Eugene Preston Campbell, known as Gene Campbell (February 18, 1870 - January 30, 1940), was thus far the longest serving sheriff in the history of Concordia Parish in eastern Louisiana. He served nearly thirty-two years from June 1908 until his death, which occurred the same month as his reelection to a ninth four-year term.
Background
Campbell was born and reared on the Black River in Concordia Parish, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Campbell, who were among the early pioneers of the region. F. L. Campbell was named assessor of Concordia Parish in 1888 by Governor Francis T. Nicholls and again in 1892 by Governor Murphy J. Foster, Sr. Eugene Campbell was himself appointed assessor by Governor Newton C. Blanchard. Campbell had five brothers, including a twin who died in early childhood. He played as an end and was named as a letterman on LSU's first football team in 1893. Campbell graduated in 1896 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Campbell and his wife, the former Darlene Schuchs, a native of Vidalia, had an adopted daughter, Ruby Chandler Fulton, and husband, Dudley Fulton, of Clarks in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. A Vidalia native, Darlene Campbell was the daughter of Mike J. Schuchs and the former Julia Brunk. She was quickly buried on the same day that she died. Mrs. Campbell was not the first widow appointed in Louisiana to fill the remaining term of her husband as sheriff. In 1936, when Sheriff Wyatt Luther Nugent of Grant Parish was killed in the line of his duty, his widow, Lydia Ann Rosier Nugent, served briefly thereafter. However, no woman was elected sheriff in Louisiana until 1956 when Eloise Bouanchaud was elected sheriff of Pointe Coupee Parish to succeed her late husband. The next woman elected sheriff in Louisiana was in 1999, when Beth Oakley Lundy won the position in Calcasieu Parish with 51.5 percent of the vote cast against a fellow Democrat in the nonpartisan blanket primary.
Services for both Campbells were held at the family residence, a Queen Anne Revival style house at 2 Concordia Drive in Vidalia. The house, included on the National Register of Historic Places, burned to the ground in January of 1991. Both are interred at Natchez City Cemetery.<ref nametpg/><ref namenatchez/>
The Tensas Gazette in neighboring St. Joseph in Tensas Parish opined at the time of Campbell's death:
There was probably no other man in public life in this section at least, who had a greater hold on the people of his parish than Gene Campbell enjoyed. Indeed, it was often said that Gene Campbell held every public office in Concordia Parish in the hollow of his hand. ... The heavy load laid upon him in the last year of his life almost proved his undoing and unquestionable hastened his death. Gene Campbell's own weakness ... was his devotion and loyalty to his friends, oft at his own prejudice ...<ref name=tpg/>
Background
Campbell was born and reared on the Black River in Concordia Parish, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. F. L. Campbell, who were among the early pioneers of the region. F. L. Campbell was named assessor of Concordia Parish in 1888 by Governor Francis T. Nicholls and again in 1892 by Governor Murphy J. Foster, Sr. Eugene Campbell was himself appointed assessor by Governor Newton C. Blanchard. Campbell had five brothers, including a twin who died in early childhood. He played as an end and was named as a letterman on LSU's first football team in 1893. Campbell graduated in 1896 from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
Campbell and his wife, the former Darlene Schuchs, a native of Vidalia, had an adopted daughter, Ruby Chandler Fulton, and husband, Dudley Fulton, of Clarks in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. A Vidalia native, Darlene Campbell was the daughter of Mike J. Schuchs and the former Julia Brunk. She was quickly buried on the same day that she died. Mrs. Campbell was not the first widow appointed in Louisiana to fill the remaining term of her husband as sheriff. In 1936, when Sheriff Wyatt Luther Nugent of Grant Parish was killed in the line of his duty, his widow, Lydia Ann Rosier Nugent, served briefly thereafter. However, no woman was elected sheriff in Louisiana until 1956 when Eloise Bouanchaud was elected sheriff of Pointe Coupee Parish to succeed her late husband. The next woman elected sheriff in Louisiana was in 1999, when Beth Oakley Lundy won the position in Calcasieu Parish with 51.5 percent of the vote cast against a fellow Democrat in the nonpartisan blanket primary.
