John James Stamos (January 30, 1924 – January 28, 2017) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a justice of the

Supreme Court of Illinois The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court, the highest court of the State of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five ap ...

from 1988 to 1990.

Early life

Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

to Greek immigrants from the Kiato region of Corinthia, Stamos served in the

U.S. Army Medical Corps The Medical Corps (MC) of the U.S. Army is a staff corps (non-combat specialty branch) of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD) consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an M.D. or a D.O. degree, at least one ye ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, from 1943 to 1945, in the

European theater of operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...

.John J. Stamos at Illinoiscourts.gov
He initially did clerical work at a military psychiatric facility in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, but when the hospital began treating wounded soldiers following the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

, he became a litter-bearer.

Career

After the war, Stamos received an LL.B. from DePaul University College of Law in 1948, and was admitted to the

Illinois Bar The Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) is among largest voluntary state bar associations in the United States. Approximately 28,000 lawyers are members of the ISBA. Unlike some state bar associations, in which membership is mandatory, ISBA memb ...

in 1949. He then served as assistant corporation counsel for the city of Chicago, assistant state's attorney for Cook County, and chief of the Criminal Division of the Cook County state's attorney office. In 1966, Stamos, then the first assistant state's attorney, was appointed Cook County State's Attorney after predecessor Dan Ward was appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court. While Stamos was in this office, Cook County tried mass murderer Richard Speck, although Stamos did not consider prosecuting the case personally. Stamos was not slated for reelection to the job in 1968, as Mayor

Richard J. Daley Richard Joseph Daley (May 15, 1902 – December 20, 1976) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Chicago from 1955 and the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee from 1953 until his death. He has been cal ...

feared losing the office to a Republican candidate of Irish ancestry, Robert J. O'Rourke, and instead slated Edward Hanrahan, who went on to win the election. As he was not slated to run for his position as a prosecutor in 1968, Stamos instead successfully sought election to the first district appellate court in that year. He served in that position until his appointment to the Illinois supreme court in 1988, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of

Seymour Simon Seymour Simon (August 10, 1915 – September 26, 2006) was an American lawyer, Appellate Court and Supreme Court Justice in Illinois, and City Council member (alderman) in Chicago, Illinois. Life Simon was born in Chicago, and grew up in the ...

. Once, while serving, he received a letter from a fan of the actor,

John Stamos John Phillip Stamos ( ; born August 19, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He first gained recognition for his contract role as Blackie Parrish on the ABC television soap opera ''General Hospital'', for which he was nominated for the Da ...

, asking for a picture. He replied by sending a photograph of himself in his judicial robes.

Personal life

Stamos was married twice, the first time to Helen Voutiritsas, who died from breast cancer in 1981. They had four children. He remarried in 1986. Stamos died of pulmonary fibrosis within hours of a dinner to celebrate his coming 93rd birthday. He was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in

Skokie, Illinois Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stamos, John J. 1924 births 2017 deaths Justices of the Illinois Supreme Court DePaul University College of Law alumni Lawyers from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers United States Army soldiers Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis