Celebrating 200 Years

John Allen Dixon, Jr. (1920-2003)

Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Louisiana, January 4, 1971, to February 29, 1980

Chief Justice, March 1, 1980, to April 8, 1990

Born April 8, 1920, in Orange Texas • Moved with family to Shreveport 1930 • Graduated from Fair Park High School 1936 and Centenary College 1940 • Taught and coached at Tallulah High School until enlistment in the army • Serving with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was captured during the invasion of Sicily • After twenty-one months as a prisoner of war, endured a sixty-day forced march by the Germans to escape the advancing Russians • Following discharge, married Imogene Shipley in October 1945, raising three daughters • Attained LL.B. degree at Tulane Law School and bar admission in 1947 • Practiced in Shreveport firm Booth, Lockard and Jack and with his brother, Neil Dixon,1954-1957 • Elected judge for First Judicial District in Caddo Parish 1957 and twice re-elected • Won election to Second Circuit Court of Appeals in 1968 • Elected to the Supreme Court and sworn in January 1, 1971 • Became chief justice March 1, 1980 • Guided adoption of Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement and restructuring of criminal appellate jurisdiction • Retired on his seventieth birthday, April 8, 1990, and moved home to Shreveport to enjoy photography, golf, and woodworking • A well-known runner, finished the 1982 Boston Marathon in his sixties • Died February 22, 2003, in Shreveport •