File #: RS2023-2359    Name:
Type: Resolution Status: Passed
File created: 7/28/2023 In control: Metropolitan Council
On agenda: Final action: 8/1/2023
Title: A resolution honoring the life of George Harrison Cate, Jr., the first Vice Mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.
Sponsors: Angie Henderson, Burkley Allen, Emily Benedict, Russ Bradford, Tom Cash, Erin Evans, Jennifer Gamble, Jonathan Hall, Tonya Hancock, Gloria Hausser, Courtney Johnston, Bob Mendes, Kathleen Murphy, Bob Nash, Freddie OConnell, Sean Parker, Russ Pulley, Kevin Rhoten, Mary Carolyn Roberts, Dave Rosenberg, John Rutherford, Sandra Sepulveda, Colby Sledge, Joy Styles, Zulfat Suara, Robert Swope, Jeff Syracuse, Kyonzte Toombs, Nancy VanReece, Ginny Welsch, Brett Withers, Zach Young
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A resolution honoring the life of George Harrison Cate, Jr., the first Vice Mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County.

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WHEREAS, George Harrison Cate, Jr. passed away on December 18, 2020 at the age of 92; and

WHEREAS, Cate, Jr. was a lifelong resident of Nashville, graduating from East Nashville High School as valedictorian in 1945, and then attending Vanderbilt University; and

WHEREAS, at Vanderbilt, Cate, Jr. was elected president of the Student Union, the Student Christian Association, and the Honor Council. He graduated Cum Laude in 1949, and went on to Vanderbilt Law School where he graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1951; and

WHEREAS, Cate, Jr. married his wife Carolyn Ward Bass in 1949, and the couple raised four children together; Lyn, Cathy, Emily, and George III; and

WHEREAS, in 1951, Cate, Jr. began his legal career as a partner with his father, George H. Cate, Sr. at Cate & Cate, Attorneys until his father's death in 1978; and

WHEREAS, Cate, Jr.'s legal career spanned 63 years, ending with his retirement in 2014. During his career, Cate, Jr. received the John C. Tune Public Service Award, an honor given to the Nashville Bar Association member who has shown the highest degree of dedication to the betterment of the community in which he or she lives; and

WHEREAS, Cate, Jr. also served in the military beginning in 1952 with two years of active duty as First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps in Washington, D.C. He continued his military service as a member of the Army Reserve and was promoted to Brigadier General in 1979, serving until 1984 as commander of a military police brigade; and

WHEREAS, Cate, Jr. received the Legion of Merit for his outstanding military service and achievements; and

WHEREAS, Cate, Jr. was instrumental in the creation of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County in the 1960s; and

WHEREAS, after the Metro Charter was defeated in a referendum in...

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