Wesley Randolph Lominick, Jr. departed this life peacefully on July 28, 2023, in his home in Oxford, Mississippi. Wes was born on April 2, 1931, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to parents Wesley Lominick, Sr. and Maude Bates Lominick. Wes was a longtime member of Crawford Street Methodist Church in Vicksburg and a faithful member of Oxford University United Methodist Church.
Wes grew up in a loving home with his sister Sandra who called him “Bubba.” He graduated from Carr Central High School before enrolling at the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity. After graduating from Ole Miss with a bachelor’s degree in 1952, he served in the United States Air Force as a lieutenant. Upon completing his military service, he enrolled in the University of Mississippi School of Law and served on the Judicial Council for two years before graduating with a juris doctorate degree in 1958.
Wes then returned to Vicksburg to join the law firm of Dent, Ward, Martin and Terry. He served as president of the Vicksburg Jaycees and as a director and board member of the Miss Mississippi Pageant. He also served as treasurer for the “Raising of the Cairo” project and later joined the Offices of Counsel at the Mississippi River Commission and at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station.
Wes was an active member of the Vicksburg Rotary Club and the Vicksburg Country Club. He enjoyed playing tennis and was an avid golfer. Additionally, he loved learning about photography, videography, and technology. When he wasn’t practicing law, playing golf or buying gadgets, he would often spend countless hours studying, planning, and thinking about crops, weather, commodity prices, and all things related to his love of farming. Wes enjoyed being actively involved in his farm operations; he dug ditches by hand, built fences, and conducted frequent inspections around the farm in his green ’70s-era Datsun–occasionally getting it stuck in the mud. For a period, he took up cattle farming with life-long friends, Dr. Karl Hatten and Dr. Homer Gardner. During those years, he lived up to his high-school nickname, “Lightning”, when he once approached an angry bull and had to quickly run to the barbed-wire fence and jump over it in record time, startling onlookers.
Wes had a deep love for his alma mater. He loved watching Ole Miss football and he frequently boasted about new buildings being constructed on campus, new sports fields being prepared for his Rebels, or new degree programs being created by the university. To Wes, Ole Miss was “one of the best in the world,” so much so that he never officially recognized Mississippi State as a university, instead referring to the rival school as “State College.”
In retirement, Wes moved to Oxford, where he reconnected with many college classmates and made new friends on the golf course, at the bridge table, and in book club. He remained fit and healthy throughout his life, attending the Ole Miss vs. Auburn football game last fall and hitting his last golf ball just a few months ago at age ninety-two.
The most precious gifts he gave his family were his unconditional love, perseverance through all of life’s trials, and his generosity in all things. He spent time as a Sunday School teacher and sought God’s will in his life, comforted in his final days by his faith in his Heavenly Father.
Wes was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Sandra Lominick Lackey and her husband, Bob Lackey. He is survived by his wife, Darlene Daffin Lominick of Oxford, Mississippi. He will be lovingly remembered by his children Anne Lominick Portera (Chris) and Wesley R. Lominick, III (Debbie), Wren Dabney (Bill) and grandchildren, Claire Lominick, Liza Lominick, Elly Lominick, Ashley Portera, Wesley Portera, Trip Dabney (Miranda), Alison Dabney Logan (Drake), Sally Kate Dabney, Tad Dabney, and his nephew John Lackey and niece Heather Huetter (David).
Memorials may be sent to the University of Mississippi, the University of Mississippi School of Law or the University of Mississippi Law Library at https://umfoundation.givingfuel.com/
His family wishes to thank all of the healthcare providers who rendered him excellent, caring service.
Wes requested a small family ceremony, which will be August 11 at 10 a.m. at Greenlawn Gardens Cemetery in Vicksburg.
