MONROE, LA – The ULM Foundation recently hosted a gathering to honor the ULM legacy of the late Jimmy Dimos. On Saturday, February 24, 2024, friends, family, and ULM faculty and staff attended the event at the Laird Weems Center to celebrate the life of one of our area’s most prominent citizens.
Many that knew Judge Dimos remarked that he truly “lived the American Dream.” As a child of twelve in 1951, he emigrated with his family from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (modern day North Macedonia) to join his father in Monroe, Louisiana. Prior to the move, Dimos experienced WWII and its deprivations. In a 1999 address to the Louisiana House of Representatives, he recollected German and Italian troops occupying his hometown during the war. “I could look over the backyard of our house and see where they were stationed, with tents and guns. Thank goodness we were never attacked but we suffered through a lot of inconveniences – curfews, planes flying overhead, sirens going on and off.”
After graduating from Northeast Louisiana State College with a degree in government, Judge Dimos attended Tulane University where he received his Juris Doctorate. He began practicing law in April of 1964 and within ten years he and two colleagues established their own firm of Dimos, Brown, & Erskine in Monroe. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives for many years including his time as Speaker of the House during the Roemer Administration. He later held the position of Judge for the Fourth Judicial District Court for eight years. In tribute to his tireless commitment to his adopted home, he was inducted into the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Judicial Hall of Fame.
Judge Dimos remained connected to his alma mater, serving as the President of the ULM Alumni Association as well as receiving one of the university’s highest alumni honors, The ULM Golden Arrow Award. In support of ULM and its students, Jimmy and his wife, Dale, endowed a scholarship in honor of his father, Nick Dimos, which has provided much-needed financial support for students in the College of Business & Social Sciences.
ULM President Dr. Ronald Berry summed it up best, “We appreciate the lifetime of service Judge Dimos provided to our region and state and for his commitment and generosity to ULM. The scholarship he funded in honor of his father, Nick Dimos, will continue to change lives for generations to come and the manner in which he lived his life will continue to serve as a model for our students.”