Judge Don Edwin Stokes

TYLER — A celebration of life for Don Edwin Stokes, 79, of Tyler and Sedona, Arizona, will be held at the Chapel on the Hill and Kenny Ponder Park on the campus of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 24, 2021. A private graveside service will be held in Sedona, AZ at a later date. Visitation will be held following the celebration, also at Chapel on the Hill and Kenny Ponder Park. Judge Stokes was born February 10, 1941 in Dallas, Texas to John and Marie Stokes. He passed away Wednesday, January 20, 2021. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson in Dallas in 1959. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Southern Methodist University in 1965, majoring in Business and Law and Accounting. He was accepted to Southern Methodist University Law School where he graduated with honors in 1965. Judge Stokes received the Order of the Woolsack, now known as the Order of the Coif, an honorary scholastic society for achieving excellence in legal education while at SMU. He was also the recipient of the Wilbur E. Kilborn Scholarship and was Moot Court Group Leader and a member of Delta Theta Phi Law Fraternity. He won awards for Brief Writing and Domestic Relations through American Jurisprudence and served on the staff of Law Journal for a year. After graduating from SMU Law School, he served as a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation under J. Edgar Hoover in Portland, OR and Chicago, IL. He moved to Marshall in 1969 and became the First Assistant District Attorney before being appointed Harrison County Judge in 1973, filling an unexpired term of Judge Jim Ammerman I. He was elected County Judge in 1974. Judge Stokes served as County Judge until 1977, at which time he was appointed as the first Harrison County Court-at-Law Judge until 1982. He was later appointed to serve as interim County Court-at-Law Judge in 1996. He practiced law in Marshall more than 40 years. He was Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Trial Law. He was a Fellow of the College of the State Bar of Texas and was admitted to practice in all Texas courts, United States District Courts for the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Fifth Circuits and the Supreme Court of the United States. Judge Stokes was a member of the Harrison County Bar Association. He brought juvenile justice to Harrison County through the creation of the Juvenile Center during his County Judge tenure. He also served as a Board Member for the East Texas Council of Government, Chairman of the Harrison Country Juvenile Board and Chairman of the Harrison County Juvenile Advisory Board. He was President of the Marshall Rotary Club and Past President of the Marshall Jaycees, receiving the Blalock Trophy for Outstanding Jaycee of the Year in 1973. He served on the Camp Fire Board and Harrison County Red Cross Board and was the recipient of the Alpha Phi Alpha Outstanding Citizen Award in 1976. He was Chairman of the Marshall Downtown Development Corporation. Judge Stokes was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church in Marshall and served as Administrative Board Member and Elementary 1 Sunday School Teacher. He was Vice President of Trinity Episcopal Day School Board and a Board Member of the Marshall Soccer League. He married Jane Bergstrom of Marshall in 1965. She preceded him in death in 2001. He married Cindy Edwards in 2006 in Sedona, Arizona. He was preceded in death by his parents, mother-in-law, Jo Edwards, and his beloved Beagles, Jingles and Tempie, and Standard Poodles Madeleine and Ellexis. Survivors include his wife, Cindy Edwards Stokes of Tyler, Texas and Sedona, Arizona; a son, Scott Bergstrom Stokes of New York and Susan Stokes Zunker of Watersound, Florida.; grandchildren Harrison Hohn, Annajane Hohn and Sophie Zunker, all of Watersound, Florida; his sister and brother-in-law, Joann and Sam Breitling of Kingwood, Texas, his sister-in-law Diane Edwards Seal and husband Jeff of Marshall; two special nephews and their wives, Justin Seal and Jenny of Longview and Jared Seal and Jodi of Tyler, five nieces and one other nephew; and great-nephews and nieces Jacob Seal, Joshua Seal, Peyton Seal, Harper Seal, Julia Seal and Fletcher Seal; and his two Standard Poodles Brooklyn and Jolie. Honorary Pallbearers include Gene Ponder, Jim Ammerman II, Harrison Hohn, Leroy Fisher, Rick Berry, Bill Dawson, Mike Duncan, Jeff Seal, Justin Seal, Jared Seal and Roland Green. The family requests in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Jo Edwards Spirit of Trinity Scholarship Fund at Trinity Episcopal School, 2905 Rosborough Springs Road, Marshall, TX 75672 or the John Gordon Media Center at First United Methodist Church, 300 East Houston St., Marshall, TX 75670. Online condolences may be offered at www.meadowbrookfh.com