The Honorable Paul “Bill” Mitchell Glenn, Jr. passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 7, 2019, surrounded by family and loved ones. He is survived by his beloved wife, Karen, daughters Claire, Catherine, and Jill, sons Christopher and Kevin, as well as four grandsons, James, William, Reid, and Brock. He is also survived by his sister Joan Glenn.
Bill was born in Thomasville, Georgia on February 25, 1945, to the late Paul and Hortense McClellan Glenn. Raised in Tallahassee, he attended Florida State University on a basketball scholarship and was selected Most Valuable Player in his senior year. He graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from FSU, where his mother taught and was the dean of the School of Home Economics. He then attended law school at Duke University, where he was president of the law school student body. After Duke, Bill joined the law firm of Mahoney Hadlow Chambers & Adams and practiced law in both Jacksonville and Miami. During the 1980s, he served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Administrative Officer of two insurance companies. He returned to practice corporate and commercial law and litigation in the early 1990s until being appointed a United States Bankruptcy Judge in 1993.
In his 25 years as a bankruptcy judge, Bill was actively engaged in numerous local, state, and national bar and professional activities. Among other things, he traveled to Russia on an international judges’ visitation, was a guest lecturer at numerous law schools, a frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars, a contributing editor to preeminent bankruptcy publications, and president of Inns of Court in both Tampa and Jacksonville. He was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy, elected to the National Board of Trustees of the American Inns of Court Foundation, and appointed to the Budget Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States, on which he proudly served until 2017. His dedication to the legal profession and to the court was rivalled only by the distinction with which he served them. He was gracious in all things, generous with his time, and gentle but deliberate in his approach to the challenging issues that his work could present. Humility defined Bill, yet he was proud of the distinguished career that he built and the many friends he made along the way.
Bill was devoted to his family, his community, and his career. He loved playing golf, tennis, and basketball and avidly supported the Seminole and Blue Devil football and basketball teams. He also dearly loved his Labrador retrievers.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 13, 2019, at 11 a.m. at Southside United Methodist Church, and the family will receive friends and relatives for visitation and respects from 12 to 2 p.m. at Epping Forest Yacht Club. Private interment will be held in Oaklawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made in Bill’s honor to Labrador Retriever Rescue of Florida, Community Hospice of Jacksonville, or the Chester Bedell American Inn of Court for Chester Scholarship in Memory of Judge Paul M. Glenn, 101 E. Adams St., Jacksonville, FL 32202.
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