B.G. Dyess
Encyclopedia
Bernice G. Dyess, known as B. G. Dyess (born August 16, 1922), is a semi-retired Baptist
minister from Alexandria
, Louisiana
, who served as a conservative Democratic
member of the Louisiana State Senate
from 1996 to 2000, in which capacity he was known for his opposition to gambling
. From 1964 to 1988, Dyess was the Registrar of Voters for Rapides Parish
, a position to which he was appointed by the Rapides Parish Police Jury (akin to county commission
in other states). The registrar’s position brought Dyess membership on the Louisiana State Board of Election Supervisors. Joanell Luke Wilson succeeded Dyess as voter registrar.
, a Baptist-affiliated institution in Pineville
. He was ordained to preach at the age of seventeen and has been on the program for more than 1,500 funerals in central Louisiana, including close family members.
On his nineteenth birthday, Dyess married his former Oak Hill classmate, Ava Brister (August 12, 1923–January 7, 2005), a native of Winn Parish
, born near Sikes
in the Brister community. Ava was the third child of Wiley E. Brister, a farmer, and the former Nancy Ada Hudson (died 1933). Ava Brister and B.G. Dyess married on August 16, 1941, four days after her eighteenth birthday. Because both parents had died by the time that Ava was only ten years of age, she was reared thereafter by other family members. B.G. and Ava Dyess had seven children: Madeline Faye Dyess (born and died May 6, 1943), two sons, Mac Dyess and wife Cheryl of Deville
in Rapides Parish, and Marc C. Dyess and wife Sandra of Baton Rouge
; four daughters: Loretta Dyess Cooley and husband Leonard, and Linda Dyess Stewart and husband Charles of Alexandria; Debbie Dyess Giles and husband Tony of Woodworth
in Rapides Parish; and Louise Dyess Fontaine and husband Ron of Penn Valley, California
.
Reverend Dyess subsequently married the former Billie Whittington. His three older brothers were the Reverend Oscar Carl Dyess (1915–2006), Reverend Ted Dyess (deceased) and Elbert James Dyess (1911–2008). His other brothers, all deceased, were Lloyd Dyess, former superintendent of grounds and the dairy at Central State Hospital in Pineville; and Rufus Dyess of Oakland
, California. His sisters, all deceased, were Jodie Dyess Marler (ca. 1909-2011) of Hineston, Louisiana, Bertha Dyess Marler, and Jessie Dyess Dubois. While Dyess was called to the ministry through the Baptist denomination, his brother Oscar (O.C.) was a pastor in the Pentecostal Church in Louisiana, with wide-ranging assignments in the small towns of Ridgecrest
, Montgomery
, Kentwood, Rosepine
, Merryville
, Columbia
(the seat of Caldwell Parish
), Ferriday and Woodworth. B.G. Dyess was among the ministers officiating at the funeral of his brother Oscar Dyess. Another brother, Ted Dyess, was also a Pentecostal minister pastoring in the western United States, primarily California. His brother Elbert Dyess was a master craftsman whose extensive work can be seen at the Leesville Railroad Museum in Leesville
in Vernon Parish
, where a replica of the old Dyess homestead, a church, and other buildings can be viewed.
, Joe McPherson
, then of Pineville and later of Woodworth, did not seek a fourth consecutive term in the Senate but instead challenged State Representative
Dale Sittig
of Eunice
in a special election for an opening on the Louisiana Public Service Commission
. Dyess led in the nonpartisan blanket primary by 313 votes over fellow Democrat Jack Bennett Dewitt (born 1940), the former Rapides Parish Police Jury highway superintendent from Boyce
. The raw vote was 9,512 (30 percent) to 9,188 (29 percent). The third place candidate, Republican
Lindsey H. Torbett (born 1954) of Alexandria, polled 7,975 ballots (25.2 percent). Three other Democratic candidates trailed, Larry M. Paige, 2,163 votes (6.8 percent), former Senator Cecil R. Blair
of Lecompte
in south Rapides Parish (who last served from 1966 to 1976), 2,113 (6.7 percent), and Jerry M. Guillory, 753 votes (2.4 percent). In the ensuing general election
between two Democrats as permitted in Louisiana, Dyess defeated Dewitt, 18,777 (55.1 percent) to 15,294 (44.9 percent).
