AUGUST 2025 | 95 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL Kevin Lee Dodson of Pryor died April 28. He was born Sept. 2, 1974. He graduated from Pryor High School in 1993 and from OSU with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics in 1997. Mr. Dodson received his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 2001. He served as a municipal judge for both Pryor and Locust Grove. Early in his legal career, he interned under former Sen. Don Nickles and also worked as a graduate assistant at the TU College of Law. He was a member of the First Free Will Baptist Church in Pryor and a member of Gideons International for the past 10 years. Larry Rodmon Edwards of Muskogee died May 12. He was born April 4, 1958, in Tulsa. He graduated from Mason High School and OSU, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma. Mr. Edwards worked as a market analyst after graduation. He attended night classes and received his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1990. By that time, he was already leading the Juvenile Bureau at the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office. He served as an assistant district attorney in Tulsa for nine years. Over the course of his career, he also trained law enforcement professionals nationwide on principles of criminal and constitutional law. Mr. Edwards worked in private practice as a defense attorney for nine years before he returned to public service as the first assistant for the Rogers, Mayes and Craig counties district attorney’s offices. He rejoined the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office as a homicide prosecutor in 2018. In January 2020, he was asked to serve as first assistant for the Muskogee County District Attorney’s Office and was appointed as Muskogee County’s district attorney by Gov. Kevin Stitt in October 2021. Randolph S. Francis of Tulsa died Feb. 11, 2024. He was born Aug. 10, 1955, in Tulsa. Mr. Francis graduated from Edison High School in 1973 and attended OU for three semesters. His next semester was completed on a student ship, the S.S. Universe Campus, and he later earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco in 1977. Mr. Francis received his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1982. He practiced law initially in his father’s law firm, Francis & Francis. A.T. Gibson of Tulsa died April 24. He was born Jan. 6, 1928. Mr. Gibson received his J.D. from the OCU School of Law in 1963. William D. Graves of Oklahoma City died April 2. He was born Oct. 4, 1937. He graduated from Putnam City High School in 1956 and was offered a track scholarship at OU. Mr. Graves left OU in 1962 and joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard. He received his J.D. from the OCU School of Law in 1968 and entered private practice. In 1978, he was elected to the Oklahoma House of Representatives, where he served for 24 years. He served 12 terms before term limits ended his tenure in 2004. Mr. Graves was elected Oklahoma County district judge in 2006 and reelected in 2010 and 2014, serving 12 years. Thomas H. Gudgel Jr. of Tulsa died March 29. He was born Dec. 15, 1933. He graduated from TU in 1958 and received his J.D. from the TU College of Law in 1961. He began his legal career as a Tulsa County public defender and an assistant district attorney. Mr. Gudgel later entered private practice as a litigator with the firms Gudgel, Scott & Winn and Gudgel, Scott & Associates. He served as treasurer of the Tulsa County Bar Association, an adjunct professor at the TU College of Law focusing on constitutional law, a state industrial court judge and later as senior vice president and general counsel for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma. Ray F. Hamilton III of Tulsa died Dec. 4, 2024. He was born March 21, 1936. He graduated from College High School in Bartlesville in 1954 and from OU with a bachelor’s degree in geological and petroleum engineering. Mr. Hamilton received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1966. In 1960, he began his service as an infantry member of the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged at the rank of captain in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1974. He spent his entire legal career practicing corporate law and eventually became a partner at the Tulsa law firm of Sneed, Lang, Trotter & Hamilton. Bill C. Harris of Shawnee died Jan. 27. He was born Feb. 10, 1935. He graduated from OU with a bachelor’s degree and received his J.D. from the OU College of Law in 1961. At OU, Mr. Harris was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the football team,
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