Background
Joel Blass was born in Clinton, Mississippi and was educated in Mississippi and Louisiana during the Great Depression.
lawyer state supreme court justice
Joel Blass was born in Clinton, Mississippi and was educated in Mississippi and Louisiana during the Great Depression.
He graduated from Louisiana State University (Louisiana State University) School of Law in 1940 and received a commission as Second Lieutenant in the United States. Army Infantry through the Louisiana State University Reserve Officers Training Corps program
During World World War II, Blass served with the Third Army in Europe through VE Day. Blass returned to military service during the Korean War. 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, Mississippi.
During the 1960s, Blass served on the faculty at the University of Mississippi School of Law in Oxford, Mississippi for 6 years. 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. 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.
Joel Blass has five children, nine grandchildren, and 26 great grandchildren.
Joel Blass is buried in Saint Paul Catholic Cemetery, Pass Christian, Mississippi.
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".