NATCHEZ — Long-time Natchez attorney and former Mississippi State Supreme Court Justice Joe Zuccaro, 84, died at his residence Friday.

The son of a Sicilian immigrant and a Natchez native, Zuccaro attended St. Joseph School — now Cathedral — before serving in the Marines in World War II.

After graduating from the Ole Miss law school, Zuccaro practiced law in Natchez from the late 1940s until the time of his retirement.

During that time, he — among other things — served as city and county attorney, represented Jefferson Davis Hospital — now Natchez Regional — at the time of its formation, was a member of the airport commission, sat on the bench locally as a chancery judge and served in the state supreme court.

“Joe has been a great public servant, and he served admirably,” retired Natchez attorney Robert Netterville said. “He has been a very civic-minded fellow, and the community is improved by him. He will be missed greatly.”

Natchez attorney and Zuccaro’s former partner Walter Brown described him as a “witty and humorous” person who had many friends and served as a personal confidant to two governors.

“Joe was probably the finest lawyer I have ever known,” Brown said.

Zuccaro’s tenure as city attorney stretched for many years into former Mayor Tony Byrne’s administration.

“He was not only a good city attorney, but he was very positive in anything we wanted to do,” Byrne said. “His attitude was ‘What do we want to do and how are we going to do it?’”

“He made being mayor fun because he was so brilliant.”

Assistant District Attorney Debbie Blackwell started working for Zuccaro as a legal secretary at the age of 20, and it was when he was appointed to the chancery court that she said he inspired her to go to law school — in fact, she said she would not have gone to law school if it was not for his influence.

“He was a brilliant man, and he had a knowledge and understanding of the law few people had,” Blackwell said. “You could call him up and tell him the specifics of a case you were working on, and he could tell you exactly where to look and what case to (cite).

“He was my mentor, and I will miss him deeply.”

Natchezian Philip Carby practiced law with Zucccaro from 1976 until the time of Zuccaro’s retirement, and he remembered the late judge as man who knew the Bible and church history well, loved Ole Miss, St. Mary Basilica and Cathedral School, and who would give free advice to people about how to start a business.

“He was a constant source of wisdom and advice for me and for a lot of people,” Carby said.

“He had the darnedest knack of being able to go into a difficult situation with two or three parties in there at each other’s throats, and he would walk out with a solution and all three parties would think he had helped them.”

Even to those who he didn’t know as a judge or lawyer, Zuccaro was outgoing and friendly, Carby said.

“He had lots and lots of friends. If he pulled into a grocery store he would have a conversation with everyone there,” he said. “If he came across a small child, he would start a conversation with them right there.”

“There will be a lot of people who will miss his advice and counsel all over the state,” Carby said.