When Paul Webb Jr. took on a project, he didn’t do so halfheartedly.
The attorney didn’t have hobbies, but he had passions. And when he was interested in something, he learned everything he could about it, and he did whatever it was to the highest degree of perfection, family members said.
“Those passions included woodworking, and he made the most beautiful furniture,” said Harold Daniel, his son-in-law and former law partner. “He even built a cabin, and I mean he built it himself, in North Georgia.”
Mr. Webb was a practicing lawyer, not a home builder, but he could teach himself almost anything, said Gwyneth Webb, his wife of 61 years.
“He didn’t fear the unknown,” she said. “He was willing to be a pioneer in some situations.”
Paul Webb Jr., of Atlanta and Helen, died April 15 at Hospice Atlanta from complications of kidney failure. He was 90. His body was buried Saturday in Helen and a memorial service is planned for 1 p.m., Monday at St. James United Methodist Church, 4400 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Atlanta. H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill, is in charge of arrangements.
After graduating from high school in Lavonia, a few miles from the South Carolina border, Mr. Webb attended North Georgia College. After graduation he began working as a motion study engineer at a manufacturing company. His time there was not long, as he enlisted in the Army the day after the Pearl Harbor bombing, his family said. He served for almost five years, as a pilot, before returning to Atlanta where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Emory University. He went on to Harvard Law School and earned his J.D. degree, which he brought back to Atlanta and opened a private practice.
Mr. Webb’s practice allowed him to represent a vast array of clients, including Fulton County. In the years before Fulton County had its own attorney, private practice attorneys would take turns representing the county, Mr. Daniel said.
As an attorney, Mr. Webb was asked to help the Methodist Church in the late-‘60s when it decided to eliminate its Central Jurisdiction, merge with the Evangelical United Brethren and become the United Methodist Church, his family said.
In 1994, the firm of Webb & Daniel, which existed under one name or another since the ‘50s, merged with Tampa-based Holland & Knight. At the time of the merger, Mr. Webb was in his 70s but he wasn’t ready to retire. He had so many interests, that when he got around 80, he had to make some adjustments to his schedule, Mr. Daniel said.
“He did retire after he turned 80,” his son-in-law said. During his 80th year, Mr. Webb also stopped flying small planes, which is how he and his wife would visit friends and attend out-of-town events.
“He was someone I could go and have adventures with a still feel secure,” Mrs. Webb said. “I never feared for my safety with him, there was just always adventure.”
Mr. Webb is also survived by two sons, Paul Webb III of Lexington, Ga. and John Philip Webb of McDonough; daughters, Molly Swan of New Hope, Laurie Webb Daniel of Atlanta, and Susan Gregg of Decatur; 12 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
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