Dyess ran on the platform of honesty and integrity with emphasis on fighting gambling both statewide and within Rapides Parish. Dyess and his anti-gambling constituents succeeded in a special election in keeping gambling out of Rapides Parish. It is often said by both his friends and political foes that he was hard to campaign against because he had married or buried someone in practically every family in Rapides Parish.
At seventy-seven and facing his first wife’s declining health, Dyess did not seek a second term in the 1999 primary, and McPherson waged a successful comeback by defeating Republican State Representative Randy Wiggins
of Pineville, who sought to move up to the state Senate.
In the Senate, Dyess served on the Agriculture, Health and Welfare, and Transportation committees. He was vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary B Committee. Senate President Randy Ewing
of Jackson Parish
, who named Dyess to the agriculture committee, said that the minister "grew up on a small farm in Rapides Parish [and] has a special understanding of the issues facing farmers across the state and in Central Louisiana."
In 1999, Dyess authored SB73 to make Louisiana State University at Alexandria
a four-year institution. The bill was tabled when the local legislative delegation agreed that first a Senate Concurrent Resolution had to be passed wherein the Board of Regents would study the need to convert LSUA to four-year status. Subsequently, the study was completed and in 2000, Senator Joe McPherson presented the bill that passed to make LSUA four years. Senator Dyess, Representative Randy Wiggins, newly returned Senator Joe McPherson, Representative Charles W. DeWitt, LSU Board Chair Charlie Weems, former Representative Jock Scott
and Alexandria Mayor Ned Randolph
all testified at the Education Committee hearing on behalf of LSUA.
While in the Senate, Dyess' relationship with Governor Mike Foster
was strained when Dyess claimed on the Senate floor that Foster was not opposed to gambling. Foster replied with such anger toward Dyess that the Senate, on a motion by Republican Tommy Casanova
of Acadia Parish, passed a resolution praising Dyess for his integrity. This was the first such resolution issued in this manner to a fellow senator.
rally attended by hundreds in the auditorium of DeRidder High School in DeRidder, the seat of Beauregard Parish
, not included in Dyess's district. Joining Dyess at the rally was Joe M. Aguillard, the incoming parish superintendent who thereafter became the president of Dyess's alma mater
, Louisiana College. The rally featured such hymns as "Give Me That Old Time Religion'" and "On My Knees". Kari McCarty, a flutist, performed a patriotic medley
. Organized by the Reverend Jon E. Tellifero (born 1959) of the First United Methodist Church in DeRidder, the event was patterned after a similar call for prayer in 1863 for the future of the nation by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
. Dyess said that the public school system was "at, perhaps, its lowest ebb, even in my lifetime. But, that can change through prayer. Is prayer profitable? Is what we're doing here today profitable? [standing ovation] We believe it is, or else we wouldn't be here today. My friends, prayer is profitable."
Years earlier Dyess had served on the Rapides Parish School Board but resigned to pastor a church out of his district. He successfully proposed the appointment of Andrew (Andy) Johnson of Hineston to complete his term on the school board. Dyess has been a longtime member of the Alexandria Civitans, the Central Louisiana Boys and Girls Clubs, the Masonic lodge
, the Special Olympics
, the Rapides Senior Volunteer Program, and the Louisiana College Wildcat Athletic Association.
Though a Democrat, Dyess crossed party lines in 2004 to contribute $500 to the unsuccessful campaign of Jock Scott to the United States House of Representatives
. Scott lost to fellow Republican Rodney Alexander
of Quitman
in Jackson Parish. In his eighties, Dyess changed his party from Democrat to Republican.
In 2006, Dyess received the "Friends of Jimmie Davis
Award" from the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame, named for the gospel singer and Louisiana governor from 1944 to 1948 and 1960 to 1964. During his senatorial service, Dyess labored for the cause of homelessness
through membership in the Louisiana Integral Action Council for the Homeless.
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister from Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, who served as a conservative Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
member of the Louisiana State Senate
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
from 1996 to 2000, in which capacity he was known for his opposition to gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
. From 1964 to 1988, Dyess was the Registrar of Voters for Rapides Parish
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...
