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As friends and family members prepared for their final farewells to James Robert Dagate, a clear picture emerged of an attorney dedicated to his community and his profession.
The Houma attorney and television personality known for his public service work has died at the age of 60, following an extensive battle against liver cancer.
A family spokesman said Dagate died at 1:05 a.m. Friday at his home, surrounded by family members.
He was memorialized Tuesday at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral.
In November, Dagate ended his long-standing appearances on Houma television station HTV, where he discussed current events and legal issues. He said the rigors of more aggressive treatment for kidney cancer required that he budget time and energy with greater care.
But he continued working, commuting regularly to the Houma office he shared with his son Jacob. His other son, Jason, works as a prosecutor under District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr.; the elder Dagate was also an assistant district attorney.
“It has gotten to a point because of treatments I need to put that on the back burner so that I can concentrate on my job and my treatment,” Dagate said in an interview a month before his death, during which he expressed a continued willingness to do what was necessary to attack the illness, and to continue his legal work.
“The passing of Jimmy is a loss to the District Attorneys Office, to the community and of course to his family,” Waitz said. “He was a great man, a mentor, a very integral part of the District Attorney’s Office and he will be sadly missed.”
As attorney for the Terrebonne Conservation and Levee District, Dagate – work performed under the aegis of the District Attorney’s Office – Dagate was instrumental in preparing agreements related to the Morganza-to-the-Gulf project, hailed as a major flood protection initiative for Terrebonne Parish.
Levee Board president Tony Alford said Dagate’s legal work during the struggle to build an all-around levee for Terrebonne Parish, the Morganza to the Gulf Project, was flawless, and has made possible a future safer from the ravages of storms.
“Jimmy has been so instrumental in doing so many things we needed to do,” Alford said. “He handled issues with the Army Corps of Engineers, the processes, all the things that took place. He was instrumental in helping us with the legalities of moving forward, and in doing things the way we should do them. He worked with us diligently and when it seemed the feds and everyone else were trying to stop us he worked really hard. He was not only a member of this community but a leader, and helped us always to push forward.”
Dagate was awarded his law degree at LSU in 1978 and graduated summa cum laude from Nicholls State University.
Dagate has described his wife, Jenny, whom he married in the same year as his law school graduation, as a strong and helpful partner who played a vital role in seeing him through the difficult courses of cancer treatment he has undergone.
In addition to his work for the levee district, Dagate has served as a teacher and coordinator for a crime prevention program in the Terrebonne school system,
Past president of the Terrebonne Parish Bar Association and was also chairman of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary System. Dagate had a long relationship with Terrebonne General Medical Center and had served as a member of its governing board.
He also represented the Terrebonne Economic Development Authority and the Houma Terrebonne Housing Authority.
Waitz’s Project LEAD, a program that encourages school children to develop sound decision making skills, benefitted from Dagate’s involvement.
Loved ones have also noted that Dagate was far from an all-work, no-play sort of man. He enjoyed fishing and regularly attended New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers football games.
“He was a real professional and a will be missed by all of his colleagues,” said attorney Randy Alfred, a recent candidate for City Court Judge. “He will be missed by all of his colleagues. He was a real professional and a man of honor.”
