William Muecke Barker
The Honorable William Muecke Barker, former chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, died on April 3, 2023.
“Mickey” as he was known affectionately, was the son of William Frank Barker and Eleanor Carpenter Barker. He grew up in Highland Park, attended McCallie and City High, and now 81 years later will be buried in the National Cemetery in his childhood neighborhood.
He is survived by Catherine Hope Elton Barker, his beloved spouse of 58 years, and by his three children: John Edward Barker (Michelle), David Muecke Barker (Mary), and Martha Barker Usher (Chris); eight grandchildren: Caroline Hope Barker, Bradley John Barker, Emily Wood Barker, James Alexander Usher, Grace Elizabeth Barker, Catherine Hope Usher, William Davenport Barker, and Eleanor Grace Usher; his half-brother Brian Barker and cousins Wanda Gentry, Mary Keith Bowen, Jim Davis, Larry Rigsby, and Joan Stucky. He was predeceased by his brother Frank Edward Barker.
Mickey graduated from Chattanooga High School in 1959 where he was a member of the Student Council and was the ROTC Regimental Commander. In 1964 he graduated from the University of Chattanooga, where he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and thereafter entered the University of Cincinnati School of Law on a Benwood Foundation Scholarship. While in law school he served as a member of the Board of Editors of the Cincinnati Law Review. Upon graduation from law school in 1967, he entered the United States Army, serving for two years as a captain on the faculty of the US Army Medical Field Service School.
Upon his return from the service in 1969, Mickey entered the private practice of law with the firm of Dietzen, Dietzen & Barker until 1983 when he was appointed by Governor Lamar Alexander as judge of the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial District of Tennessee. He was elected to that position by the voters of Hamilton County in 1984 and again in 1990. He was consistently the highest rated circuit court judge by the Chattanooga Bar Association in its bi-annual polls.
In February of 1995, Judge Barker was appointed by Governor Don Sundquist to the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and was elected to that position in August 1996. On April 23, 1998, he was appointed by Governor Sundquist to the Tennessee Supreme Court and was elected to a full eight-year term in August 1998. On October 5, 2005, he was unanimously chosen by his colleagues to become Chief Justice.
Chief Justice Barker was chair of the Tennessee Judicial Council and the Tennessee Code Commission. He served as president of the Chattanooga Trial Lawyers Association, Special Counsel for the Chattanooga Bar Association, member of the Board of Governors of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association, member of the Board of Governors of the Chattanooga Bar Association, and in 1987 was elected to the Tennessee Bar Foundation and in 1998 to the Chattanooga Bar Foundation. He was also a member of the American Law Institute. At the time of his retirement, he was serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Conference of Chief Justices and was the chair of the Problem Solving Courts Committee. In 2008, he was named Appellate Judge of the Year by the Tennessee Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and was president of the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society.
From 1984 until 2002, Chief Justice Barker taught as an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Political Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 2000, he was named Outstanding Adjunct Professor by the Student Government Association. He was a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society and the Alpha Society at UTC and was a frequent commencement speaker and lecturer in Tennessee and other states at legal seminars on the subject of ethics. Justice Barker also lectured in Central Europe at seminars on legal ethics. He was a member of the UT System President’s Council and was named one of UT’s 100 Outstanding Alums. In 2018, he was appointed to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Advisory Board.
Justice Barker received the Equal Access to Justice Award and the Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award in 2008. He was named the 2006 Distinguished Alumnus for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He was also chosen as the 2006 Distinguished Alumnus for the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He was a member of the American Inns of Court, the American Arbitration Association, and the Commercial and Judicial Settlement Services Panel.
Following his retirement from the Supreme Court, Justice Barker became of counsel with the Chattanooga law firm of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, where he engaged in an alternative dispute resolution practice. In 2015, the Tennessee Supreme Court appointed Justice Barker to the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners where he served through 2019. In 2018, the Chattanooga Bar Association awarded Justice Barker its Jac Chambliss Lifetime Achievement Award.
Justice Barker was a member of the Chattanooga Rotary Club and served as Vice President. He was named to the City High School Hall of Fame. He was awarded the “Significant Sig” designation from the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He served on the board of the Signal Mountain Playhouse and was featured in The Odd Couple (as the slovenly Oscar Madison), South Pacific, and Annie, Get Your Gun (singing “There’s No Business Like Show Business” in his green and yellow plaid suit).
Chief Justice Barker was a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga and is a past chairman of its Board of Deacons. He taught the Young Adult Sunday School class there for eighteen years, and served on two pulpit committees. He was a member of the McCallie-Anderson Sunday School class.
Mickey loved his dog Barney, Vol sports, Michael Connelly novels, the history section of the Signal Mountain Library, and driving in Sequatchie Valley. He loved to travel, driving or cruising, to all points on the globe and was a wonderful storyteller. He found joy in his children and grandchildren who repeated his funny sayings and laughed at his habit of always being early. He treasured his family, enjoyed his friends, served his country and state, but most of all he loved his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Honorary pallbearers are Sam Clyatt, Earl Cox, Joel Cunningham, Tom Greenholtz, Gill Jeong, Ed Marks, Hugh Moore, Don Self, Jerry Summers, and Jim Ward.
Donations for a scholarship to honor Chief Justice Barker may be made to the UC Foundation, 615 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga 37403 (give.utc.edu/mbarker) or World Missions at First Presbyterian Church, 554 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga 37403.
A celebration of his life will be on Friday, April 14, at First Presbyterian Church with visitation at 10 a.m., funeral at 11 a.m., and reception at noon. There will be a private internment service at the National Cemetery.
Arrangements are entrusted to Lane Funeral Home Ashland Terrace, www.Lanefh.com, 423 877-3524.