People in Columbus come and go, Bill Threadgill being a notable exception.

When Threadgill woke up Thursday morning, he began getting calls wishing him a happy birthday, but the volume of those birthday calls was particularly high. It’s not every day you turn 100, after all.

Threadgill was born in Greenwood on July 20, 1923, which incidentally was the day Pancho Villa died. Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States, died two weeks later.

“That’s a long time ago, isn’t it?” Threadgill said with a chuckle. “I never thought about living to be 100, but it runs in the family. My dad died when he was 88, but he was a smoker. My mother was 98 when she died, but she would probably have made it to 100. She had foot surgery and had a blood clot that killed her. One of my grandfathers lived to be 96, and the other was 93.”

Although born in Greenwood, Threadgill is best known for his 45-year law practice, which began in Columbus.

“I moved here on Thanksgiving Day 1949,” Threadgill said. “I graduated high school in 1940 and started college at Ole Miss. I left my sophomore year to serve in the Air Force where I was navigator on a B-17 bomber in Germany.”

After the war, Threadgill returned to Ole Miss to finish his degree, then earned his law degree from George Washington University in 1949.

Threadgill had no ties to Columbus, but a classmate at Ole Miss did.

“Ben Owen, who also became a lawyer, was from Columbus and he told me about John Holloman, said he was the best lawyer around. So I went to work for him for seven years before I started my own firm,” Threadgill said.

Things have changed a lot since his arrival in Columbus.

“It was a lot different back then,” Threadgill said. “My first car was a 1951 Pontiac. I bought it about the time I started dating my wife. It cost me $1,500. Our first house was out on Airport Road. The house was $8,500, but I was the attorney for the contractor, so I got a discount that brought it down to $7,500.”

Threadgill built his firm to 10 attorneys, merging with the Mitchell, McNutt and Sams law firm of Tupelo in 1993. He retired a year later.

Threadgill practiced civil law and was especially talented in estate law. Although he said he doesn’t like to talk about the cases he tried, he noted that he argued cases before the Mississippi Supreme Court and in federal courts.

“He was the best trial lawyer out there,” said David Sanders, who was a partner in Threadgill’s firm for 25 years until Threadgill’s retirement.

“I guess when I think about it, one of the best moments in my legal career came when I was arguing a case in federal court,” Threadgill said. “After it was over, the federal judge told me I had made the best closing argument he had ever heard. So that was pretty good.”

In 1962, Threadgill successfully argued before the state supreme court in the case of Carter v. Berry, an estate case involving the heirs of the Johnston-Tombigbee furniture factory. It is a case that is still cited as precedent in estate trials to this day.

Threadgill’s wife, Leslie, passed away in 2016. They were married for 63 years. He has four children, 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Although Threadgill retired from practicing law 24 years ago, he said he has never really stopped working.

During his retirement years, he has served on corporate and charitable foundation boards and held positions with the state’s bar association and trial attorneys association. He believes staying occupied during his retirement has also played a role in his longevity.

“I still drive anywhere I want to go and still have an office there on Fifth Street,” he said. “About a year ago, I bought a home at Old Waverly, so I split my time between there and Columbus. I’m involved in some real estate deals. I think one of the reasons I’ve been able to maintain my abilities is that I stayed really mentally and physically active. I’ve enjoyed good health. I’ve been to the emergency room a few times but never stayed a night in a hospital. Having something to do that keeps your mind working and your body busy, all of that helps. I never had a goal of living to be 100, but here I am.”

Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].

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