The Womble Bond Dickinson family mourns the passing of Roddey M. Ligon, Jr., a long-time Partner in the firm’s Winston-Salem office. He was 93.
Rod served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was the navigator on a B-24 crew that flew 35 bombing missions—often under extremely dangerous conditions—on enemy infrastructure in Germany, Austria, and Yugoslavia.
In 2015, Rod shared his war memories with the Winston-Salem Journal, using the detailed flight logs he kept more than 70 years earlier. Click here to read that article.
He returned stateside after the war ended and enrolled at the University of North Carolina, where he earned his bachelor’s and J.D. degrees. He graduated from the UNC School of Law in 1951 and spent 11 years as a Professor of Public Law and Government at the school.
He moved to Winston-Salem in 1964, taking a job as the Forsyth County Attorney. He also served as County Manager for the last two years of his tenure.
Then, in Jan. 1971, Rod joined Womble Bond Dickinson (then Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice), where he practiced until his retirement. He had worked closely with many of the firm’s lawyers, including Bill Womble Sr., while County Attorney. He built a reputation as one of the state’s top attorneys in the fields of municipal law and healthcare/hospital law.
In 2000, the firm honored Rod with its H. Grady Barnhill Jr. Service to Clients Award.
Long-time colleague Betty Quick said, “For those of us who knew and worked with Rod, he will always be remembered as a very gentle unassuming lawyer, whose quiet and gentlemanly charm won over many clients.”
Rod was preceded in death by his wife, Anne, and is survived by three children.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8 at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Winston-Salem.