William Joel Blass (October 19, 1917 – October 23, 2012) was an American

war veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

, attorney, educator, and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. Joel Blass was born in

Clinton, Mississippi Clinton is a city in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. Situated in the Jackson metropolitan area, it is the tenth largest city in Mississippi. The population was 28,100 at the 2020 United States census. History Founded in 1823, Clint ...

and was educated in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

during the Great Depression. He graduated from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU)

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, l ...

in 1940 and received a commission as second lieutenant in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

through the LSU ROTC program. 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 opposing ...

, Blass served with the Third Army in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

through

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

. He received the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

and attained the rank of major. Blass returned to military service during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Blass moved to

Wiggins Team Wiggins Le Col (), also known as ''Team Wiggins'' in media, was a professional developmental cycling team based in the United Kingdom, which began competing in elite road bicycle racing and track cycling in 2015. The team folded at the e ...

Stone County, Mississippi Stone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 17,786. Its county seat is Wiggins. Stone County was formed from the northern portion of Harrison County on June 5, 1916. The county ...

with his wife and daughters in 1947 to work in an established law practice, but soon started his own law firm. In 1953, Blass was elected to Stone County's legislative seat and served two terms, during the turbulent years of the racist

White Citizen's Council The Citizens' Councils (commonly referred to as the White Citizens' Councils) were an associated network of white supremacist, segregationist organizations in the United States, concentrated in the South and created as part of a white backlash ...

, which he opposed. He retired from the State legislature in 1960. Blass continued with his law practice in Wiggins and also maintained a law office in Gulfport, MS. During the 1960s, Blass served on the faculty at the

University of Mississippi School of Law The University of Mississippi School of Law, also known as Ole Miss Law, is an ABA-accredited law school located on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The School of Law offers the only dedicated aerospace law curr ...

Oxford, MS Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

for 6 years. During that tenure, he was named

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in the

American College of Trial Lawyers The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) is a professional association of trial lawyers from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, especially trial ...

in 1965, and was awarded the Teacher's Excellence Award in 1969. After leaving the University, he settled into the practice of law on the

Mississippi Gulf Coast The Mississippi Gulf Coast, also known as Mississippi Coast, Mississippi Gulf Coast region, Coastal Mississippi, and The Coast, is the area of Mississippi along the Mississippi Sound at the northern extreme of the Gulf of Mexico. Geography At th ...

. In 1989, Blass was appointed by the

Governor of Mississippi A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

to fill an unexpired term on the

Supreme Court of Mississippi The Supreme Court of Mississippi is the highest court in the state of Mississippi. It was established in the first constitution of the state following its admission as a State of the Union in 1817 and was known as the High Court of Errors and Appe ...

, but was defeated in a 1990 election for a full term on the Court. Leslie Southwick
Mississippi Supreme Court Elections: A Historical Perspective 1916-1996
18 Miss. C. L. Rev. 115 (1997-1998). Blass returned to the University of Mississippi School of Law in the Spring of 1992 to serve one semester in the Whitten Chair of Law and Government as distinguished lecturer on

Admiralty law Admiralty law or maritime law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between priva ...

. In 1995, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter of the

American Inns of Court American Inns of Court (AIC) are designed to improve the skills, professionalism and ethics of the bench and bar. An American Inn of Court is an amalgam of judges, lawyers, and in some cases, law professors and law students. Each Inn meets approx ...

was organized and named for three distinguished jurists, including Justice Blass, who "...typify the high ethical, professional, and personal lives that members of the bar would aspire to emulate". For the years 1999-2000, Justice Blass received the Mississippi

State Bar Association A state bar association is a bar association that represents or seeks to represent the attorneys practicing law in a particular U.S. state. Their functions differ from state to state, but often include administration of the state bar examination fo ...

's Lifetime Achievement Award. Joel Blass has five children, nine grandchildren, and 26 great grandchildren. He is buried in Saint Paul Catholic Cemetery, Pass Christian, Mississippi.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blass, William Joel 1917 births 2012 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of the Korean War People from Clinton, Mississippi Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court Louisiana State University alumni University of Mississippi faculty United States Army officers Mississippi lawyers People from Wiggins, Mississippi 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers