Longtime 12th Judicial District Assistant District Attorney General James W. “Jimmy” Pope, III, passed away Monday at the age of 59. Pope, the son of former District Attorney General the late James William “Bill” Pope Jr., who served as District Attorney for 22 years.
DA Pope joined the District Attorney Generals Office and worked under Mike Taylor until his retirement in 2022. He had been serving as an assistant ddistrict attorney for the 9th District Attorney General Russell Johnson until his death.
DA Pope was a 1982 honor graduate and historian of his class at Bledsoe County High School, a 1986 honors graduate from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and a 1989 graduate of the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama - the same law school from which his father graduated.
He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence at Commencement ceremonies on May 20, 1989. His three-year average grade performance placed him on Dean’s list for academic achievement and in his last semester he obtained a 3.8 grade performance which placed him in the highest honors.
DA Pope was the recipient of the A.B. Neil Award for the outstanding Tennessee student. The award is given in honor of the longtime Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice, A.B. Neil.
While at Cumberland School of Law, Mr. Pope was an officer in the Tennessee Student Bar Association and was a member and writer for the American Board of Trial Advocacy Journal. He took the Tennessee Bar Examination in July 1989. Upon completion of the bar exam, he immediately began working for the Law Office of Howard L. Upchurch in Pikeville. While working with him, he became a part time public defender when the Public Defender’s Office was established in 1990.
He served as a director for First Farmers and Commercial Bank (formerly First National Bank of Pikeville) from 1999 until his death and was extremely proud of the Banks status as a true community Bank and the Banks expansion into Rhea County.
Preceding him in death was his father, James “Bill” Pope, Jr., and mother, Joan Estelle Smith Pope.
Survivors are his wife Lola Ruth Stephens Pope; son, Leo (Kaitlyn) Miller; daughters, Shaylene Miller (Cody See), Layla Sills; God daughter, Lauren (Lucas) Wheeler; bonus daughter, Katie (Michael) Shaver; mother, Jacquie Pope; brother, Benjamin (Stephanie) Stewart; sisters, Libby Ellis, Karen (James) Sellin; several grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of friends.
A celebration of life will be at 11 a.m. CST Friday in the Pikeville Funeral Home Chapel. The burial will be in Pikeville City Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 1-8 p.m. CST Thursday at the funeral home.
Condolences can be made at www.pikevillefuneralhome.com.
Pikeville Funeral Home was entrusted with arrangements.