Harry Connick Sr., Longtime New Orleans District Attorney and Singer’s Father, Dead at 97

Harry Connick Sr., father of singer Harry Connick Jr. and longtime district attorney of New Orleans, has died at the age of 97.

Connick died peacefully at his home in New Orleans with his wife Londa and children Suzanne and Harry Jr. (56) – next to himself, according to the obituary shared by Harry Jr.’s publicist.

Harry Sr. served as New Orleans’ district attorney from 1973 to 2003, winning four terms before retiring undefeated in 2003, according to the AP.

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In a statement provided to the AP, current New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams expressed his condolences to the Connick family.

“MR. Connick remains the longest-serving district attorney, serving from 1973 to 2003. Such a longtime public servant gives a tremendous amount of himself to his community – as well as to their families. Our thoughts are with the Connick family at this difficult time,” he wrote.

Harry Sr. was born on March 27, 1926 in Mobile, Alabama and moved to New Orleans when he was 2 years old. He served in the Navy in World War II, and after graduating from the US Army Corps of Engineers, he married Anita Frances Livingston, with whom he shared Suzanna and Harry Jr. New Orleans Times-Picayune,

Harry Sr. owned and operated two record stores in New Orleans around the time his children were born, and according Times-Picayunehe and Harry Jr later co-founded the New Orleans musical organization, the Krewe of Orpheus.

Like his son, Harry Sr. enjoyed music and regularly performed at many clubs in the French Quarter, AP reported.

His son regularly went to visit his father, whom he called his “hero and inspiration”.

“Hanging out with my dad – my FAVORITE thing in the world!” the singer captioned an Instagram post from October. “I come to see him once a month in New Orleans and it’s still not enough! At 97, he’s still my hero and inspiration…I love you sooooooo much, Dad!!!”

After Livingston died of cancer in 1981, Connick married Londa Jean Matherne in 1995.

Marriage with Barbara Bossett also reported Times-Picayune as ending in divorce, although the dates of the wedding are not given.

According to the AP, during his tenure as district attorney, Harry Sr. spearheaded a drive to crack down on prostitutes and shut down adult bookstores in New Orleans in the ’70s and ’80s and ’90s, advocating for the death penalty in first-degree murder cases. degree, which led to the reaction of organizations against the death penalty.

“He was driven by an incredible sense of justice,” said defense attorney Ralph Capitelli, who served as Harry Sr.’s deputy for several years. Times-Picayune.

Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. answers a question during a news conference in New Orleans, May 25, 2001.

AP Photo/Bill Haber

Pat Fanning, who was Harry Sr.’s assistant before becoming a lawyer, also described his approach to work.

“He thought his job was to get people who were victimizing people off the street, not to rehabilitate them, but to put them where they couldn’t hurt anybody else,” Fanning said.

In 1990, according to the AP, he was charged with racketeering and aiding a sports betting operation, though he was acquitted and went on to work as a district attorney.

According to the APf, after retiring, Harry Sr. experienced a reputational challenge due to allegations that his office deliberately withheld evidence favorable to the accused.

The media cited a 2011 case in which John Thompson filed a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court after serving 14 years in prison for a death he was not responsible for after being indicted by Harry Sr.’s office. According to Times-Picayunethe former prosecutor later revealed that he had withheld evidence in the case, which ultimately led to Thompson’s conviction being overturned.

In a ruling that drew fierce opposition from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, the Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the New Orleans district attorney’s office and overturned a multimillion-dollar settlement awarded to Thompson for his wrongful conviction.

According to several media reports, the Supreme Court’s ruling stated that the district attorney’s office should not be punished because it did not specifically educate its prosecutors that they are obliged to share evidence that can prove the defendant’s innocence.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Another case in 2014 reignited the issue, however, although Harry Sr. did not comment at the time, according to the AP, he did discuss his “reputation” in a 2012 interview. Times-Picayune.

“My reputation is based on something that is not a case, or two cases or five cases, or one interception or 20 interceptions,” he told the newspaper in 2012, according to two media outlets. “Look at the rest of my file. … Perfect? Not. But I didn’t do anything for which I could confess in that office. At all.”

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