Dewey Oxner was a native of Kinards, South Carolina. He was educated at Newberry College, where he received an A.B. degree and at the University of South Carolina Law School, where he was granted an LL.B. with top honors in 1920. He married Frances Ruckman of Staunton, Virginia in 1930. A son bearing his name is a member of the Greenville Bar.
He practiced law in Greenville with the late Stephen Nettles; served two terms in the South Carolina House of Representatives and was elected, in 1932, as a Circuit Judge. In 1944, he was elevated to the South Carolina Supreme Court on which he served until his death.
He enjoyed the companionship of many friends. He was a faithful member and officer of Buncombe Street Methodist Church in Greenville. Justice Oxner’s worth to the Supreme Court was manifest — a keen intellect, judicial temperament, innate honesty, diligence in research and complete impartiality. He was “an able man — a man of truth.”