dailycorinthian.com - North Mississippi's Local News = Source

Officials=20 remember
Judge Dean
Published = Tuesday, April=20 22
By Jebb Johnston
Staff Writer

Funeral = services for=20 former Corinth city judge, former Mississippi legislator and = staunch=20 veterans advocate James Porter Dean are scheduled for=20 Thursday.

Dean, who served 29 years as Corinth's = municipal judge,=20 died Saturday at Magnolia Regional Health Center at the age of = 74. He=20 suffered from a respiratory ailment for many years but remained = active=20 until his final days.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. = Thursday at=20 First United Methodist Church.

As municipal judge for = Corinth,=20 Dean handled some 3,200 cases annually during his almost three = decades=20 of service.

"He did a great job for the city of Corinth," = said=20 Mayor Jerry Latch. "He was easy to work with and a very = understanding=20 individual. His leadership with the American Legion will also = always be=20 remembered and appreciated."

Dean was also a mainstay in = local=20 elections and politics. Circuit Clerk Joe Caldwell referred to = him as,=20 "Mr. Elections."

"I think when he got up in the morning, = it was=20 elections until the time he went to bed at night," said = Caldwell. "He=20 loved the people and loved to get involved in these elections. = He was=20 always there to help the election commissioners on redistricting = or no=20 matter what it was. He had really worked hard in the last two = months=20 trying to promote the early voting."

As attorney for the = election commission, a position he held for an estimated 35 to = 40 years,=20 Dean had been working with the commission to advocate early = voting as a=20 way to increase voter turnout while curtailing voter fraud in = the=20 absentee voting system.

Election Commission Chairman = Wendell=20 Dixon said Dean's tenure as attorney predates his own 24 years = with the=20 commission, and Dean never missed a meeting.

"I don't = know=20 anybody more dedicated," said Dixon. "He would go above and = beyond the=20 call of duty to help us."

While still attending the = University of=20 Mississippi School of Law, Dean was elected to the Mississippi = House of=20 Representatives, serving from 1960 to 1964. He then served in = the=20 Mississippi Senate from 1964 to 1968.

The practicing = attorney=20 since 1961 was an important player in Corinth's efforts to = utilize urban=20 renewal programs in the early 1960s, and he is credited with = helping=20 Corinth become a trailblazer among Southern cities in = implementing=20 federal programs. At a time when the Mississippi Legislature was = talking=20 of banning urban renewal programs in the state, Dean, as a state = representative, was able to get an exception for = Corinth.

In a=20 2006 interview, Troy Norris, who chaired the Corinth Urban = Renewal=20 Agency during those early efforts, praised Dean's = efforts.

"I=20 never will forget," said Norris, "at the hearing, one of the = legislators=20 from Jackson said, =8CIf Corinth is stupid enough to want = federal money,=20 we're not going to deny them.' Probably Jimmy at the time didn't = know=20 it, but that was very critical, what he did."

Dean, also=20 interviewed on the topic in 2006, wasn't willing to take a lot = of=20 credit. But he talked at length of memories of those days, such = as a=20 bumpy red-eye flight to Washington, D.C., for a meeting with = skeptical=20 federal officials and the time in the winter of 1965 when a = large=20 contingency of locals entertained Robert C. Weaver, leader of = the Urban=20 Renewal Administration under President Kennedy, at Dean's small = Sixth=20 Street home in the immediate aftermath of a major snowstorm. =

It=20 was typical of a man who seemingly had seen it all and relished = spinning=20 those tales of a different time for friends and associates. Dean = served=20 with the U.S. Army Security Agency during the Korean Conflict, = working=20 at the White House, Pentagon and Arlington Hall. He joined the = Perry A.=20 Johns Post 6 of the American Legion upon returning from Korea, = and he=20 served in numerous positions, including local post and state = commander.=20 In 1986, he would be elected national commander of the American = Legion.=20 He testified before numerous congressional committees, met with = military=20 and state officials in many countries, and met the presidents of = South=20 Korea, Taiwan and El Salvador.

President Jimmy Carter = appointed=20 Dean as the veteran representative on the President's Council = for Energy=20 Efficiency during the energy crisis of the 1970s.

Dean = was also=20 known for his civic involvement, including serving as a board = member and=20 chairman of the Northeast Mississippi Junior College Board of = Trustees.=20 The college's vocational complex was named "James P. Dean Hall." =

Visitation is Wednesday from 5 until 9 p.m. at McPeters = Funeral=20 Home. Immediate survivors include two daughters, Ellen D. Hinton = of=20 Corinth and Sara D. Goretski of Montgomery, Ala.

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