Larkspur Conservation – Nashville, Tennessee

Obituary

H. Naill Falls, Jr. (64), died peacefully on February 9th at his Nashville home, surrounded by his family.

Naill was always his own man. Known for his quiet demeanor, keen intellect, and dry wit, he also inspired us with his elemental commitment to excellence, equality, and integrity. His friends and family know well that he didn’t suffer flatterers and fools lightly. His friends were carefully chosen and much loved. Dinner at home with good friends, good food, and good wine was his idea of a perfect evening.

Naill’s prodigious vocabulary, coupled with his near-perfect recall of history, literature, movies, and sports, provided abundant fuel for the magnificent letters and silly poems he wrote for his wife and children on birthdays and holidays. These poems and letters will be treasured always for revealing his true self.

Always obsessed with sports and fitness, he evolved from the Yale golf team to become an ardent recreational golfer and tennis player. After his three children arrived in two years, in his mid-forties, he abandoned golf and tennis to devote more time to the joyful chaos created by the “beasts” at home. In a nod to self-preservation amid that happy bedlam, he took up daily meditation and running. He continued competing in 200-meter Masters track races at the local, state, and national level until two years before his death. He took his last jog four weeks before his death and declared the freedom of running “heaven.”

Naill died like he lived: privately and uniquely. While he wished for a much longer time with his family and friends, he never felt short-changed by his diagnosis. He always claimed his life had brought him every blessing he wanted, and he had more than his fair share of good things. He was a good man who will be deeply missed.

Born on October 26, 1953, in Memphis, TN, he was raised in Wynne, AK. He is survived by his wife of 27 years, the former Mary Elizabeth Beltz; his daughter, Catherine Woods Falls; and his twin sons, Andrew Naill Falls and Christopher Beltz Falls. He also is survived by his sisters, Nancy Falls (Neil Price) and Jessie McClure; his brother, Everett Woods Falls; and his many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He is predeceased by his parents, Jessie Woods Howard Falls and Harold Naill Falls, Sr.

He is a graduate of Wynne High School and Yale University(Branford College, Class of 1975). Naill graduated Order of the Coif from the Vanderbilt University School of Law (Class of 1979). He also served as the Managing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. Upon graduation, he clerked for Judge Harry Wellford of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Thereafter, he practiced commercial and securities litigation in Nashville.

Family and friends will celebrate Naill’s life and honor his memory at a Rite of Farewell to be celebrated Saturday, February 17, 2018, at 2 PM at Christ the King Catholic Church, Nashville, TN. Visitation will be held at Montgomery Bell Academy on Friday, February 16th, from 4 PM to 6 PM. Committal services will be held privately at Larkspur Conservation at Taylor Hollow. If desired, memorial gifts may be made to the Tennessee Justice Center or Alive Hospice.