Posted by ***********. on January 28, 2003:

The streets of Bogalusa, Louisiana, were silent. Washington Parish was hushed. The citizens of this proud town in Southeastern Louisiana were not ashamed of their tear-filled eyes as they watched a long line of police cars escort the casket of Judge James W. Richardson, Jr. to the family burial plot, where he would rest among other members of one of Bogalusa's prominent families. They were mourning the loss of a man they deeply admired, respected and loved. Jimmy Richardson had passed on to his peace, having bravely fought his last battle against an unrelenting enemy, pancreatic cancer. Against overwhelming odds, in defiance of the doctor's time allowance, he held that enemy at bay until he had achieved his final objective: to see his grandchild born. Six weeks after his namesake, James Richardson Smith, entered the world, Jimmy ceased his fighting and joined the long line of Richardsons who had pioneered this section of Louisiana and who before him had also lead the people of Bogalusa. Beside the flag-draped coffin stood a framed passage from 1 Thessalonians 5: 14,15. It had once occupied aa central place in his judge's chambers. They were the words by which he had so wonderously conducted his life: Warn the unruly, Encourage the timid, Help the weak, Be patient toward all, See that none render Evil for evil Unframed and not displayed on the walls of those chambers, but planted deep in the heart and soul of this great man were the words " Duty, Honor, Country." The judge and the soldier were beautifully blended in a life of service, justice and love. Untold were the number of family, friends, followers, and strangers who found strength and hope in the deeds and counsel of this caring man. Jimmy Richardson was born on 27 July 1926 in Bogalusa, the son of Henrietta Russell Richardson and James Warren Richardson, Sr. He was the oldest of the four Richardson sons. The idea of a military career by way of West Point may first have been seeded in Jimmy's mind when as a small boy he rode horseback with his father during National Guard training. A high school graduate at age 15, he was too young for entry to West Point, so he begain to prepare for admission by attending Marion Institute in Alabama. The preparation paid off and he reported to West Point in July 1944, just shy of his 18th birthday. By 1946 Jimmy had established for himself three high priority goals: (1)to marry Tamzin (Tammy) Snow, a lovely Republican lass from New England; (2) to become an Army officer; and (3) to earn a law degree. Goals #1 and #2 he reached within a few days of each other; for on 8 June 1948, he was graduated and commissioned second lieutenant, Infantry, and on 11 June 1948, he bestowed upon Tammy the title Mrs. Richardson. Duty assignments followed at the Ground General School, Fort Riley, Kansas and the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia. In the summer of 1949 he joined a battalion of the 33rd Infantry in the Panama Canal Zone, and was there for a year until in 1950 his battalion was sent to Korea to become part of the 65th Infantry, 3rd Division. In December 1950 he was wounded in combat and spent two months in the hospital in Tokyo, Japan before returning to Brooke Army Hospital, Texas, as an outpatient. On temporary duty at Fort Benning in the summer of 1951, he applied for, and the Army accepted him for assignment to law school. He entered Yale University's Law School in the fall of that year. With two years completed of the three years required for the law degree, the Army's law school program was terminated, and Jimmy was returned to the Infantry at Camp Polk, Louisiana, in September 1953. The Army told him to finish his last year of law school by attending night school. One month later, now the father of his first child, Stephen, Jimmy resigned his commission and entered the las school at Louisiana State University. He earned his law degree in 1954, and having been admitted to the Bar, applied for restoration of his commission as an Army officer. By June 1954 he was back on active duty, assigned to the Pentagon, in the Army Judge Advocate General's Office. Much of his work was in the field of legislative liaison, working with the Congress. A beautiful little girl, Elizabeth (Boo) was born to Jim and Tammy in 1956. In 1959, disillusioned by the policies and practices in the JAG Corps, he resigned his captain's commission and returned to Bogalusa to enter law practice with his father. Jim's father was elected 22nd District judge shortly thereafter, and it was no surprise that Jim would become interested in politics. When the Senior Richardson died in 1967, Jim entered the race for his father's judgeship. He was not successful in that first try for political office, but later was elected city judge of Bogalusa. He served his constituency not solely as a judge, but as their advisor and helper. During his second term, in his eighth year of service he died in office. Despite the physical weakness brought on by his illness, he was conducting court with dignity and courage until a few days before his death. The closest thing to a complaint that anyone ever heard from Jimmy was, "it sure would be good to feel good again." Jimmy was the kind of lawyer about whom heartwarming movies are made and books are written. Defender of the poor, the uneducated and the downtrodden, he turned no person away for his inability to pay for legal help. Cases he took were cases that others had refused to handle, because to do so was unpopular or politically unrewarding. Patient and courteous, Jimmy was known by the people of that part of Louisiana as the good judge, the friendly lawyer, the true friend. A modest and private person, he sought no glory for himself, but the stories are numerous of his working out problems for people, particularly for those juveniles and convicts whom Jimmy had committed for incarceration. A devoted saltwater fisherman, he and his cronies shared that hobby with great gusto and the inevitable tall tales. But that hobby diminished and gave way during the last ten years off his life and was replaced by the work he did for the South Louisiana Presbytery and the prison fellowship "Victory Faith." For years he visited the nearby prison two nights a week. Frequently he visited the homes of juvenile deliquents. If a person could have a trademark, Jimmy's would be a smile, a soft, kind and warming smile that immersed the observer. And the humor of this man, this big, handsome, dignified man, was fun and happiness rolled together in a personality that was irresistable. He was a person you wanted to share with, be with. Jimmy looked upon his position as the city judge as the work he wanted most to do. He sought no higher office, content with serving evev more effectively those who looked to him for leadership. There is a school of thought which espouses "servant leadership;" no one exemplified that high ideal better than Judge Richardson. And no one was a more devoted family man than he. Tammy, their son Steve, their daughter Elizabeth (Boo) and her husbnd Larry Smith and their son Jimmy, were all the worldly wealth Jimmy Richardson needed. The deep and beautiful love that held them all together was of that kind described by the great poets, writers and philosophers. At Jimmy's funeral, at the First Presbyterian Church at Bogalusa, Reverend Donald K. Campbell, General Pastor, Presbytery of South Louisiana, concluded his prayer with these words: " Lord, it is not often we have a chance to be a companion of one who combines the kind of strength to be just with the gentileness of one who will not break a bruised reed or quench a dimly burning wick. We have been blessed by walking along the path with your chosen servant, Jim. Grant that we may be stronger because of his witness, and kinder, and more sensitive to the needs of some of those we often overlook but to whom you led him to serve ......." An editorial by Al Hansen In the "Daily News" of Bogalusa said in few words what Jimmy himself may have said about his life: "Jim Richardson was a man who lived where he wanted to live, with the people he liked, doing the job he wanted to do. You can't get much more out of life than that."

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