Philip Michael Canale Jr., the Shelby County district attorney responsible for prosecuting James Earl Ray in the slaying of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., died of cancer Friday at his home. He was 79. Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, where Canale was a communicant. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Canale Funeral Directors has charge. The district attorney in Memphis from 1955 to 1974, Canale was appointed to the office by Gov. Frank Clement, a Vanderbilt University classmate, after incumbent John M. Heiskell resigned. He ran in 1956 to complete the term and ran for full, eight-year terms in 1958 and 1966 without opposition. Canale had a reputation of being humble and publicity shy. "I've always been more interested in the integrity of this office than in seeking publicity for it," Canale said in a 1974 interview. "I'm the policymaker, the father confessor, the referee, the decision maker and the administrator of all that goes on. I get credit for everything that goes right and blame for everything that goes wrong." Canale said he retired because it was time. He said of his public career: "A clear conscience is a soft pillow." He became a vice president for Union Planters National Bank when he retired. He resumed private law practice in 1975, joining the firm of Goff, Canale, Kizer and Cribbs. He applied in 1979 for a federal judgeship that went to Odell Horton. He later served as an assistant U.S. attorney here. "He added a great deal to the office, just in common sense," said Hickman Ewing, the chief assistant when Canale joined the office and the U.S. Attorney when Canale left in the late 1980s. "He was a people person," Ewing added. "He was a guy who could get along with everybody" yet be 'tough' when the situation merited. "He was just a prince." Canale was born in Memphis and was graduated from Catholic High School in 1936. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1940 and attended the Vanderbilt University law school a year before he was drafted in 1941. He served 32 months in the European theater as executive officer of a bombardment squadron. He was discharged as a major in 1945. He was in private law practice with the Canale, Glankler, Loch and Little firm before his appointment as an assistant attorney general in 1948. Canale became city traffic court judge in 1952, named by Mayor Watkins Overton. He tried more than 35,000 traffic cases before his appointment as district attorney general. He had six prosecutors on his staff when he was appointed and 25 when he retired. Canale and two key assistants, Robert K. Dwyer and James C. Beasley, obtained the guilty plea from Ray for the 1968 slaying of King. Canale acknowledged that there were rumors of a conspiracy but said there was no proof other than that Ray acted alone. In a 1988 interview, he said there still was no evidence of a conspiracy. And he said the possibility of a mistrial influenced his acceptance of Ray's guilty plea. After Ray's plea, Canale was hospitalized about 10 days and was on medical leave for about two months. Canale was a member of the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association and American Legion. He was a past president of the State of Tennessee Attorney-General Conference and past state director of the National District Attorneys Association. He served as president and director of Little City of the Mid-South Inc., a home for retarded children, and was on the board of directors of Memphis Little Theater. He was a member of the Memphis Country Club, where he had played to a 20-handicap. Canale spent his retirement with his family and friends, playing tennis on Sundays and practicing his putting on the greens at the golf club. "He was a fine man who served his family and his community," said his daughter, Scott C. Sellers of Memphis. Canale also leaves his wife, Cornelia Crabtree Canale; two other daughters, Marietta C. Haaga of Memphis and Lawrie C. Peyton of Atlanta; a son, Philip M. Canale III of Greenville, S.C.; a stepson, Cran R. Boyce, and a brother, Daniel D. Canale, both of Memphis, and eight grandchildren. The family requests that any memorials be sent to Methodist Hospice or the charity of the donor's choice. (Published in the Commercial Appeal 2/23/1997)