In memoriam: E. Dixie Beggs.

On the national and international scene in 1947 and 1948, it was a time for The Marshall Plan. The Taft-Hartley Bill. The Berlin Airlift. The Cold War.

On the Florida scene, E. Dixie Beggs was serving as president of the Florida State Bar Association and guiding such efforts as statutory revision for the prompt printing and distribution of legislative acts and studies of a proposed uniform sales act and uniform partnership law.

He was also a staunch supporter of the integrated bar for "regulating the bar and maintaining high public esteem for our profession." Beggs was comfortable in his role as visionary for the association and looked forward to the time "when we lawyers can trade in our 1907 model bar association for a brand new setup that will put us on the offense to preserve the best interests of our profession and the public that we serve." The evolution from a voluntary state bar association to an integrated bar was a couple of years away, but Dixie Beggs planted the seed.

When he passed away earlier this year on February 26 in his native Pensacola, Beggs was the last living president of the former Florida State Bar Association.

Beggs, 92, was born in 1908 and graduated from the University of Florida Law School in 1931. At the university, he led a debate team to win national honors and served as president of the student body and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Blue Key.

In 1932, he was elected state attorney for the First Judicial Circuit at the age of 24. After serving two four-year terms, he decided to enter full-time private practice in one of the area's oldest law firms founded by Judge A.C. Blount and W.A. Blount in 1883. The Pensacola firm is now known as Beggs & Lane.

"Soon Dixie became recognized as having one of the nation's most incisive legal minds. He served countless clients ably and was called to be part of committees making major revisions to codes and forms. Dixie technically left formal practice shortly after his 70th birthday, but no one could ever say that he actually retired. He was still involved in planning major court actions," says John Appleyard, a historian, author, and fellow resident of Pensacola.

Beggs served as an officer in the 88th Infantry Division during World War II and saw action in Italy. Among his decorations were the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.

A member of Pensacola's First Baptist Church from early childhood, he taught a men's Bible class for over 50 years and was instrumental in founding the local Baptist Hospital.

"He was a consummate core-values American. He was a great legal mind, a man who believed strongly in the law," Appleyard told the Pensacola News Journal.

When Beggs served as Bar president, the organization was voluntary with a membership of 2,126. The annual dues were $3 for members who belonged through their local associations and $5 for all other lawyers.

In Beggs' 1948 annual address to the membership, he spoke about the future of the Bar: "I hope the day will come when we are properly organized and adequately financed. We will also have a full-time executive director who will give a continuity to our program that is not possible under our present arrangement. From a well established permanent headquarters we may expect to receive services of a sort we have not heretofore had -- practical aids to us in our practice. Real legal clinics could be arranged and financed. A larger and better Bar Journal would be published. A professional consciousness would be aroused in us all."

I had the privilege of meeting E. Dixie Beggs when he attended the general assembly last year at the Bar's annual meeting. Surrounded by other former Bar presidents, Dixie Beggs received a special tribute for his long legal career and Bar work. Since he was sworn in as president at that 1947 general assembly, many of his predictions for the Bar and legal profession have been realized.

To E. Dixie Beggs, we offer our gratitude for your direction, professionalism, and commitment to this Bar and the public it serves.