The upstairs Clinton Circuit Courtroom at the Clinton County Courthouse will soon have a name, as Clinton County Fiscal Court, at its regular monthly meeting last Thursday, September 17, voted unanimously to dedicate the courtroom in honor of the late Eddie C. Lovelace.

Ironically, Lovelace passed away exactly three years prior, September 17, 2012, to the day that the honor was being bestowed in his memory.

Judge Executive Richard Armstrong recommended the dedication, but a few years prior, Second District Magistrate Ricky Craig had also made a similar recommendation.

A few members of the late Judge Lovelace family was in the courtroom when the action was taken, including his son Chris and some of his grandchildren. Lovelace’s wife Joyce and daughter Karen were unable to be present.

After the vote was taken, an emotional Chris Lovelace, in thanking Judge Armstrong and the fiscal court, noted his father had put in 45 years of service to Clinton County prior to his untimely death three years ago.

“It’s been three years ago today that Dad passed,” Lovelace said. “I’m honored that you are doing this.”

Lovelace also noted Judge Armstrong’s sister was the first secretary his father had when he first got into the practice of law and noted he was friends with about everyone in the courtroom during last week’s meeting. “He dedicated his life and his career to Clinton County,” Lovelace said.

Judge Lovelace, as he was affectionately known by most, began his career as an attorney in the 1960s, and he held many positions, including that of City Attorney, for several years in the 70s and 80s, as 40th Judicial Circuit Commonwealth’s Attorney, and was serving another term as 40th Judicial Circuit Judge, which is now comprised of Russell, Cumberland and Monroe counties at the time of his illness and passing.

Judge Lovelace’s life was cut short in an unlikely manner, as he died at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville from meningitis caused by earlier receiving a steroid epidural medication tainted by a virus that also claimed the lives of several other individuals.

Lovelace was being treated and was receiving the shots at St. Thomas Hospital Clinic for chronic back pain prior to his death, in what the family first believed to be from a series of strokes before learning of the tainted epidural treatments.

Although most known for his legal profession, Judge Lovelace wore many hats, including being a leading political figure not only in Clinton County but in the region, and was also civic minded, being a long-time member of Albany Masonic Lodge and the Albany Lions Club, among others.

Lovelace was also known as a historian and renowned public speaker, often being asked to speak at meetings, patriotic gatherings and other events. He was also a long-time member of Albany First Baptist Church.

Judge Lovelace was the son of the late Amp and Flonnie Brown Lovelace and, in fact, he preceded his mother in death. Mrs. Flonnie Lovelace was the oldest living resident in Clinton County before her passing earlier this year at the age of 101.

Lovelace’s wife Joyce and two children, Chris and Karen Lovelace Talbott, still all reside in Clinton County.