John Mamoulides

John Mamoulides passed away peacefully this week at the age of 90 with both his children at his side. He is reunited with his wife Savilla on the 69th anniversary of their marriage. Born in 1933 in Crowley, he was the youngest of four children of Greek immigrants, Mitchell and Pansy Mamoulides. All of the children grew up working in the family café in Crowley. John played sports at Crowley High, enjoyed hunting and fishing, swimming in the rice canals and skiing on the Mermentau River on homemade skis. At age 12, he began taking on other jobs to help support the family after his father died.

John was preceded in death by his parents; his siblings, James, Effie Mae and Aphrodite; two children, Joan Marie and Gregory and his wife, Savilla Lambousy Mamoulides.

John is survived by his daughter Carola, her husband John Milkovich and their daughter Sarah and his son Mitchell, his wife Barbara and their daughter Alexa. John and Savilla were amazing parents who were proud of their children. Like grandparents everywhere, they were even more proud of their granddaughters. Both girls were National Merit Scholars. Sarah graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, received her JD from Duke University and practices law in Boston, Mass. Alexa graduated with honors from NYU, works for a publishing company in New York and is working on her MA degree from Harvard.

John had an incredible work ethic and always had more than one job. His undergraduate degree was from SLI (now ULL in Lafayette), where he worked at the school and worked summers for Humble Oil Company. John was in ROTC in college. He and Savilla married after college, just before John reported for duty in the Air Force. He was a navigator and went on to be part of the team that deployed some of the country’s most advanced, and at the time secret, technology at a radar base in California as part of the Air Defense Command.

Upon discharge from active duty, John enrolled in Tulane Law School. During law school and the first few years of his practice, he worked multiple jobs to support his young family. John flew in the Air Force Reserve from Belle Chase, worked evenings at the Whitney Bank, worked the midnight shift as an Air Traffic Controller at Lakefront Airport and worked as a construction laborer. By 1963, his law practice was in full swing. He accepted a position as an Assistant District Attorney in Jefferson Parish in 1966 and became the Executive Assistant in 1968.

John was elected District Attorney in 1972, reelected for three six-year terms and retired from the DA’s office in 1996. During his tenure as DA, he worked tirelessly to improve the DA’s office, the parish and the state. He instituted practices that were novel at the time that have now been copied across the country. He was one of the first to computerize criminal files into a database. He implemented open file discovery in criminal cases to prevent the conviction and imprisonment of the innocent. Likewise, he welcomed technological advancements like DNA evidence that helped focus criminal prosecutions on the truth. He also had the courage to drop charges when there was not sufficient evidence to conclude that a defendant was guilty. His job, as he saw it, was not to stack convictions, but to do justice.

Together with DAs and sheriffs from around the state, he influenced legislation and created one of the first Child Advocacy Centers in the nation. John built a network of law enforcement officials that worked across state lines on behalf of single parents and their families to retrieve unpaid child support. He instituted a pre-trial diversion program that significantly reduced the repeat offense rate among first offenders. He employed social workers to assist victims and their families. He established the first consumer protection division in a DA office, giving citizens an avenue to report fraud and obtain resolution. He reached out and worked collaboratively with judges, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and the police departments of Gretna, Westwego, Harahan, Marrero, Kenner, Lafite and Grand Isle. The result was improved law enforcement through better collection of evidence and investigations.

He showed great courage in prosecuting high-profile celebrities, public officials and even police when the evidence showed they had committed crimes. He never refused to prosecute because he didn’t agree with the law. If he thought the laws were unjust, he went to Baton Rouge and pressed for them to be changed. Although he never formally served in the Legislature, some would say that for over 15 years he was one of the most influential voices in the Louisiana Legislature. Beyond the state level, he argued and won five cases before the United States Supreme Court, influencing criminal justice across the nation. The parish, state and country are better off because of his tireless work.

Under his tenure, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office excelled in virtually every metric: reduced days to trial, higher conviction rates and more cases handled by each Assistant DA. John and his staff were sought out to assist other DAs across the state and country. He was elected President of the Louisiana District Attorney’s Association. He was frequently asked to testify in Baton Rouge and Washington regarding law enforcement. He was appointed to the U.S. Office of the Independent Counsel after he retired from the DA’s Office. The Louisiana Supreme Court appointed him to multiple justice committees. He served as chairman of both the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and the Louisiana Criminal Law Institute.

John was a Presidential Elector in the Electoral College. He revered America’s Constitutional democracy and was a member of the National Democratic Committee. However, he always supported the person he thought was the best candidate for office, regardless of party affiliation, race, gender or creed.

Those closest to John knew him to be a great and generous friend. John was active in the community. He was the Senior Warden of the Vestry of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, on the Board of Governors of St. Martins School and the President of the Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo.

John lived the last few years at St. Anthony’s Gardens in Covington. The staff at St. Anthony’s has been wonderful to John and Savilla and the family is grateful. Likewise, the care he received at Ochsner Northshore, St. Tammany Hospital and Lakeview Hospital has been excellent.

He was larger than life, a pillar of uncommon courage, independence and integrity. His life is a towering example of honor that will continue to inspire his friends and family for generations to come.

Visitation will be at Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home, 4747 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA, Friday, August 4 from 5-7:30 p.m. There will be a graveside service Saturday, August 5 at 11 a.m. in the chapel at Woodlawn Cemetery in Crowley. The family sincerely requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (act.alz.org) or the Jefferson Children’s Advocacy Center (jeffersoncac. com).

Arrangements have been entrusted with Leitz-Eagan Funeral Home in Metairie and Geesey-Ferguson Funeral Home in Crowley.

Published in Jennings Daily News August 4, 2023