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'''Thomas Eaton Stagg, Jr.''', known as '''Tom Stagg''' (January 19, 1923 – June 23, 2015), was an [[attorney]], [[business]]man, [[politician]], and jurist from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who served as a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana from 1974, when he was appointed by [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], until his death forty-one years later. For the last twenty-three years on the bench, he held the title of "senior status." .​

'''Thomas Eaton Stagg, Jr.''', known as '''Tom Stagg''' (January 19, 1923 – June 23, 2015), was an [[attorney]], [[business]]man, [[politician]], and jurist from [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who served as a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana from 1974, when he was appointed by [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]], until his death forty-one years later. For the last twenty-three years on the bench, he held the title of "senior status." .​

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==Background==​

==Background==

 

Stagg's father, Thomas Stagg, Sr. (1892-1960), was a native of [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], [[Virginia]], descended from colonial American ancestors. He relocated to Shreveport in 1919 and entered into the [[real estate]] business.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=146896138|title=Funeral Rites Set Today for Thomas Stagg: Prominent Local Real Estate Man Succumbs at Home|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=June 16, 1960|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref> At the age of sixteen, Stagg found his mother, the former Beulah Meyer (1891-1939), dead of [[suicide]] by strangulation in the family home. She had shot herself in a failed suicide attempt earlier on March 9, 1938, and previously had a nervous breakdown.<ref name=mrsstagg>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Stagg&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1117&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=146896270&df=all&|title=Mrs. T. E. Stagg Is Found Dead at Home Here: Despondency, Ill Health Cause of Death; Funeral Today|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=May 3, 1939|page=5|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref>

Stagg's father, Thomas Stagg, Sr. (1892-1960), was a native of [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], [[Virginia]], descended from colonial American ancestors. He relocated to Shreveport in 1919 and entered into the [[real estate]] business.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=146896138|title=Funeral Rites Set Today for Thomas Stagg: Prominent Local Real Estate Man Succumbs at Home|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=June 16, 1960|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref> At the age of sixteen, Stagg found his mother, the former Beulah Meyer (1891-1939), dead of [[suicide]] by strangulation in the family home. She had shot herself in a failed suicide attempt earlier on March 9, 1938, and previously had a nervous breakdown.<ref name=mrsstagg>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Stagg&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1117&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=146896270&df=all&|title=Mrs. T. E. Stagg Is Found Dead at Home Here: Despondency, Ill Health Cause of Death; Funeral Today|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=May 3, 1939|page=5|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref>

Stagg relocated to Shreveport in 1919 and entered into the [[real estate]] business.<ref>"Rites Set Today for Thomas Stagg: Prominent Local Real Estate Man Succumbs at Home|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=June 16, 1960}}</ref>  At the time of his mother's death, Stagg was about to graduate at the age of sixteen from Clifton Ellis Byrd High School in Shreveport. Stagg had a sister, Betty Jane Stagg (1921-1990).​

Stagg relocated to Shreveport in 1919 and entered into the [[real estate]] business.<ref>"Rites Set Today for Thomas Stagg: Prominent Local Real Estate Man Succumbs at Home|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=June 16, 1960}}</ref>  At the time of his mother's death, Stagg was about to graduate at the age of sixteen from Clifton Ellis Byrd High School in Shreveport. Stagg had a sister, Betty Jane Stagg (1921-1990).​

 

Stagg attended Marion Military Institute in Marion, [[Alabama]], and [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], from which he completed his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1943.<ref name=fedjudgesdirectory/> During [[World War II]], Stagg was elevated from 1943 to 1946 from second lieutenant]to captain in the [[United States Army]]. He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the [[Bronze Star]] for Valor, a second Bronze Star for meritorious service and the [[Purple Heart]] with Oak leaf cluster for wounds received in battle. In the war, Stagg escaped death when a [[Germany|German]] bullet struck a [[Bible]] that he carried in a pocket. Over the years, he often showed colleagues and friends the bullet scars in his Bible.<ref name=staggbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/06/24/tom-stagg-top-area-us-judge-dies/29201877/|title=Tom Stagg, top area U.S. judge, dies|author=John Andrew Prime|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref>​

Stagg attended Marion Military Institute in Marion, [[Alabama]], and [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]], from which he completed his [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree in 1943.<ref name=fedjudgesdirectory/> During [[World War II]], Stagg was elevated from 1943 to 1946 from second lieutenant]to captain in the [[United States Army]]. He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the [[Bronze Star]] for Valor, a second Bronze Star for meritorious service and the [[Purple Heart]] with Oak leaf cluster for wounds received in battle. In the war, Stagg escaped death when a [[Germany|German]] bullet struck a [[Bible]] that he carried in a pocket. Over the years, he often showed colleagues and friends the bullet scars in his Bible.<ref name=staggbio>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/06/24/tom-stagg-top-area-us-judge-dies/29201877/|title=Tom Stagg, top area U.S. judge, dies|author=John Andrew Prime|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref>​

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On August 21, 1946, Stagg wed the former Mary Margaret O'Brien, who survives him. They have two daughters, Julie Stagg Harrington (born c. 1949) and husband, Martin, of [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], and Margaret Mary Sour (born December 1951) of Shreveport.<ref name=staggbio/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130127/LIVING11/301240306/Scene-Heard-Happy-90th-birthday-Judge-Tom-Stagg|title=Scene & Heard: Happy 90th birthday, Judge Tom Stagg|publisher=''The Shreveport Times'' |author=Margaret Martin|date=January 23, 2013|accessdate=June 24, 2015}}</ref> Margaret Sour was formerly married to Edwin William Sour (born December 1950), a son of the late four-term Louisiana State Representative Arthur William Sour, Jr. (1924-2000), of Shreveport.​

==Legal practice and business activities==

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After the war, Stagg briefly attended [[Cambridge University]] in [[Great Britain]] and then the [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center, from  which he received his [[Juris Doctor]]ate  degree in 1949. He began the practice of law with the firm of Hargrove, Guyton, Van Hook, and Hargrove, in Shreveport. He was a solo practitioner from 1953–1958; thereafter, he became the senior partner with Stagg, Cady, Johnson, and Haygood and the successor firm, Stagg, Cady, and Beard.<ref name=staggbio/>​

After the war, Stagg briefly attended [[Cambridge University]] in [[Great Britain]] and then the [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center, from  which he received his [[Juris Doctor]]ate  degree in 1949. He began the practice of law with the firm of Hargrove, Guyton, Van Hook, and Hargrove, in Shreveport. He was a solo practitioner from 1953–1958; thereafter, he became the senior partner with Stagg, Cady, Johnson, and Haygood and the successor firm, Stagg, Cady, and Beard.<ref name=staggbio/>​

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==References==

==References==

*''Who's Who in America, 1978​.''

*''Who's Who in America, 1978​.''

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