Services for both Campbells were held at the family residence, a Queen Anne Revival style house at 2 Concordia Drive in Vidalia. The house, included on the National Register of Historic Places, burned to the ground in January of 1991. Both are interred at Natchez City Cemetery.<ref nametpg/><ref namenatchez/>
The Tensas Gazette in neighboring St. Joseph in Tensas Parish opined at the time of Campbell's death:
There was probably no other man in public life in this section at least, who had a greater hold on the people of his parish than Gene Campbell enjoyed. Indeed, it was often said that Gene Campbell held every public office in Concordia Parish in the hollow of his hand. ... The heavy load laid upon him in the last year of his life almost proved his undoing and unquestionable hastened his death. Gene Campbell's own weakness ... was his devotion and loyalty to his friends, oft at his own prejudice ...<ref name=tpg/>
Paul McMillian Davis Jr. (September 1, 1919 - February 12, 2007), also known as Mac Davis but unrelated to the singer Mac Davis, was an orthopedic surgeon, medical writer, and in his later years, a real estate developer in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Background
Davis was born in Ruston, the seat of government of Lincoln Parish in North Louisiana to Dr. Paul M. Davis Sr. and the former Lilleymae Sentell (1895-1981). He earned his undergraduate degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. From 1944 to 1945, Davis was a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps in the European theater of World War II. He also served in the Korean War.
In 1951, having relocated to Alexandria, Davis married the former Frances "Fran" Bolton (November 30, 1928 - January 5, 2016), the younger daughter of Alexandria banker James Calderwood Bolton and the former Frances Sample (1902-1986). Frances Bolton was a niece of Robert H. Bolton, another Alexandria banker-businessman, and his first wife, Peggy Bolton. A graduate of Bolton High School and Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, Frances received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Centenary College in Shreveport. After college, Frances Bolton from 1949 to 1952 worked as a bookkeeper at her family's Rapides Bank, established by her grandfather and located at the time in a limestone building downtown that now houses the Alexandria Museum of Art. "There were not any computers then; so I did all the bookkeeping by hand," Davis recalled in a 2010 interview. While working at the bank, a mutual friend, businessman Harry B. Silver (born January 1922), a later long-term member of the Alexandria City Council, introduced her to Dr. Davis.
Two months after the Davises married, he was called back into military service to Osaka, Japan, still occupied by Allied forces after the war. Mrs. Davis was allowed to join her husband in Japan: "We were in Japan for about one and a half years. We rented a house that was a former officer's house and borrowed furniture. We later moved to military quarters." She maintained friendships from people in Japan for many years thereafter.
Mrs. Davis died at the age of eighty-seven on January 5, 2016. The couple was survived by two sons, Dr. Paul M. Davis, III, an orthopedic surgeon, and his wife, Beth, of Atlanta, Georgia; James Bolton Davis and wife, Linda, of Alexandria, and one daughter, Frances Sentell Davis, who owns and operates a boutique in Raleigh, North Carolina; and four grandchildren, Paul M. Davis, IV, Stephen Bolton Davis, James Stafford Davis, and Catherine Calderwood Davis.<ref nameobit/><ref namecenlaian/><ref name=fdavisobituary/>
Background
Davis was born in Ruston, the seat of government of Lincoln Parish in North Louisiana to Dr. Paul M. Davis Sr. and the former Lilleymae Sentell (1895-1981). He earned his undergraduate degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. From 1944 to 1945, Davis was a captain in the United States Army Medical Corps in the European theater of World War II. He also served in the Korean War.
In 1951, having relocated to Alexandria, Davis married the former Frances "Fran" Bolton (November 30, 1928 - January 5, 2016), the younger daughter of Alexandria banker James Calderwood Bolton and the former Frances Sample (1902-1986). Frances Bolton was a niece of Robert H. Bolton, another Alexandria banker-businessman, and his first wife, Peggy Bolton. A graduate of Bolton High School and Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, Frances received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Centenary College in Shreveport. After college, Frances Bolton from 1949 to 1952 worked as a bookkeeper at her family's Rapides Bank, established by her grandfather and located at the time in a limestone building downtown that now houses the Alexandria Museum of Art. "There were not any computers then; so I did all the bookkeeping by hand," Davis recalled in a 2010 interview. While working at the bank, a mutual friend, businessman Harry B. Silver (born January 1922), a later long-term member of the Alexandria City Council, introduced her to Dr. Davis.
Two months after the Davises married, he was called back into military service to Osaka, Japan, still occupied by Allied forces after the war. Mrs. Davis was allowed to join her husband in Japan: "We were in Japan for about one and a half years. We rented a house that was a former officer's house and borrowed furniture. We later moved to military quarters." She maintained friendships from people in Japan for many years thereafter.
