Tom Paul Calhoun III, a well-known Greenwood attorney who had a friendly demeanor and a penchant for sports, died Saturday. He was 73.
Born and raised in Greenwood, Mr. Calhoun graduated from Greenwood High School in 1966, where he was a stellar basketball player.
He completed his undergraduate studies at Delta State University and then graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1973.
Throughout his decades-long law career, which he practiced until his death, Mr. Calhoun earned several achievements, such as his enrollment as a fellow of the Mississippi Bar Foundation in 2014.
Charlie Swayze Jr., a Greenwood attorney, met Mr. Calhoun in the 1970s when Mr. Calhoun was working for a local law firm. The two became close friends.
“Since the ’70s, Tom and I, we practiced law together for a number of years,” Swayze said.
Mr. Calhoun had served as a prosecuting attorney for Leflore County as well as an assistant district attorney, a part-time job in which he prosecuted felony cases in a five-county area, including Leflore, Swayze said.
He added that he worked with Mr. Calhoun on both civil and criminal cases.
“He was very good at it,” Swayze said.
Mr. Calhoun worked on a variety of cases, representing a plethora of people, from police brutality lawsuits in Greenwood to election contests.
Outside of law, Swayze and Mr. Calhoun bonded through sports and travel.
“He was as good an athlete as you could find in our area,” Swayze said, noting that he and Mr. Calhoun were tennis partners for almost two decades.
“He was also a very good golfer,” he added.
Dr. Michael Whelan, a Greenwood psychologist, met Mr. Calhoun when Whelan was in the 11th grade.
“He was a great basketball player and one of my best buddies all throughout these years,” Whelan said.
The two attended Delta State together and briefly law school until Whelan dropped out while Mr. Calhoun stuck it out, the friend recalled.
The two also traveled often together to New Orleans.
“Tom was always full of life and always laughing and joking,” Whelan said. “He had a wonderful sense of humor.”
“He had the quickest, driest wit. We had many, many laughs together,” said another high school friend, Tommy Gregory of Gregory and Associates Inc., a Greenwood-based consulting firm.
Back in high school, Mr. Calhoun, Gregory and members of Greenwood High’s basketball team spent many days shooting hoops in Gregory’s backyard, where a basketball goal was set up.
“I’ve never seen anybody shoot a basketball like Tom,” Gregory said.
Mr. Calhoun later joined a hunting club Gregory formed. He recounted on one duck hunting occasion that Mr. Calhoun — who was with his son, Taylor Calhoun, and another man — quickly stood up on a canoe to pop off a shot.
“They took a quick, cold bath,” since Mr. Calhoun had caused the boat to tip over, Gregory recalled with a soft laugh.
About two weeks later, Mr. Calhoun sold that canoe, Gregory added.
“He was a good friend. We had a lot of good times together,” Gregory said.
Mr. Calhoun is survived by his wife of 28 years, Vivian Calhoun, as well as his children, Taylor Rhodes Calhoun and Callie Calhoun Kidder, and five grandchildren.
Visitation services will be held starting at noon Wednesday at Wilson and Knight Funeral Home. Services will be held at the funeral home’s chapel at 2 p.m. Interment will take place afterwards at Odd Fellows Cemetery on Carrollton Avenue.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 662-581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
