Miles Welton Lord

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Lord, Miles Welton Miles W. Lord, former Chief U.S. District Judge for the District of Minnesota, age 97, died on 12/10/2016 in Eden Prairie. Miles was a larger-than-life public figure who spent his life courageously fighting for the rights of "the little guy." He was born on November 6, 1919, one of nine children in a poor Iron Range family in Crosby-Ironton. As a school boy, Miles, a skinny 5 feet 9, began to make his mark as a fighter who took on town bullies. He went on to box in Golden Gloves tournaments and, in 1939, as a middleweight, advanced to the state championship, losing in the final round but winning loud applause for his grit in battling back after being knocked down at least six times. Miles himself would remain as proud of his mettle in the ring as anything else and throughout his life would use that same mindset to fight for justice for all. In 1940, Miles eloped with the love of his life, Maxine, also from Crosby-Ironton. Shortly thereafter, the young couple left for the Twin Cities, where Miles attended the University of Minnesota and received his law degree in 1948. Miles then began his many years of public service in the early 1950s as an assistant U.S. Attorney and crime-busting prosecutor of Twin Cities gangsters and racketeers. In 1954, Miles was elected Minnesota Attorney General, a post he would serve in until 1960 while becoming one of the best known and most popular politicians in the state. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Miles as U.S. Attorney for Minnesota; in that post, he teamed up with U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the successful prosecution of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Miles as a federal district court judge; his lifelong friend, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, proudly proclaimed that Miles would be "the people's judge." Indeed, in his two decades on the bench, Judge Lord gained national fame with his bold (and sometimes controversial) rulings holding big corporations account-able for their wrongdoing; protecting the environment; defending the rights of women; standing up for consumers; and precedent-setting decisions on issues ranging from disability rights to education reform to nuclear disarmament. Perhaps his two most famous cases involved the Reserve Mining Company, which was dumping thousands of tons of taconite waste containing asbestos-like fibers into Lake Superior, and the A.H. Robins Company, which manufactured the Dalkon Shield, an IUD that injured thousands of women. In the Reserve Mining case, Judge Lord became the first judge in the country to order a major industrial plant to halt its operations in order to protect the environment. In the Dalkon Shield litigation, Judge Lord's actions helped lead to the recall of Dalkon Shield and the bankruptcy of the A.H. Robins Company. In 1985, the judge stepped down from the bench and entered the private practice of law, where he was joined, for periods of time, by all four of his children. Miles is survived by his daughters, Priscilla Lord and Virginia Lord, and grandchildren Maggie and Emma Faris and Jessica and Catherine Pollock. He was preceded in death by his wife Maxine, sons Miles Jr. (Mick) Lord and James (Jim) Lord, and grandson Wayne Faris Jr. A funeral service is planned for January 12, 2017 at 4 PM at Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 301 County Road 19, Excelsior, with visitation one hour prior. Huber Funeral & Cremation Services Excelsior Chapel 952-474-9595 huberfunerals.com

Published on December 11, 2016