Troy Bentley Overton 

Inductees
Graduation Year: 1980
Induction Year: 2019

Troy Bentley Overton was a West Point graduate, a U.S. Army aviator, and Judge Advocate General who provided legal services to troops in Afghanistan, and went on to serve as Deputy Attorney General of California.

At Marion High School, “O.T.”, as he was called by friends, where he was elected vice president of his class, earned eight varsity letters, was a member of the National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and graduated seventh in his class. He also earned the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts.

After graduating from MHS, he was nominated to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point by then-Senator Richard Lugar, and went on to earn his bachelor’s degree in engineering there. He then served as a U.S. Army Aviator for six years, with his assignments including helicopter patrols over North Korea’s Demilitarized Zone. He then earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Santa Clara University and afterward served as a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Army Reserve for 16 years. He earned various service awards and honors from the U.S. Army in recognition of his service.

He also served as a lawyer in California, first in private practice, then in the California Department of Transportation Legal Department, and then as the Deputy Attorney General for the State of California.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, In the midst of that successful career as a public servant, and with a young family at home, Lieutenant Colonel Overton mobilized to active duty as Judge Advocate General with the U.S. Army Reserve and was deployed to Afghanistan, where he provided superb legal expertise and services to the troops and mentored other many other legal professionals he served with through a demanding mobilization. He led with compassion and treated all with dignity and respect, fostering a can-do resilient spirit that would make any unit proud.

He was honored for his outstanding work for the State of California with the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in 2008, by then-Attorney General Jerry Brown. Although this award placed him in a rare category of legal accomplishment, he always retained a humble demeanor and was known for his humor and his always-open door — and always-full candy jar — ready to welcome any visitors.

In addition to his professional life as a public servant, he spent countless hours volunteering for causes that were dear to him, including service on the volunteer Appeals Hearing Board for the City of San Jose, California, to which he was appointed for eight consecutive years. He also took a voluntary leadership role with The Salvation Army in San Jose, for which he served as chairman of the professional Advisory Council, and also served as the Program Committee Chair, working to support The Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Center in San Jose, a six-month treatment program for men struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
Troy spent his life in service to others, and never ceased to exemplify living fully for something greater than one’s self. He passed away in December 2016 after a four-year battle with brain cancer. He is survived by his wife, Carol, a California State Judge, and their daughter, Colette.

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