, a position to which he was appointed by the Rapides Parish Police Jury (akin to county commission
County commission
A county commission is a group of elected officials charged with administering the county government in local government in some states of the United States. County commissions are usually made up of three or more individuals...
in other states). The registrar’s position brought Dyess membership on the Louisiana State Board of Election Supervisors. Joanell Luke Wilson succeeded Dyess as voter registrar.
Is prayer profitable? . . . We believe it is, or else we wouldn't be here today. My friends, prayer is profitable." -- B.G. Dyess
Early years and family
Dyess was born in the Valentine Lake/Gardner community of western Rapides Parish to J. B. Dyess (subsequently a Ward 5 constable) and the former Sarah Matilda Smith (1888–1978). His paternal grandparents were Edmond D. Dyess and the former Margaret Mathis. He graduated from Oak Hill High School in the Oak Hill community of western Rapides Parish and later attended Louisiana CollegeLouisiana College
Louisiana College is a private institution of higher education located in Pineville, Louisiana, affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, serving a student body of approximately 1,300 students. The college operates on a semester system, with two shorter summer terms...
, a Baptist-affiliated institution in Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....
. He was ordained to preach at the age of seventeen and has been on the program for more than 1,500 funerals in central Louisiana, including close family members.
On his nineteenth birthday, Dyess married his former Oak Hill classmate, Ava Brister (August 12, 1923–January 7, 2005), a native of Winn Parish
Winn Parish, Louisiana
Winn Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its seat is Winnfield. In 2000, its population was 16,894.The parish has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, born near Sikes
Sikes, Louisiana
Sikes is a village in Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 121 at the 2000 census.The village was named after James Warren Sikes, Sr. , a leader in the Winn Parish Baptist church and the first postmaster in the local area....
in the Brister community. Ava was the third child of Wiley E. Brister, a farmer, and the former Nancy Ada Hudson (died 1933). Ava Brister and B.G. Dyess married on August 16, 1941, four days after her eighteenth birthday. Because both parents had died by the time that Ava was only ten years of age, she was reared thereafter by other family members. B.G. and Ava Dyess had seven children: Madeline Faye Dyess (born and died May 6, 1943), two sons, Mac Dyess and wife Cheryl of Deville
Deville, Louisiana
Deville is a census-designated place in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in Rapides Parish, and Marc C. Dyess and wife Sandra of Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
; four daughters: Loretta Dyess Cooley and husband Leonard, and Linda Dyess Stewart and husband Charles of Alexandria; Debbie Dyess Giles and husband Tony of Woodworth
Woodworth, Louisiana
Woodworth is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,080 at the 2000 census....
in Rapides Parish; and Louise Dyess Fontaine and husband Ron of Penn Valley, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Reverend Dyess subsequently married the former Billie Whittington. His three older brothers were the Reverend Oscar Carl Dyess (1915–2006), Reverend Ted Dyess (deceased) and Elbert James Dyess (1911–2008). His other brothers, all deceased, were Lloyd Dyess, former superintendent of grounds and the dairy at Central State Hospital in Pineville; and Rufus Dyess of Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, California. His sisters, all deceased, were Jodie Dyess Marler (ca. 1909-2011) of Hineston, Louisiana, Bertha Dyess Marler, and Jessie Dyess Dubois. While Dyess was called to the ministry through the Baptist denomination, his brother Oscar (O.C.) was a pastor in the Pentecostal Church in Louisiana, with wide-ranging assignments in the small towns of Ridgecrest
Ridgecrest, Louisiana
Ridgecrest is a town in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 801 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ridgecrest is located at ....
, Montgomery
Montgomery, Louisiana
left|thumb|200px|First Baptist Church in MontgomeryMontgomery is a town in Grant Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 787 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Alexandria Metropolitan Statistical Area. Founded in 1712, even before New Orleans, Montgomery is situated on U.S...
, Kentwood, Rosepine
Rosepine, Louisiana
Rosepine is a town in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,390 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Rosepine is located at ....
, Merryville
Merryville, Louisiana
Merryville is a town in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,126 at the 2000 census. It is part of the DeRidder Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Merryville is located at ....
, Columbia
Columbia, Louisiana
Columbia is a town in and the parish seat of Caldwell Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 477 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Columbia is located at ....
