Harry Connick Jr.’s Father Dead at 97

Harry Connick Sr., the daddy of singer Harry Connick Jr. and longtime district legal professional of New Orleans, has died at age 97.

Connick died peacefully at his residence in New Orleans together with his spouse, Londa, and youngsters — Suzanna and Harry Jr., 56 — by his facet, in response to an obituary shared by Harry Jr.’s publicist.

Harry Sr. served because the district legal professional for the town of New Orleans from 1973-2003, successful reelection 4 instances earlier than retiring undefeated in 2003, per the AP.

In a press release offered to the AP, present New Orleans district legal professional Jason Williams expressed his sympathies to the Connick household.

“Mr. Connick remains the longest-tenured District Attorney, serving from 1973-2003. Such a longstanding public servant gives an enormous amount of themselves to their community — as do their families. Our thoughts are with the Connick family during this difficult time,” he wrote.

Harry Sr. was born March 27, 1926, in Mobile, Ala., and moved to New Orleans when he was 2 years outdated. He served within the Navy in World War II and after he graduated from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, he wed Anita Frances Livingston, with whom he shared Suzanna and Harry Jr, in response to the New Orleans Times-Picayune,

Harry Sr. owned and operated two document shops in New Orleans across the time his kids had been born, and per the Times-Picayune, he and Harry Jr had been later among the many founders of New Orleans musical group, Krewe of Orpheus.

Like his son, Harry Sr. loved music and was an everyday performer at many French Quarter golf equipment, the AP reported.

His son made common journeys to go to his father, whom he known as his “hero and inspiration.”

“Hangin’ with my dad – my FAVORITE thing in the world!,” the singer captioned an Instagram submit from October. “I come to see him about once a month in new orleans and it’s still not enough! at 97, he continues to be my hero and inspiration… i love you sooooo much, dad!!!”

After Livingston died from most cancers in 1981, Connick wed Londa Jean Matherne in 1995.

A wedding to Barbara Bossetta was additionally reported by the Times-Picayune as ending in divorce, though the dates of the wedding weren’t offered.

(*97*) to the AP, throughout his tenure as district legal professional Harry Sr. was at the helm of motion to stop prostitutes and shut down grownup guide outlets in New Orleans within the ’70s and ’80s and within the ’90s, pushed for the dying penalty in first-degree homicide instances, resulting in backlash from anti-capital punishment organizations.

“He was driven by an incredible sense of justice,” protection lawyer Ralph Capitelli, who served as Harry Sr.’s deputy for a number of years, informed the Times-Picayune.

Pat Fanning, who was an assistant to Harry Sr. earlier than turning into a protection lawyer, additionally described the latter’s method to his work.

“He thought his job was to take individuals who victimize individuals off the road, to not rehabilitate them however to place them the place they couldn’t harm anyone else,” Fanning stated. 

In 1990, per the AP, he was charged with racketeering and aiding a sports-betting operation, although he was acquitted and continued to function district legal professional.

(*97*) to the APf, ollowing his retirement, Harry Sr. noticed this popularity challenged over claims that his workplace had deliberately withheld proof favoring defendants.

The shops referred to a 2011 case, during which John Thompson had filed a case with the U.S. Supreme Court after serving 14 years in jail for a dying he was not chargeable for, following prosecution by Harry Sr.’s workplace. (*97*) to the Times-Picayune, a former prosecutor had later revealed that he had withheld proof within the case, which finally led to Thompson’s conviction being overturned.

In a ruling that garnered a pointy dissent from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the Supreme Court finally dominated in favor of the New Orleans district legal professional’s workplace and overturned a multi-million greenback cost that had been awarded to Thompson over his wrongful conviction.

(*97*) to a number of shops, the Supreme Court ruling acknowledged that the district legal professional’s workplace shouldn’t be penalized for not having specifically educated its prosecutors that they had been obligated to share proof during which a defendant’s innocence could also be proved.

Never miss a narrative — join PEOPLE’s free every day publication to remain up-to-date on the very best of what PEOPLE has to supply, from superstar information to forcing human curiosity tales.

An extra case in 2014 led to the problem being raised once more, nevertheless, although Harry Sr. didn’t remark at the time, per the AP, he did focus on his “reputation” in a 2012 interview with the Times-Picayune.

“My reputation is based on something other than a case, or two cases or five cases, or one interception or 20 interceptions,” he informed the newspaper in 2012, per the 2 shops. “Look at the rest of my record. … Perfect? No. But I’ve done nothing to go to confession about in that office. At all.”