Blass moved to Wiggins in Stone County, Mississippi 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, 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.
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.[6]
In 1995, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Inns of Court 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".[7] For the years 1999-2000, Justice Blass received the Mississippi State Bar Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.[8]
Joel Blass has five children, nine grandchildren, and 26 great grandchildren.
He is buried in Saint Paul Catholic Cemetery, Pass Christian, Mississippi.
william, joel, blass, october, 1917, october, 2012, american, veteran, attorney, educator, politician, state, representative, mississippi, legislature, 1953, born, 1917, october, 1917clinton, mississippi, diedoctober, 2012, 2012, aged, pass, christian, mississ. William Joel Blass October 19 1917 October 23 2012 was an American war veteran attorney educator and politician William Joel BlassWilliam Joel Blass State Representative in Mississippi Legislature 1953 60 Born 1917 10 19 October 19 1917Clinton Mississippi U S DiedOctober 23 2012 2012 10 23 aged 95 1 Pass Christian Mississippi U S Joel Blass was born in Clinton Mississippi and was educated in Mississippi and Louisiana during the Great Depression He graduated from Louisiana State University LSU School of Law in 1940 and received a commission as second lieutenant in the U S Army Infantry through the LSU ROTC program 2 During World War II Blass served with the Third Army in Europe through VE Day He received the Bronze Star and attained the rank of major Blass returned to military service during the Korean War 3 Blass moved to Wiggins in Stone County Mississippi 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 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 in Oxford MS for 6 years During that tenure he was named Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers 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 In 1989 Blass was appointed by the Governor of Mississippi to fill an unexpired term on the Supreme Court of Mississippi but was defeated in a 1990 election for a full term on the Court 4 5 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 6 In 1995 a Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Inns of Court 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 7 For the years 1999 2000 Justice Blass received the Mississippi State Bar Association s Lifetime Achievement Award 8 Joel Blass has five children nine grandchildren and 26 great grandchildren He is buried in Saint Paul Catholic Cemetery Pass Christian Mississippi References edit Ex Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Blass dies permanent dead link An oral history with Mr William Joel Blass 1977 Mississippi Oral History Program F341 5 M57 vol 639 About Justice Blass American Inns of Court Chapters Andy Kanenglser 1990 McRae Over whelms Justice Joel Blass Clarion Ledger Jackson MS June 6 1990 Leslie Southwick Mississippi Supreme Court Elections A Historical Perspective 1916 1996 18 Miss C L Rev 115 1997 1998 Landon Michael de L 2006 The University of Mississippi School of Law A Sesquicentennial History page 156 The Dan M Russell Jr W Joel Blass Harry G Walker American Inn of Court The Mississippi Bar Lifetime Achievement Award Archived from the original on April 6 2012 Retrieved December 8 2009 Political officesPreceded byRuble Griffin Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi1989 1991 Succeeded byChuck McRae nbsp This biography of a state judge in Mississippi is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title William Joel Blass amp oldid 1182525300, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
