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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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