Extracted from The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
Wednesday, March 11, 1998

OTC STOCK PIONEER REDDOCH DIES

James Norbert ‘Bert’ Reddoch watched the world of investment banking grow and change during more than 40 years in the business.

The former owner of James N. Reddoch and Company Investment Securities died Monday of cardiovascular disease at Saint Francis Hospital. He was 85.

Mr. Reddoch started as an investment banker when the idea of buying mutual funds was as foreign to the average person as another language.

“If you'd stop a man on the street and talk to him about mutual funds, he wouldn't know what you were talking about,” said Mr. Reddoch in a 1989 interview.

He was one of the early dealers in “over-the-counter” stocks. He sold them literally over the counter of his office in the days before the computerized stock exchange.

Mr. Reddoch got into the investment business fresh from a stay at the old Kennedy Hospital in 1945. He had served as captain of the 60th Infantry Division Nine at the Battle of the Bulge and came home with 16 bullet wounds. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

After he recovered, Mr. Reddoch and Gordon Meeks went into business together. Several years later, Mr. Reddoch started his own firm. He sold it in 1973 and went to work for Morgan Keegan & Co. in 1976. He retired in 1989.

A graduate of Mississippi State University, Mr. Reddoch excelled at boxing and football. The three-time Golden Glove boxing champion was elected to the Mississippi State Hall of Fame.

Mr. Reddoch was a charter member of the University Club, a member of the Kiwanis Club and served on many civic boards. He was also a member of Second Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Reddoch, the widower of Mozelle Critz Reddoch, leaves two daughters, Sondra Lynn Reddoch of Germantown and Susan Reddoch McCue of Fairview, Okla.; two sisters, Eleanor Canty of Gulfport, Miss., and Christine Jordan of Texas; a brother, Charles Reddoch of Mississippi, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be at noon Friday at Memorial Park Funeral Home with burial in Memorial Park. The family requests that any memorials be made to Memphis Botanic Garden or a charity of the donor's choice.