JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Retired Mississippi Supreme Court Presiding Justice Kay B. Cobb died on Friday, May 26 at her home in Lenoir City, Tennessee. She was 81.

A memorial service will be held for Cobb, but a date has not been announced.

Cobb was the second woman to serve on the Mississippi Supreme Court, serving from 1999 until 2007.

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. was a law school classmate and a colleague on the Court. He said, “She was fearlessly independent. I have always been impressed with her determination and work ethic, exemplified by her entering law school with two young daughters at home.”

Former Gov. Kirk Fordice appointed Justice Cobb to the Supreme Court on April 1, 1999. She was elected in 2000 to a full term. She served for eight years, retiring on May 1, 2007.

Her first elective office was in the Mississippi Senate. She served as state Senator for District 9, representing Calhoun, Lafayette and Yalobusha counties, from January 1992 to January 1996.