In memoriam: Judge John J. Fraiser, a true statesman

When the news came July 4 that Judge John J. Fraiser died at his home in Starkville, I couldn’t help but think he was a true statesman in every sense of the word.

He and my family had a long history, he had a connection here in Carroll County other than serving in the state senate representing neighboring Leflore County.

He had a place on Spring Lake in the southern part of Carroll County and Hubert Strachan, my dad, was the caretaker of his property.

This goes back to the early 1980s; I grew up listening to and watching Fraiser. There were countless times through the years we had conversations on public service, I valued his advice from that rural area in Carroll County.

I remember back in 1994, I helped in Fraiser’s last campaign to the Mississippi Court of Appeals, I put up political signs for him in this area.

That fall leading up to the November 1994 General Election, I was out at his place at Spring Lake cutting grass, that was extra income for a 19-year-old college student.

One summer day out at Spring  Lake Fraiser told me when we were talking about the campaign that this would be his biggest race, he referred to the campaign that year as the “Super Bowl” of his political career.

Indeed, it was the court of appeals race that involved the counties of the second congressional district, many more counties to run a race over than his state senate district from the decade before.

His political career began when he was elected county prosecutor of Leflore County, a position he held for 20 years, and he also practiced law in Greenwood privately for over 40 years.

In 1976, he was elected to the Mississippi State Senate where he served Leflore County, where he served until 1984 as vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee and chairman of the Universities and Colleges Committee, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Governmental Affairs, and the Appropriations Subcommittee on Institutions of Higher Learning.

His time in the state senate included 1982 during the passage of the landmark Education Reform Act that brought public kindergartens and compulsory school attendance law among the reforms.

It was an honor for me to work in his last campaign, to know him through my father, and help play a small part in helping take care of his place in rural Carrol County.

Fraiser was a public servant who brought people together. He was a servant for everybody, there was no polarizing politics that is seen so much today.

A native of Minter City who attended Mississippi State University and was a veteran of World War II, he served everybody, across racial lines, political lines, gender lines and county lines.

He was truly a servant of the people. It was evident when he won that race in 1994, and later, he became the first chief judge of the Mississippi Court of Appeals. He retired from judgeship in 1997.

Fraiser was a statesman of the highest order, I value the opportunity to have known him and learned so much that I carry with me today in public service.

This area was fortunate for him to serve us for all those years, he left a great legacy of how serving the public should be done.

— Ken Strachan serves as the mayor of North Carrollton, and is a member of the Mississippi Municipal League board of directors.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Judge John J. Fraiser, a true statesman MS