C. Thomas Cone
GREENFIELD — Longtime local attorney C. Thomas Cone passed away Dec. 15 at the age of 84.
Cone was a partner at Williams Cone & Billings law firm in Greenfield for over 50 years, serving prominent local institutions and private clients for more than five decades before retiring in 2016.
He served on the board for Greenfield Banking Co. from 1970 to 2018 while also serving as the bank’s attorney.
“Tom probably was one of the most impactful people sitting on our board since the original bank president when the bank was formed in 1871,” said John Kennedy, the bank’s current president and chairman of the board.
Kennedy said Cone was instrumental in helping the community-based bank prosper through his 48 years of service.
“In my opinion, Tom’s probably the most influential board member among non-CEOs to have ever served the board,” he said. “We were a small bank when he first joined, and he helped us out tremendously through the years.”
When Cone retired from the board four years ago the board gave him the honorary title of board member emeritus, reserved for those who have provided exemplary service, making him the first to hold the prestigious honor in the bank’s 150-year history.
Kennedy said the title was fitting for someone as exceptionally active in numerous organizations as Cone was over the years.
Cone was the longtime attorney for not only Greenfield Banking Co. but also Hancock Regional Hospital and Hancock County Public Library. He was also a longtime member of the Hancock County Election Board, helping to organize and run local elections, for which he won the State of Indiana’s Distinguished Hoosier Award.
He also served as a member of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Merit Board and the Indiana Bar Association, and occasionally served as judge pro tem.
Cone was named Citizen of the Year by the Greenfield Area Chamber of Commerce in 2012.
Born in Irvington, the fresh-faced attorney found his way to Greenfield after earning a bachelor’s degree and law degree from Indiana University in Bloomington.
He and his wife Sally quickly learned to call Hancock County home, raising three children and eventually welcoming six grandchildren.
Cone founded the Williams & Cone law practice with his friend and partner, Glen Williams, in 1966, when the attorneys joined forces with two local insurance agents to build an office building at 222 N. State St., where the law firm remains today.
His longtime law partner, Tom Billings, who joined the practice in 1969, said it was an honor to serve alongside Cone for so many years.
“We were partners for 47 years and never had one argument in those 47 years,” said Billings. “He was just a super partner. I couldn’t have had anybody better than Tom.”
Ironically, both attorneys went by the same first initial and middle name — C. Thomas — which caused some laughter and confusion when clients called into the law office.
Despite all of Cone’s professional accomplishments, Billings said his longtime friend was so much more than a great lawyer. He was also a dedicated family man who was great at quoting Shakespeare, performing magic tricks for his grandkids, and pulling off trick shots on the billiards table in the basement of his Greenfield home.
Cone was also known to be a prolific writer. “In his younger days he would write poems about people he would meet. He was a very, very creative writer. He loved doing that,” said Billings.
He also loved playing bridge. Cone was a longtime member of the American Contract Bridge League, and once co-chaired the North American Bridge Championship tournament held in Indianapolis in 1991.
Reading was a passion for Cone, who participated in a local book club for a number of years. The attorney was well known for his ardent support of the Hancock County Spelling Bee, emceeing the event for many years at the local library.
Fittingly, his memorial visitation will be held at the Hancock County Public Library in Greenfield from noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 5, followed by a 3 p.m. memorial service at Erlewein Mortuary & Crematory in Greenfield.
