Samuel O. Southern died on January 3, 2026. He was 81. Sam was a highly regarded and accomplished attorney who practiced law in Raleigh for over four decades. He was a loving husband and father devoted to his family.

Born in Raleigh in 1944, Sam was the third of four children of William L. Southern and Rowena Tesh Southern. He was educated in the Raleigh public schools, graduating from Broughton High School in 1962, where he was President of the Student Council. He was awarded an Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship to Duke University, where he graduated as president of his class in 1966. He received a Law Alumni Scholarship to the University of North Carolina Law School in Chapel Hill, where he was selected Chief Judge of the Moot Court Bench.

Following graduation from law school in 1969, Sam was commissioned as Lieutenant (Junior Grade) in the JAG Corps of the United States Navy. He served on active duty for more than four years during the Vietnam War era, returning to Raleigh to begin the practice of law in 1974 with the law firm that would become Harris, Cheshire, Leager & Southern. He remained in the private practice of law in Wake County for 42 years, most recently as a partner with Smith Moore Leatherwood LLP, where he had also served as a member of the firm's Management Committee. Although his practice was broad, his specialties became health care law and complex litigation in state and federal courts. Throughout his career, he mentored and trained young lawyers, instilling in them the values that defined his own career and the ideals of the profession.

Sam was regularly selected by his peers for recognition in the publications Best Lawyers in America and North Carolina Super Lawyers, giving him the highest ratings in both legal knowledge and ethics. In 2010, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Health Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association for his “lifelong achievements to the Bar, the healthcare profession and the general public.” The Bar again honored him in 2015 with the John B. McMillan Distinguished Service Award.

Parkinson’s Disease forced Sam into retirement in 2016. Facing this chronic, incurable and progressive illness for over a decade, Sam carried on until the end with dignity, standing up for the values and causes he cherished.

Sam was an American patriot. He recognized that the good life that Americans enjoy today has been achieved only through the sacrifice of others. He provided pro bono legal services to many, including veterans. His faithful recognition of Memorial Day and Veterans Day was well-known to his friends and colleagues. While practicing law and raising a family at home, he continued his uniformed service as a Naval Reserve officer, being promoted "first time every time" through the grade of Navy Captain, the rank at which he retired in 1999 after thirty years of military service. For the last five years of his Navy career, he served as a Military Judge, presiding over courts martial on both the east and west coasts. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of the United States in 1993. During the next twenty-two years, four consecutive governors of both political parties appointed him to the USS North Carolina Battleship Commission, including a term as Chairman. For his record of civic service, he was awarded the Order of Long Leaf Pine by the Governor of North Carolina and the Order of the Palmetto by the Governor of South Carolina.

Sam loved classical music, history books, travel and gardening, and he was an excellent chef. He valued the differences he found in people, and he believed that from diversity came strength. He championed the rights of the individual. He was a lifelong Democrat and proud to be a supporter of liberal candidates and liberal causes, great and small. He placed loyalty, friendship and character ahead of politics, however, and he counted among his best friends those whose political affiliation differed from his own. In his profession, he never compromised his integrity.

Most of all, Sam loved his wife Mary Bernier Southern and his children, who survive him. Those who knew Sam and Mary recognized the mutual trust and respect that was the foundation of their marriage. He was a loving and generous father devoted to his four children: Samantha Falcoz-Vigne of Raleigh, Benjamin Southern (Debra Gibson) of Wake Forest, Katherine Southern (Jae Unker) of Springfield, Oregon, and Rebecca Anderson Southern of Wake Forest. He is also survived by grandchildren Jack Falcoz-Vigne, Audrey Southern, and Spencer Southern, by brothers William Daniel Southern of Raleigh and Michael Tesh Southern (Kathleen) of Raleigh, and by many nieces, nephews, and other relatives who loved him. He was predeceased by his parents and his only sister, Ann Southern Ethridge.

The family extends its gratitude to the caring staff of 3HC Home Health & Hospice Care, Inc., at the Kitty Askins Hospice Center in Goldsboro.

A gathering in celebration of Sam’s life will be held for family and close friends at a future date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial, or the Navy & Marine Corps Relief Society.