Mrs. Davis died at the age of eighty-seven on January 5, 2016. The couple was survived by two sons, Dr. Paul M. Davis, III, an orthopedic surgeon, and his wife, Beth, of Atlanta, Georgia; James Bolton Davis and wife, Linda, of Alexandria, and one daughter, Frances Sentell Davis, who owns and operates a boutique in Raleigh, North Carolina; and four grandchildren, Paul M. Davis, IV, Stephen Bolton Davis, James Stafford Davis, and Catherine Calderwood Davis.<ref nameobit/><ref namecenlaian/><ref name=fdavisobituary/>
George B. Mowad (February 5, 1932 - September 18, 2000) was an American physician and real estate developer who served from 1972 to 1992 as the mayor of Oakdale in Allen Parish, Louisiana.
Background
Of Lebanese descent, Mowad was born in Oakdale to Joe S. Mowad (1899-1984) and Mary Mowad (1902-1993).
In April 1981, Mowad ordered a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Oakdale after a white police officer and two African American men were wounded by shotgun pellets. Riot-equipped officers from the Louisiana State Police provided assistance to quell potential further disorder. The junior high school and Oakdale High School were closed for a day.
During his long tenure as mayor, Dr. Mowad was instrumental in procuring more than $30 million in federal and state grants to construct sixteen new public facilities, including a new City Hall, city court, four parks, two community centers, four industrial buildings, a library, a wellness center, and two fire stations.
Associations and awards
Mowad was a president of the Louisiana Municipal Association. He also organized and served as past president of the Oakdale High School Alumni Association, and was past president of the Oakdale Lions International, Oakdale Athletic Association, and the Oakdale chapter of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's service organization. As chief of the medical staff at Oakdale Community Hospital, he was a member of the Allen Parish Medical Society, the Louisiana State Medical Society, the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Medical Association. driven by Teri R. Slaughter (1979-2000) of Glenmora in south Rapides Parish, who died thereafter of her wounds in a hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana. In his last reelection in 1988, Mowad had been unopposed.
Mowad was married to the former Dolores Jean Massad, and the couple had six children: sons, Mark Joseph Mowad of Baton Rouge and Thomas Anthony Mowad (1973-2011) of Wichita, Kansas; daughters, Ann Mowad Montanio of Woodworth, Judy Mowad Mahtook of Lafayette, Mary Denise Mowad Guiteau (formerly Mary Howell) of Amite, Louisiana, and Karen Mowad Steven of Wichita, Kansas. Mowad was also survived by two sisters, Moonlee M. Karam and Rosaliee M. Karam, both of Oakdale; and nine grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, Anthony P. Mowad (1926-1985).<ref name=obit/>
A rosary was recited in the Mowad Civic Center in Oakdale, named for the former mayor. Services were held on September 21, 2000, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Mowad had donated the five-acre site where his church building stands. Interment was at the church cemetery in Oakdale.<ref name=obit/>
In 2005, the Louisiana State Legislature named a portion of Highway 10 as the "George B. Mowad Memorial Highway."<ref name=legis/> Numerous businesses of all kinds are located on the Mowad Highway.
Background
Of Lebanese descent, Mowad was born in Oakdale to Joe S. Mowad (1899-1984) and Mary Mowad (1902-1993).
In April 1981, Mowad ordered a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Oakdale after a white police officer and two African American men were wounded by shotgun pellets. Riot-equipped officers from the Louisiana State Police provided assistance to quell potential further disorder. The junior high school and Oakdale High School were closed for a day.
During his long tenure as mayor, Dr. Mowad was instrumental in procuring more than $30 million in federal and state grants to construct sixteen new public facilities, including a new City Hall, city court, four parks, two community centers, four industrial buildings, a library, a wellness center, and two fire stations.
Associations and awards
Mowad was a president of the Louisiana Municipal Association. He also organized and served as past president of the Oakdale High School Alumni Association, and was past president of the Oakdale Lions International, Oakdale Athletic Association, and the Oakdale chapter of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's service organization. As chief of the medical staff at Oakdale Community Hospital, he was a member of the Allen Parish Medical Society, the Louisiana State Medical Society, the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Medical Association. driven by Teri R. Slaughter (1979-2000) of Glenmora in south Rapides Parish, who died thereafter of her wounds in a hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana. In his last reelection in 1988, Mowad had been unopposed.