(the seat of Caldwell Parish
Caldwell Parish, Louisiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 10,560 people, 3,941 households, and 2,817 families residing in the parish. The population density was 20 people per square mile . There were 5,035 housing units at an average density of 10 per square mile...
), Ferriday and Woodworth. B.G. Dyess was among the ministers officiating at the funeral of his brother Oscar Dyess. Another brother, Ted Dyess, was also a Pentecostal minister pastoring in the western United States, primarily California. His brother Elbert Dyess was a master craftsman whose extensive work can be seen at the Leesville Railroad Museum in Leesville
Leesville, Louisiana
Leesville is a city in and the parish seat of Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,753 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to the Fort Polk U.S. Army installation...
in Vernon Parish
Vernon Parish, Louisiana
Vernon Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Leesville and as of 2000, the population was 52,531....
, where a replica of the old Dyess homestead, a church, and other buildings can be viewed.
Election to Louisiana Senate
At seventy-three, Dyess was elected to the state Senate seat from Rapides Parish when the incumbentIncumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
, Joe McPherson
Joe McPherson
William Joseph "Joe" McPherson, Jr., is a retiring veteran Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from Woodworth, a small community south of Alexandria, Louisiana, the seat of government of Rapides Parish and the largest city in the Central Louisiana region...
, then of Pineville and later of Woodworth, did not seek a fourth consecutive term in the Senate but instead challenged State Representative
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
Dale Sittig
Dale Sittig
Clifton Dale Sittig is the director of the Louisiana Offshore Terminal Authority, who previously served from 1995-2008 as a Democratic member of his state’s Public Service Commission and from 1983-1995 as a state representative from Eunice in St. Landry Parish in south Louisiana.Sittig graduated...
of Eunice
Eunice, Louisiana
Eunice is a city in Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 11,499 at the 2000 census.The St...
in a special election for an opening on the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission
Louisiana Public Service Commission is an independent regulatory agency which manages public utilities and motor carriers in Louisiana. The commission has five elected members chosen in single-member districts for staggered six-year terms...
. Dyess led in the nonpartisan blanket primary by 313 votes over fellow Democrat Jack Bennett Dewitt (born 1940), the former Rapides Parish Police Jury highway superintendent from Boyce
Boyce, Louisiana
Boyce is a town in northern Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,190 at the 2000 census. The community is nearly 75 percent African American.-History:...
. The raw vote was 9,512 (30 percent) to 9,188 (29 percent). The third place candidate, Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Lindsey H. Torbett (born 1954) of Alexandria, polled 7,975 ballots (25.2 percent). Three other Democratic candidates trailed, Larry M. Paige, 2,163 votes (6.8 percent), former Senator Cecil R. Blair
Cecil R. Blair
Cecil Ray Blair was a Rapides Parish farmer and businessman who was a Democratic member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1952 to 1956...
of Lecompte
Lecompte, Louisiana
Lecompte is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,366 at the 2000 census....
in south Rapides Parish (who last served from 1966 to 1976), 2,113 (6.7 percent), and Jerry M. Guillory, 753 votes (2.4 percent). In the ensuing general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
between two Democrats as permitted in Louisiana, Dyess defeated Dewitt, 18,777 (55.1 percent) to 15,294 (44.9 percent).
Dyess ran on the platform of honesty and integrity with emphasis on fighting gambling both statewide and within Rapides Parish. Dyess and his anti-gambling constituents succeeded in a special election in keeping gambling out of Rapides Parish. It is often said by both his friends and political foes that he was hard to campaign against because he had married or buried someone in practically every family in Rapides Parish.
At seventy-seven and facing his first wife’s declining health, Dyess did not seek a second term in the 1999 primary, and McPherson waged a successful comeback by defeating Republican State Representative Randy Wiggins
Randy Wiggins
Randy E. Wiggins is a State Farm Insurance agent in Alexandria, Louisiana, who is the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected from Rapides Parish to the Louisiana House of Representatives. Wiggins served only a single term in the Pineville-based District 27 from 1996 to 2000...
of Pineville, who sought to move up to the state Senate.
