandchildren, Graham and Lana. He was preceded in death by his son, Alfred, and his sister, Helen Saipher. Yount loved his wife, his family, children, grandchildren, and his profession. He was well regarded by his fellow attorneys and will be remembered as among the oldest practicing attorneys in North Carolina at the time of his death.