Mowad was married to the former Dolores Jean Massad, and the couple had six children: sons, Mark Joseph Mowad of Baton Rouge and Thomas Anthony Mowad (1973-2011) of Wichita, Kansas; daughters, Ann Mowad Montanio of Woodworth, Judy Mowad Mahtook of Lafayette, Mary Denise Mowad Guiteau (formerly Mary Howell) of Amite, Louisiana, and Karen Mowad Steven of Wichita, Kansas. Mowad was also survived by two sisters, Moonlee M. Karam and Rosaliee M. Karam, both of Oakdale; and nine grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, Anthony P. Mowad (1926-1985).<ref name=obit/>
A rosary was recited in the Mowad Civic Center in Oakdale, named for the former mayor. Services were held on September 21, 2000, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Mowad had donated the five-acre site where his church building stands. Interment was at the church cemetery in Oakdale.<ref name=obit/>
In 2005, the Louisiana State Legislature named a portion of Highway 10 as the "George B. Mowad Memorial Highway."<ref name=legis/> Numerous businesses of all kinds are located on the Mowad Highway.
Patrick Lynn "Pat" LeBlanc, Sr. (March 21, 1954 - March 10, 2008) was a prominent Lafayette, Louisiana, architect and businessman who was also active in Republican politics. LeBlanc and his pilot perished when their single-engine airplane crashed over northern Vermilion Parish. His death came eleven days before his 54th birthday and only four months after having been defeated in a high-profile race for the Louisiana House of Representatives. His pilot was R. Solomon Reed, Jr. (born May 4, 1947), of Opelousas, the seat of St. Landry Parish in south Louisiana.
In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007, LeBlanc was defeated for the District 43 seat by his fellow Republican, Page Cortez, the choice of influential State Senator Michael J. Michot of Lafayette. The seat was vacated by the retirement of Republican Representative Ernie Alexander of Lafayette. Cortez polled 7,742 votes (55.5 percent) to LeBlanc's 6,218 (44.5 percent).
Early years, education, business
LeBlanc was born in Lafayette to the late L. Jaco LeBlanc and the former Jacqueline Francez. In 1972, he graduated from Acadiana High School. In 1977, he received a bachelor of science degree in architecture from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. LeBlanc was a registered architect in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas and a general contractor in those same states excluding Mississippi.
In 2000, LeBlanc received the "Builder of the Year" award from the trade association known as Acadian Home Builders; he was the president of the group in 2006. LeBlanc's architectural firm is called The LeBlanc Group, a family-owned business established in 1957. At the time of his death, LeBlanc was the president of the company and had designed more than twenty-five prisons and correctional centers in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. He was the president of LeBlanc Construction Co., Inc., a general contracting firm that he established in 1984 to build commercial and residential projects. He was also president of LCS Corrections Services, Inc., a privately held prison management company founded in 1990 by the LeBlanc family. LCS is the fifth largest company of its kind in the United States. As a result of this business, he studied to receive an associate's degree in criminal justice from UL in 1999.
In 1996, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor accused former Sheriff Frank Carroll, also a Democrat last elected in 1991, and LeBlanc’s former company, Gulf Coast Corrections, Inc., with providing false and misleading information to the Farmer’s Home Administration to obtain a $3.18 million loan to build the Morehouse Parish Correctional Center. Carroll did not obtain prior approval from the FmHA before LeBlanc designed the facility. FmHA also questioned a $550,000 cost overrun on the prison. Carroll attributed the overrun to items not included in the original bid specifications. There was also a dispute about the number of beds in the prison.
Prior to his death, the LeBlancs had purchased the Wednesday weekly newspaper, Acadiana Gazette. The publisher is Ron Gomez, a member of the Lafayette Parish Republican Committee and a former Democratic member of the Louisiana House from 1980 to 1989 and an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Lafayette in 1992. Gomez had strongly supported LeBlanc in the House race in 2007.
Five days before the fatal crash, LeBlanc had mailed a five-page survey to "concerned citizens" in Lafayette Parish. The questionnaire asks respondents their opinions on national and local issues, including potential future challengers to City-Parish President Joey Durel, District Attorney Mike Harson, Sheriff Mike Neustrom, Clerk of Court Louis Perret, and the term-limited State Senator Mike Michot.
