Joe D. Duncan, retired presiding judge of the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals and elder of the East Tennessee politically connected Duncan family, has died at age 100.
Duncan, a Republican, established himself in the judicial field after being elected Knox County Criminal Court judge in 1966 and being re-elected thereafter until appointed by then Republican Gov. Winfield Dunn to the Court of Criminal Appeals in 1975. He remained on the court through elections, became presiding judge and served until his retirement in 1990.
Duncan’s son, Phil, said the judge’s granddaughter, Meredyth, was at his bedside at NHC Farragut, holding his hand, when he died early today. The retired judge’s cat, Sox, “was attending,” he said. Joe Duncan had lived in recent years at the facility since his wife, Louetta, died in 2017…