1925 Biography - Dewey J. Sanchez

Dewey J. Sanchez is not only one of the prominent younger members of the bar of his native City of Baton Rouge, but also has the distinction of being a representative of East Baton Rouge Parish in the State Legislature. Mr. Sanchez was born at Baton Rouge on the 18th of May, 1898, and is a son of Joseph J. and Hattie (Picou) Sanchez, both likewise natives of the capital city of Louisiana, where the former was born in 1875 and the latter in 1879, their home being still in Baton Rouge. Joseph J. Sanchez was formerly engaged in the buying and shipping of cattle, and for the past six years has been successfully engaged in the retail meat market business in his native city. He is a stalwart in the local camp of the democratic party, and he and his wife are communicants of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Joseph J. Sanchez is a son of the late Capt. Anthony Sanchez, whose home was in Baton Rouge throughout the entire course of his life. He was an influential citizen who commanded unqualified popular esteem, served a number of years as deputy sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish, and was inspector and collector of markets of the City of Baton Rouge for a number of years. He served as a gallant soldier of the Confederacy during the entire period of the Civil war, he having been in the army commanded by Gen. Joseph Johnston. His wife, whose family name was Hernandez, likewise passed the closing years of her life in Baton Rouge. The lineage of the Sanchez family, which was founded in Louisiana in the Colonial era, traces back to distinguished Spanish origin. The subject of this review is the eider in a family of two children, and his sister, Hazel Marie, died in 1919, at the age of eighteen years.

After his graduation irons the Baton Rouge High School in 1914, Dewey J. Sanchez entered the Louisiana State University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1918 and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Thereafter he prosecuted his studies in the law department of the university in 1920, when he was graduated with the degree, Bachelor of Laws, his admission to the bar having taken place in June of the same year. In his senior year in the academic department of the university Mr. Sanchez was editor of the college annual known as 'Gumbo,' and as a student he was a member of several of the debating teams of the university.

In the year that marked his admission to the bar Mr. Sanchez accepted the position of deputy of the court for the Twenty-second Judicial District of Louisiana, and he retained this position until 1923, since which year he has been engaged in active general practice of his profession in the capital city. His office headquarters are maintained at 207-8 Triad Building.

Zealous and loyal in his association with the ranks of the democratic party, Mr. Sanchez in the opening period of the year 1924 special recognition of personal popularity and eligibility official service, since he was then elected representative of East Baton Rouge Parish in the Louisiana legislature for a term of four years. In his native city he is an active communicant of the Catholic parish of St. Joseph's Church, and in his affiliation with the Knights of Columbus he is a past grand knight of Baton Rouge Council No. 969. He holds membership also in Darro Caravan No. 29, Order of Alhambra, an adjunct of the Knights of Columbus, besides which he is affiliated with Nicholson Post of the American Legion and Baton Rouge Lodge No. 490, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is an active member of the local Chamber of Commerce and a staunch supporter of its civic ideals and progressive policies. In the early part of 1924 he completed and took possession or his attractive modern residence on Delphine Place, and he is the owner of other real estate in his native city.

On the 1st of October, 1918, Mr. Sanchez volunteered for service in the World war, and was assigned to the naval arm of the Students Army Training Camp at the Louisiana State University. He thereafter continued in the reserve service.

At Amite, Tangipahoa Parish, on the 31st of August, 1918, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sanchez and Miss Annie Sternberger, daughter of Ernest L and Annie (Saal) Sternberger, the former of whom was internal revenue collector at the time of his death and the latter of whom still resides there. Mr. and Mrs. Sanchez have a tine little daughter, Hazel Anne, who was born October 29, 1923.

Contributed 2021 Nov 04 by Mike Miller, from A History of Louisiana, by Henry E. Chambers, published in 1925, volume 2, pages 72-73.