Judge Wendell Conn Radford, 72, of Beaumont died April 8, 2010, at his residence. A native of Nederland and lifelong resident of the area, he attended Lamar University on a tennis scholarship and was a member of ATO Fraternity. While attending the University of Texas Law School, he met and later married Jill Woodward. He was associated with Delta Theta Phi while at UT.
Wendell was first employed as an assistant district attorney for Jefferson County. He later practiced with the firm Benckenstein, Oxford, Radford, and Johnson for over twenty years and acted as City Judge for Beaumont for a number of those years. He was appointed to the Federal bench in 1985 serving the Eastern District of Texas until his retirement in 2003. The Radford Firm, specializing in mediations, was established shortly thereafter. He and Jill enjoyed extensive travels and time spent at their lake house.
Judge Radford is survived by his wife, Jill Radford of Beaumont; daughter, Pamela Radford of Houston; son, Wendell “Chip” Radford, Jr. and his wife Cathy of Beaumont; sister, Carolyn Jernigan and her husband Dr. Sam Jernigan of Tyler; granddaughters, Catherine Radford and Ellen Radford; and niece, Virginia Swartz.
Memorial service will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, April 10, 2010, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church with a reception to follow in the parish hall. Services are under the direction of Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 680 Calder, Beaumont, Texas 77701.
