Services set for Claude Christy, former Morgan City police chief

Claude James “Jim” Christy, a Morgan City native who investigated organized crime and terrorism as an FBI agent before coming back to lead his hometown police department, has died.

A visitation is scheduled for 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at Twin City Funeral Home in Morgan City. A funeral Mass is slated for 11 a.m. Jan. 12 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Morgan City.

Christy was born in Morgan City "across the bayou from an island granted to his great-great-grandfather for service in the War of 1812," according to his obituary. The obituary doesn't list his age, but dates in a 2007 newspaper profile indicate that he would be 82.

Christy attended what was then Sacred Heart Catholic School and LSU before serving in the Marine Corps. After he left the Marines in 1965, Christy joined the FBI.

According to a 2007 profile in the Houma Courier, Christy eventually headed the St. Louis FBI office, where his work included investigation of organized crime. He moved on to work in international terrorism investigations, including the probe into the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. That attack was later linked to two members of Libyan intelligence and led to an admission of guilt and reparations from the Libyan government.

Christy served as head of security for the Hill Behan Lumber Co. after leaving the FBI in 1994. He was appointed police chief in Morgan City in 2002.

He resigned that post in 2009, citing personal reasons.

Christy is survived by his wife, Gail, and four children.

Christy will be buried at Morgan City Cemetery with military honors rendered by the United States Marine Corps Funeral Honor Guard and the East St. Mary Veterans Funeral Squad.