Stanley Preston Cornelius (October 15, 1941 – December 29, 2005) was an American

country musician Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, old- ...

, lawyer, politician and record producer.

Early life and education

Cornelius was born on October 15, 1941, in Bremerton, Washington, one of three children (two sons and a daughter) born to Starling P. "Star" Cornelius (1916–1986) and wife Virginia (née Sloat). The family moved to the Territory of Alaska in 1954 during the height of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and lived in a variety of communities in

Interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

and Southcentral Alaska before settling several years later in Alaska's largest city,

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

. Cornelius attended Kodiak High School in

Kodiak Kodiak may refer to: Places *Kodiak, Alaska, a city located on Kodiak island * Kodiak, Missouri, an unincorporated community *Kodiak Archipelago, in southern Alaska *Kodiak Island, the largest island of the Kodiak archipelago ** Kodiak Launch Com ...

before transferring to Anchorage High School (now known as West Anchorage High School) during his senior year, where he graduated in 1958. He briefly studied at Washington State University and the University of Oregon before attending

Alaska Methodist University Alaska Pacific University (APU) is a private university in Anchorage, Alaska. It was established as Alaska Methodist University in 1957. Although it was renamed to Alaska Pacific University in 1978, it is still affiliated with the United Methodi ...

, where he graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science, the same year he married Mary Ann Randall. He then attended the University of New Mexico School of Law, where he graduated with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1967.

Career

Cornelius was admitted to the Alaska bar on October 18, 1968, and commenced a private law practice based in Anchorage. The same year, he was elected as a Republican to the Alaska House of Representatives, garnering 14,065 votes in the at-large voting in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. He served in the 6th Alaska State Legislature from the 8th district, a multi-member district which encompassed the greater Anchorage area and comprised approximately a third of the 40-member body. Cornelius sponsored a resolution during the legislature's first session calling for Governor Keith Miller to designate October as "Country Music Month" in Alaska. He declined to run for another term in 1970, returning to his law practice. He remarried in 1972 and had a son born the following year. Cornelius eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he lived the remainder of his life and was involved in the city's country music scene, both as a singer and as a record producer. He produced a number of songs, the best known of which was Johnny Paycheck's 1986 single "Old Violin".

Personal life

Cornelius died of natural causes on December 29, 2005, at age 64.

References

External links

Stanley Cornelius
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' 1941 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American singers Alaska lawyers Alaska Pacific University alumni American Presbyterians American country record producers Republican Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska People from Bremerton, Washington People from Kodiak, Alaska Singers from Nashville, Tennessee University of New Mexico School of Law alumni Musicians from Anchorage, Alaska Lawyers from Anchorage, Alaska Country musicians from Tennessee {{US-record-producer-stub