I'm am saddened to announce that my father passed away on Sunday, November 30, 2003. He was burried yesterday (December 2), and it was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. My Dad was a pillar in my life and a strong supporter of The Cooters. He will be sorely missed.

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Here's the obituary that appeared in papers yesterday:

Samuel Thomas "Tommy" Rayburn, 56, died Sunday, November 30, 2003, at his home in Oxford. He was an attorney with Rayburn & Coghlan Law Firm and a member of the First Presbyterian Church.

Services are scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at Waller Funeral Home Chapel, with the Reverend Curt Presley and the Reverend Sam Marshall officiating. Burial will follow in Oxford Memorial Cemetery. Visitation is today from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Waller Funeral Home.

A graduate of Mississippi State University, Rayburn graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1972. He was featured in James McElhaney's Litagation, Chapter 57 (ABA 1995), and was a nationally recognized expert on trial strategy and tactics.

He was a fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation, and a member of the Mississippi State Board of Bar Examiners, Character and Fitness Committee. He was a past-president and director of the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce. He also had served as chairman of the Lafayette County Democratic Executive Committee and as a member and chairman of the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife Conservation, and as a sustaining member of the Boy Scouts of America.

Survivors include his wife, Paige Bruce Rayburn, of Oxford; a daughter Smantha Paige Rayburn; four sons, Andrew Newton "Newt" Rayburn, Shelby Hooker Rayburn and Samuel Taylor Rayburn, all of Oxford and Thomas McCarver Rayburn of Vicksburg; his mother, Margaret Zeigler Rayburn of Grenada; and a brother, Harry Newton Rayburn Jr. of Water Valley.

Memorials may be made to Mississippi State University or to Oxford-University School.

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My dad was one of the most brilliant lawyers who ever practiced law in Mississippi. Alot can be written about his thirty year law carrer, but I would like to add that my father was a terrific bass player who recorded several singles for Stax Studios in the late 1960's. As a member of the Kangaroos, Tommy was produced and recorded by Issac Hayes and David Porter (of Sam and Dave). The Staple Singers sang backup. Dad was also a member of the Sugar Cube Blues Band who recorded singles with Jim Dickenson back in the day. I owe my entire music carreer to my dad. He got me started and not only taught me how to play bass and guitar, he taught me how to write songs. Much of the equipment I use today is my fathers, including the Trace-Elliot amps and the Fender P-Bass.