Last rites
In addition to his mother, LeBlanc was survived by two children from his first marriage, Patrick LeBlanc, Jr. (born ca. 1981), and Liee' LeBlanc (born ca. 1983); two stepsons, Michael Charles Piccione (born ca. 1985) and John M. Picionne, all of Youngsville; two brothers, Maurice LeBlanc, and his wife, Brenda LeBlanc, of Lafayette; Michael LeBlanc and his wife, Julie LeBlanc, of Baton Rouge; his aunt Beverly and her husband, Norris Guidry; his uncle Emile LeBlanc and his wife, Jane LeBlanc, along with their only grandchild & his goddaughter Leah "Camille" LeBlanc. He was preceded in death by his father; his maternal grandparents, Maurice Francez (1905-1977) and Nadine B. Francez (1908-1989), and his paternal grandparents, George and Bernice LeBlanc.
A mass was recited on March 13 at Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church in Lafayette. Burial was in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Lafayette.<ref name=advo/>
In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007, LeBlanc was defeated for the District 43 seat by his fellow Republican, Page Cortez, the choice of influential State Senator Michael J. Michot of Lafayette. The seat was vacated by the retirement of Republican Representative Ernie Alexander of Lafayette. Cortez polled 7,742 votes (55.5 percent) to LeBlanc's 6,218 (44.5 percent).
Early years, education, business
LeBlanc was born in Lafayette to the late L. Jaco LeBlanc and the former Jacqueline Francez. In 1972, he graduated from Acadiana High School. In 1977, he received a bachelor of science degree in architecture from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. LeBlanc was a registered architect in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas and a general contractor in those same states excluding Mississippi.
In 2000, LeBlanc received the "Builder of the Year" award from the trade association known as Acadian Home Builders; he was the president of the group in 2006. LeBlanc's architectural firm is called The LeBlanc Group, a family-owned business established in 1957. At the time of his death, LeBlanc was the president of the company and had designed more than twenty-five prisons and correctional centers in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. He was the president of LeBlanc Construction Co., Inc., a general contracting firm that he established in 1984 to build commercial and residential projects. He was also president of LCS Corrections Services, Inc., a privately held prison management company founded in 1990 by the LeBlanc family. LCS is the fifth largest company of its kind in the United States. As a result of this business, he studied to receive an associate's degree in criminal justice from UL in 1999.
In 1996, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor accused former Sheriff Frank Carroll, also a Democrat last elected in 1991, and LeBlanc’s former company, Gulf Coast Corrections, Inc., with providing false and misleading information to the Farmer’s Home Administration to obtain a $3.18 million loan to build the Morehouse Parish Correctional Center. Carroll did not obtain prior approval from the FmHA before LeBlanc designed the facility. FmHA also questioned a $550,000 cost overrun on the prison. Carroll attributed the overrun to items not included in the original bid specifications. There was also a dispute about the number of beds in the prison.
Prior to his death, the LeBlancs had purchased the Wednesday weekly newspaper, Acadiana Gazette. The publisher is Ron Gomez, a member of the Lafayette Parish Republican Committee and a former Democratic member of the Louisiana House from 1980 to 1989 and an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Lafayette in 1992. Gomez had strongly supported LeBlanc in the House race in 2007.
Five days before the fatal crash, LeBlanc had mailed a five-page survey to "concerned citizens" in Lafayette Parish. The questionnaire asks respondents their opinions on national and local issues, including potential future challengers to City-Parish President Joey Durel, District Attorney Mike Harson, Sheriff Mike Neustrom, Clerk of Court Louis Perret, and the term-limited State Senator Mike Michot.
Last rites
In addition to his mother, LeBlanc was survived by two children from his first marriage, Patrick LeBlanc, Jr. (born ca. 1981), and Liee' LeBlanc (born ca. 1983); two stepsons, Michael Charles Piccione (born ca. 1985) and John M. Picionne, all of Youngsville; two brothers, Maurice LeBlanc, and his wife, Brenda LeBlanc, of Lafayette; Michael LeBlanc and his wife, Julie LeBlanc, of Baton Rouge; his aunt Beverly and her husband, Norris Guidry; his uncle Emile LeBlanc and his wife, Jane LeBlanc, along with their only grandchild & his goddaughter Leah "Camille" LeBlanc. He was preceded in death by his father; his maternal grandparents, Maurice Francez (1905-1977) and Nadine B. Francez (1908-1989), and his paternal grandparents, George and Bernice LeBlanc.
A mass was recited on March 13 at Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Church in Lafayette. Burial was in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Lafayette.<ref name=advo/>