James E. Bolin

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James Edwin Bolin, Sr.
In office
1940 – 1944
Preceded by D.R. Boucher
Succeeded by C.W. Thompson
Judge, 26th Judicial District Court of Louisiana
In office
1952 – 1960
Judge, Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal
In office
1960 – 1978
Born August 26, 1914 (1914-08-26)
Minden, Webster Parish, Louisiana, USA
Died March 25, 2002 (aged 87)
Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana
Political party Democratic
Spouse Mary Eloise Martin Bolin (1913-2007; married, 1937-his death)
Children Sons: James Bolin, Jr.;
Bruce M. Bolin

Daughters: Beth Bolin Falk; Becky Bolin Maupin
Occupation Attorney
(1) Bolin and his son, Bruce M. Bolin, held the positions of Louisiana state representative and judge of the 26th Judicial Court – thirty-eight years apart.

(2) Bolin, who obtained a Bronze Star in the United States Army, was among several Louisiana state legislators who left their posts for military duty during World War II.

James Edwin Bolin, Sr. (August 26, 1914 – March 25, 2002[1]) was an American jurist and politician who served as a judge of the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal and as a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in the northwestern part of his state.

Bolin graduated in 1931 from Minden High School as the class president. His name was misspelled “Bolen” on the graduation program.[2] Bolin then procured his undergraduate degree in 1935 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He obtained his legal degree from the LSU Law Center in 1937 and maintained a private practice in Minden from 1937-1942 and again from 1946-1952. From 1942-1946, while still a state representative for two years remaining in his term, Bolin served in the European Theatre of World War II. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the French Croix de Guerre, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the ETO Ribbon with four battle stars.[3] In 1952, Bolin was elected to the 26th Judicial District Court bench and reelected without opposition in 1954. He was subsequently elected to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal, where he served from 1960 until his retirement in 1978.[3]

His younger son, Bruce Martin Bolin (born 1950), also of Minden, served in the same Louisiana House seat which Bolin had previously held. Bruce Bolin was a representative from 1978, when he won a special election to succeed the retiring R. Harmon Drew, Sr., until 1990, when he resigned from the House to begin his tenure in the same district court judgeship previously held by his father. Bolin's older son, James E. Bolin, Jr. (born September 10, 1941), is a practicing attorney in Shreveport.[4]

In 1937, Bolin wed his 1931 Minden High School classmate, the former Mary Eloise Martin (October 30, 1913 – September 20, 2007).[1] She was a former high school English teacher and a 1935 graduate of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. The Bolins also had two daughters, Beth Bolin Falk and Becky Bolin Maupin. Bolin died in an assisted living facility in Shreveport.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Social Security Death Index Interactive Search
  2. ^ Minden High School, 1931 yearbook, Minden, Louisiana
  3. ^ a b bolin_james.asp
  4. ^ James E. Bolin Jr. - a Shreveport, Louisiana (LA) Personal Injury - Defense Lawyer
  5. ^ Minden Press-Herald: http://www.nwlanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5822&Itemid=33
Political offices
Preceded by
D.R. Boucher		 Louisiana State Representative from Webster Parish

James Edwin Bolin, Sr.
1940–1944

 Succeeded by
C.W. Thompson