When Balfour Lipscomb introduced retired Judge Joe N. Pigott as this year’s winner of the Oliver Emmerich Award, he gave a long list of accomplishments and testimonials about the recipient. But it was the story he told at the end of his presentation that probably said the most about Pigott’s character.
Soon after Pigott opened his McComb law office in 1951, Lipscomb said, Pigott was called to defend a black lady from Tylertown who shot and killed a young white man breaking into her bedroom. In the all-white courtroom, Lipscomb recounted, Pigott finished his closing argument with the following comments:
“Your honor this is your moment to decide whether to grow old, stooped, trying to stay on the level of the people who wanted you to be one of them — one of the ‘good ole boys’ — or you can stand erect and have them look up to you with respect for having known and followed the high road.
“I have confidence that you will make the decision that will let you sleep at night and look proudly into the faces of your grandchildren and know that you have done your duty and kept your oath.’ ”
The case was dismissed.
“Joe N. Pigott has lived this decree in his heart and work for 60 years. It is not often you get the opportunity to introduce someone who is not only a friend, but an outstanding man professionally, in his community and his church,” Lipscomb said in his remarks at the banquet held at Southwest Mississippi Community College.
“These three areas of one’s life exemplify the Oliver Emmerich Award.”
Pigott’s response to receiving the award was “Wow!”
“I appreciate being the recipient of this award because it is named for a friend of mine,” he said. “It lets me fall into a long line of prior recipients who I have admired.
“I would like to be able to say ‘thank you’ each of you, but it would be sunrise by the time I was through,” he said, before thanking his wife Lorraine for her encouragement and support.
A native of Pike County, Pigott and his wife have four children. He served as McComb city attorney from 1951 to 1953, and later as county attorney and district attorney before being elected judge for the 14th Circuit Court District and serving from 1975 to 1992.
“Judge Joe N. Pigott was known for his honesty, firmness, fairness and for his knowledge of the law,” Lipscomb added.
A member of First Baptist Church McComb, Pigott has served on numerous church committees and was president of the Mississippi Baptist Men’s Conference and a foundation board member for the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
He also served as chairman of the Pike County Chapter of the American Red Cross, was a 20-year member of the McComb Lions Club, past president of the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, was an officer in several state associations and organizations, a reading tutor in adult basic education, 1979 king of the McComb Junior Auxiliary Azalea Ball, Boy Scout merit badge counselor, advisor to the Pike County 4-H Club and a member of the Southwest Mississippi Community College Board of Trustees.
Lipscomb said Pigott had the respect of the county’s legal profession, quoting former district and U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton, who called Pigott “one of the best judges in the state. I don’t think there is any question.”
Lipscomb also quoted U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, a former circuit judge, who said Pigott “set the bar for other judges in Mississippi. His work ethic, integrity and practical wisdom challenged me and others to follow his example.”
Besides Pigott, the chamber recognized Tammy Strickland as the organization’s ambassador of the year, and watched “Creation Calls,” an audio-visual program from wildlife photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick, which was based on the book of Genesis.
Kirkpatrick called nature “an unbelievable thing, and part of the reason I do it (nature photography) is because I get to be out in it a lot.”
He combined the visual presentation with a personal message about God and religion in his life.
