13233388_10157003934395171_907790152_nK.R. “Dick” Hoyle, who served Lee County as its attorney for decades, died on Sunday, the Rant has learned.

Hoyle began his local service as attorney for the town of Broadway in 1953, according to this 2003 profile from the North Carolina Institute of Government. A Lee County native, he later became county attorney and served until 2012.

Hoyle’s long career also apparently included at least one stint as a prosecutor; this 1958 clipping from the Burlington Times-News identifies him as the state’s solicitor in the case against Frank Wetzel, the man convicted in two of North Carolina’s most notorious murders.

The Rant offers condolences to Hoyle’s family.