Lemmon remembered for dedication to law

Family members and members of the legal community said farewell last week to Harry Thomas Lemmon, who went from the athletic fields and classrooms of Morgan City High to a seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Lemmon died April 18. He was 94.
A visitation and Mass were conducted April 24 at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, Loyola University, New Orleans.
Born in Morgan City to Earl and Gertrude (Blum) Lemmon in 1930, Lemmon was a student and athlete at Morgan City High School. He went on to Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now UL Lafayette, where he graduated with a degree in chemistry and received the Alumni Award for Outstanding Graduate.
After serving in the Army and working as a chemist, he entered Loyola Law School. While there, he met Mary Ann Vial, who would become his wife for 64 years. He graduated at the top of his class.
In 1970, he was elected to the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, where he served until he was elected to the Supreme Court of Louisiana in 1980. Throughout his legal career, he taught law school pro bono at Loyola, Tulane and LSU.
He chaired the Ainsworth Lecture Committee, which brought prestigious national and international dignitaries to speak at Loyola. He served on the Visiting Committee for Loyola Law School, where he ensured that the curriculum met the highest standards of professional education. He co-authored Louisiana Civil Law Treatise on Civil Procedure with Professor Frank L. Maraist.
In addition to his scholarly legal contributions, Lemmon’s civic involvement included serving on the Board of Directors of Associated Catholic Charities, the American Judicature Society and the American Inns of Court. He chaired the Board of Governors of the Louisiana Judicial College and the American Bar Association’s Appellate Judges Education Institute, and served on multiple Louisiana Law Institute committees.
Honors and awards include induction into the Morgan City High School Athletic Hall of Fame, Louisiana Bar Foundation’s Distinguished Jurist Award, Loyola Law School St. Ives Award, an honorary degree from LSU, induction into LSU Law Center’s Hall of Fame, honorary membership in LSU’s Order of the Coif, and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Loyola Law School.
In a eulogy, Steve Hartman, a former Lemmon law clerk, quoted the associate justice from an amicus brief for the U.S. Supreme Court: “Every judge Is first and foremost a Human Being, and Not a Detached and Unemotional Law Machine.”
Lemmon is survived by his wife, a U.S. district judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana; along with six children and 13 grandchildren.