JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mr. George Lee Hudspeth, 88, of Jacksonville, died Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013, at the Earl B. Hadlow Center for Caring. He had elected cremation so there will be no funeral, just a memorial service. The service was held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014, at Yadkinville First Baptist Church, 304 S. State St., Yadkinville, NC 27055. A reception for family and friends immediately followed at 2:30 p.m. at the church's fellowship hall. He was born on Feb. 4, 1925, in Yadkinville. He graduated from Yadkinville High School on May 13, 1941, and lettered in baseball and basketball at the school. He had morning and evening paper routes, worked as a teenager in his father's business and was also a part-time soda jerk. He entered Wake Forest College in NC in September 1941 at the age of 16. He left Wake Forest when he was drafted for military service in World War II on Aug. 23, 1943, and trained with airborne troops at Fort Benning, Ga. He served in Europe from May 1944 until his discharge on March 26, 1946, in Paris, France, with the rank of specialist 3rd class (staff sergeant). He fought in the Holland Invasion, the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium (where he was injured in January 1945), the Ruhr valley and Alsace Lorraine campaigns, all with the 101 Airborne Division. He received several medals for his service, including the Purple Heart. Following his discharge, he worked for the War Department (now Department of Defense) in Frankfurt, West Germany, until April 1946 when he returned to the States. He entered Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, as a junior in June 1948, where he majored in accounting. He graduated with a B.S. (in commerce) degree in May 1950 and entered Duke University Law School in Durham in September of 1950. He graduated cum laude for his LL.B. degree in June 1953 and was voted into the Order of the Coif, the legal academic honorary society. While at Duke, he was Magister of Hughes Inn of the Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity, was on the Editorial Board of the Duke Law Journal from September 1951 until June 1953, and was the editor-in-chief for 1952-1953. He was admitted to the NC Bar on Aug. 8, 1953, following which he began work on his LL.M. degree, which he received on June 4, 1956, with honors. His master's thesis was on the capital gains laws under the Internal Revenue Code from the first enactment thereof. He was a legal aid instructor at Duke from 1954 to 1955, and he was the contracts officer for Duke University's Army Ordinance project for the U.S. government from 1955 to 1956. This program was underwritten to have inventors and experts reduce to writing all the varied ordnance devices and rocketry that had been developed as a result of World War II and the arms race thereafter. This included contracting with many of the famous German rocket scientists. From May 1956 until 1960, he was employed with the IRS in Atlanta, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., and Nashville, Tenn., as a tax trial attorney. From 1960 to 1966, he held the position of assistant regional counsel for the IRS in Nashville and Jacksonville. While with the IRS, he acted the lead role in a one-hour training film for trial lawyers (produced in Washington, D.C.) in 1960; he prepared a Procedures Manual (1962-1963) for IRS attorneys' use in the Atlanta Region, but later used by other regions of the IRS; and on Sept. 2, 1964, he was presented a Certificate of Award from the US Treasury Department for his "noteworthy contribution to the effective and efficient operation of the Treasury Department." In September 1966, he entered private practice with the prestigious law firm of Mahoney Hadlow Chambers and Adams. The firm thereafter changed its name from time to time and was Mahoney Adams & Criser when he retired after more than 27 years with the firm on Dec. 31, 1993. He specialized in litigation cases, except criminal and domestic. He was a member of the NC Bar (since 1953); the Florida Bar (since 1967); the Jacksonville Bar Association (since 1967); and the American Bar Association during his legal career. His volunteer activities were many and varied for the Bar Association, his community and churches. At his death, he was a member of the Deermeadows Baptist Church. He taught various Sunday school classes in the churches where he was a member for 35 years. Over the years, he had been a member of the University Club, the River Club and at his death the Deerwood Country Club, all in Jacksonville. He and his family lived in the gated community of Deerwood since 1972. He enjoyed research and writing authored publications for the Duke Bar Journal, Florida Bar Manuals, and four books that have been published dealing with his life and family genealogies. The books were written after he retired in December 1993. He was married to Eloise Rosemond Hughes from Hillsborough, N.C., on Feb. 19, 1954, in St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Raleigh, N.C. They became avid and extensive travelers during their marriage, having traveled to over 60 countries and each continent except Antarctica. He is survived by their son, Lee, and his wife, Elizabeth, and their two children Aaron (age: 18) and Tate (age: 15), who reside in Hermosa Beach, Calif. His sister, Polly Wood; sisters-in-law, Edna Hudspeth in Yadkinville and Margie Hudspeth of Winston-Salem, N.C.; and his brother, Dr. Sherrill Hudspeth of Winston-Salem, also survive him. The family requests that no flowers be sent. Any memorials should be forwarded to Yadkinville First Baptist Church, 304 S. State St., Yadkinville, NC 27055, 336-679-8761; the Jacksonville Baptist Home for Children, 2300 Bartram Road, Jacksonville, FL 32207, 904-721-2711; the American Red Cross, 751 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32203, 904-358-8091; or any other charity of the person's choice.