Louis Mezzano

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Louis A. Mezzano (June 21, 1918 – March 6, 1992) was an American politician from Michigan. He served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 1945 to 1960, representing the western Upper Peninsula (Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties). He was born in Wakefield, Michigan, near the Wisconsin border, and graduated from Wakefield High School in 1935. He began public service on the city council in 1942, served two years as mayor pro tempore, and sat on the Gogebic County board of supervisors, including a term as chairman. In 1944, at age 26, he was elected to the state House as a Democrat. In July 1950 he was with Governor G. Mennen Williams during a tour of the Marquette Branch Prison when the governor was briefly held hostage by inmates. Mezzano won eight elections in total (two were unopposed in 1954 and 1958) before losing the Democratic primary to Joseph Mack in 1960. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1952, 1956, and 1960. After leaving state politics, he joined the U.S. Customs Service as the collector of customs for Detroit, and his family moved to St. Clair Shores. In 1966, during a reorganization, he became director of the Customs District of Michigan, with responsibility for the entire state except Menominee and Isle Royale.