This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Nash, Farris, Barton Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/GeV.2ACEB/2162 Message Board Post: Thomas Joseph Farris, 57, of Wilson died Thursday April 20, 2006, of a heart attack while defending a client in Wake County District Court. A funeral mass will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Therese Catholic Church conducted by Rev. Justin Kerber, C.P. Burial will follow in Maplewood Cemetery. Mr. Farris was born in Wilson on January 2, 1949, to the late Mary Elizabeth Nash and Robert A. Farris. He was a devoted father and was dearly loved by three surviving daughters, Tiare Erin Farris of Philadelphia, Lauren Haley Farris and Rebecca Brittany Farris, both of Wilson; a sister, Mary Elizabeth Barton and husband, Michael of Virginia Beach, VA; two brothers, Robert A. Farris, Jr. and wife, Nancy, and William C. Farris and wife Connie, all of Wilson. He attended St. Therese Catholic School and graduated from Fike High School and the University of North Carolina, Phi Beta Kappa, 1970, and UNC School of Law with honors, 1973, with the Order of the Coif and Law Review. He practiced law in Raleigh with Boyce, Mitchell, Burns & Smith and in the Raleigh office of Farris, Thomas & Farris. Since 1999, he practiced in Wilson with Farris & Farris, P.A. The family will receive friends from 7-9 p.m. tonight at Joyner's Funeral Home, 4100 Raleigh Road Parkway. Memorials may be made to the scholarship fund of St. Therese Catholic School, 700 W. Nash St., Wilson, NC 27893.