GREENSBORO BAR ASSOCIATION

Memorial Resolution
for
Robert C. Cone

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, by the Greensboro Bar Association at its regularly scheduled meeting on April 19, 2018, that:

WHEREAS, Robert C. Cone died on March 18, 2017, in Greensboro, North Carolina after a long period of declining health; and

WHEREAS, this Association desires to reflect upon his exemplary career and service to the Greensboro, Eighteenth Judicial District and North Carolina State Bar Associations, his clients and the community, and the minutes should therefore reflect that:

Bob was born in Greensboro on February 13, 1952, to Barbara and Herman Cone, Jr.

He graduated from The Asheville School, was awarded the Morehead-Cain Scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to obtain his Juris Doctorate from University of North Carolina School of Law.

In 1972, before finishing his undergraduate degree, he took a year off and lived in Israel on a kibbutz where he specialized in harvesting bananas. He made lifelong friends, fell in love with Israel and the kibbutz, and returned many times over the ensuing years.

Bob met his wife, Sally, while they were both in law school.  They married in 1978, just after each of them had graduated and passed the North Carolina bar examination. The couple settled in Greensboro and Bob soon entered private practice. He spent the bulk of his career at Tuggle Duggins law firm where he remained devoted to his clients until his final days. He viewed the practice of law as an honorable profession to be used for the good of society, and he put that philosophy into practice every day with clients from all walks of life.

As an active and caring community leader, Bob quietly contributed to many charitable causes. He served for 20 years on the Board of Directors of what is now known as Cone Health, and later became Board Chairman of the Cone Health Foundation. He was a Trustee and Board Chairman of the Greensboro Public Library and a past President of Greensboro Rotary Club. He served as a Board member of Greensboro Urban Ministry and of the Old North State Boy Scout Council. He  served as President of the Greensboro Bar Association and was a driving force in establishing the Herbert Falk Society, which fosters and encourages pro bono legal work by the Association’s  members. He also served on the UNC-Chapel Hill Law Foundation and as a member of the North Carolina State Bar Council.

Bob was an active volunteer in multiple capacities with the Greensboro Jewish Federation, chairing its annual fund-raising campaign in 2013, and also serving as a board member of the Jewish Foundation of Greensboro. He was a life-long member of Temple Emanuel, where he taught Sunday school for many years and worked to preserve and perpetuate its Greene Street historic location.

He was the recipient of the Greensboro Bar Association’s Centennial Community Service Award in 2011, and the North Carolina State Bar’s John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award in 2016.

Bob was co-recipient with his wife Sally, a dedicated community leader in her own right, of the 2016 Brotherhood/Sisterhood Citation Award given annually by the National Conference for Community and Justice.

Bob was tireless, selfless, and committed. He also loved music – regularly attending regional folk festivals and continuing to play his cherished vinyl albums. He was also interested in ways to beautify his surrounding community and thus became a strong advocate of the downtown Greensboro revitalization effort and an avid fundraiser for Greensboro’s Greenway.

Bob is survived by Sally, his loving wife of 38 years; his two children, Sam and Laurie; his mother, Barbara; his brothers, Tom and Herman, and their respective families.

Among other passions, Bob was an ardent devotee of the music of Bob Dylan.  It is submitted that the lyrics of the following Dylan song capture the heartfelt message that Bob would convey to all of us, if he were standing here tonight:

May God bless and keep you always; may your wishes all come true
May you always do for others; and let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars; and climb on every rung
May you stay
Forever young

Bob Cone

NOW,  THEREFORE,  BE IT RESOLVED:  that the Greensboro Bar Association, at this duly assembled meeting of its members,  hereby adopts this Resolution to honor and memorialize the life and works of our colleague,  Robert C. Cone; and hereby directs that this Resolution be made part of the official records of the Association and that a true copy hereof be delivered to Bob’s family in token of the esteem, high regard, and enduring affection in which he is held by his friends and colleagues of the Bar.

DONE BY ACCLAMATION at the annual joint meeting of the members of the Greensboro Bar Association and the Eighteenth Judicial District Bar, this, the 19th day of April, 2018.

Sarah H. Roane, President