Monty M. Wyche

Monty Meares Wyche (December 4, 1926 – July 28, 2014) was a judge of the Louisiana 26th Judicial District Court based in Benton. He served from 1969 to 1988 with jurisdiction in both Bossier and Webster parishes in the northwestern portion of his state.

Background

Wyche was born in Plain Dealing in northern Bossier Parish next to the Arkansas state line to James Egbert Wyche (1898-1976) and the former Helen Friend Phillips (1902-1974).^[1]His paternal grandparents were John Hamiter Wyche (1871-1904) and the former Nancy Roberta Meares (1872-1973).^[2] His aunt, Madge Wyche Doles (1901-1993), an insurance agent in Plain Dealing, was married to John J. Doles (1895-1970), who represented Bossier and Webster parishes in the Louisiana State Senate from 1952 to 1956 and also served on the influential Louisiana State University Board of Supervisors. His cousin, John J. Doles, Jr. (1923-2004), was an influential banker in Louisiana and a civic figure in Bossier Parish.^[3][4]

Wyche graduated from Benton High School and attended LSU in Baton Rouge for a year prior to enlisting in the United States Army near the end of World War II. After his military commitment, he graduated from LSU and received his Juris Doctor degree in 1950^[5] from the Louisiana State University Law Center. He returned to the Army for service in the Korean War. Thereafter, Wyche reached the rank of commander in the United States Naval Reserve.^[6]

Legal career

Wyche practiced law in Bossier Parish and for a time was an assistant district attorney for the 26th Judicial District.^[6] He was a law partner of State Representative Walter O. Bigby.^[7]

A Democrat, Wyche was appointed effective February 14, 1969, by Governor John McKeithen as the judge of Division A of the 26th District upon the resignation of O. E. Price, who was elected to the Louisiana Circuit Court of Appeal for the Second District, based in Shreveport. Wyche was first elected to the district court the following year in 1970.^[8] He never faced an opponent for the office. ^[6]Upon his retirement in 1988, Judge Wyche was succeeded by Dewey E. Burchett, Jr.^[9] Thereafter, Wyche continued to hold temporary vacancies on the 1st and 26th district courts as well as the Circuit Court of Appeal for the Second District. Judge Wyche also served on the judicial councils of the Louisiana Supreme Court and the Louisiana Law Institute.^[6]

Personal life

Wyche was a member and elder of the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Bossier City. He was a member of the international legal honor society Phi Delta Phi, the social fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon, the Louisiana State Bar Association, and the Retired Military Officers Association.^[6]

Wyche has three surviving children with his widow of fifty-three years, the former Ann Wesson of Bossier City: Martha Wyche Singletary and husband, Robert, of Baton Rouge; James Wesson Wyche and wife, Shannon Kring Wyche, of Shreveport, and Timothy David Wyche of Madisonville in St. Tammany Parish in South Louisiana. There are six Wyche grandchildren and a surviving sister, Madge Wyche Brice (born June 1936) and husband, Donald Lee "Don" Brice (born February 1936), of Minden, Louisiana.^[6]

After services at the Trinity First Presbyterian Church on August 1, Wyche was interred at Plain Dealing Cemetery.^[6]

References