In the Senate, Dyess served on the Agriculture, Health and Welfare, and Transportation committees. He was vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary B Committee. Senate President Randy Ewing
Randy Ewing
Randy Lew Ewing is a Jackson Parish businessman who, as a Democrat, represented District 35 in the Louisiana State Senate from 1988 to 2000. He was the State Senate President in his last term from 1996 to 2000, which corresponded with the first term of Republican Governor Murphy J...
of Jackson Parish
Jackson Parish, Louisiana
Jackson Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish was formed in 1845 from parts of Claiborne, Ouachita, and Union Parishes. In 2010, its population was 16,274. The parish seat is Jonesboro...
, who named Dyess to the agriculture committee, said that the minister "grew up on a small farm in Rapides Parish [and] has a special understanding of the issues facing farmers across the state and in Central Louisiana."
In 1999, Dyess authored SB73 to make Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Louisiana State University at Alexandria
Louisiana State University at Alexandria is located in Alexandria, Louisiana. Louisiana State University at Alexandria is a publicly supported institution that provides undergraduatelevel college education to the citizens of Central Louisiana. The university is a unit of the LSU System and operates...
a four-year institution. The bill was tabled when the local legislative delegation agreed that first a Senate Concurrent Resolution had to be passed wherein the Board of Regents would study the need to convert LSUA to four-year status. Subsequently, the study was completed and in 2000, Senator Joe McPherson presented the bill that passed to make LSUA four years. Senator Dyess, Representative Randy Wiggins, newly returned Senator Joe McPherson, Representative Charles W. DeWitt, LSU Board Chair Charlie Weems, former Representative Jock Scott
Jock Scott
John Wyeth "Jock" Scott, II was a lawyer and college professor in Alexandria, who served three terms from District 26 in the Louisiana House of Representatives, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican . He was defeated in a race for the Louisiana State Senate in 1987...
and Alexandria Mayor Ned Randolph
Ned Randolph
Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr. , is a veteran Democratic politician who served as the mayor of Alexandria in central Louisiana from 1986 to 2006. Randolph was also a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976 and the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 1984...
all testified at the Education Committee hearing on behalf of LSUA.
While in the Senate, Dyess' relationship with Governor Mike Foster
Murphy J. Foster, Jr.
Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...
was strained when Dyess claimed on the Senate floor that Foster was not opposed to gambling. Foster replied with such anger toward Dyess that the Senate, on a motion by Republican Tommy Casanova
Tommy Casanova
Thomas Henry "Tommy" Casanova, III is an ophthalmologist in Crowley, Louisiana, and a former American football player and politician. He played football for the LSU Tigers and the Cincinnati Bengals...
of Acadia Parish, passed a resolution praising Dyess for his integrity. This was the first such resolution issued in this manner to a fellow senator.
Spokesman for moral causes
As a state senator, Dyess was a spokesman for traditional moral values. On January 9, 1999, Senator Dyess led a prayerPrayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
rally attended by hundreds in the auditorium of DeRidder High School in DeRidder, the seat of Beauregard Parish
Beauregard Parish, Louisiana
Beauregard Parish [p] is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Beauregard Parish was formed on 1 January 1913. The parish seat is DeRidder. As of 2000, the population was 32,986. Beauregard Parish is part of the DeRidder Micropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Fort Polk...
, not included in Dyess's district. Joining Dyess at the rally was Joe M. Aguillard, the incoming parish superintendent who thereafter became the president of Dyess's alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
, Louisiana College. The rally featured such hymns as "Give Me That Old Time Religion'" and "On My Knees". Kari McCarty, a flutist, performed a patriotic medley
Medley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
. Organized by the Reverend Jon E. Tellifero (born 1959) of the First United Methodist Church in DeRidder, the event was patterned after a similar call for prayer in 1863 for the future of the nation by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. Dyess said that the public school system was "at, perhaps, its lowest ebb, even in my lifetime. But, that can change through prayer. Is prayer profitable? Is what we're doing here today profitable? [standing ovation] We believe it is, or else we wouldn't be here today. My friends, prayer is profitable."
Years earlier Dyess had served on the Rapides Parish School Board but resigned to pastor a church out of his district. He successfully proposed the appointment of Andrew (Andy) Johnson of Hineston to complete his term on the school board. Dyess has been a longtime member of the Alexandria Civitans, the Central Louisiana Boys and Girls Clubs, the Masonic lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
, the Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....
, the Rapides Senior Volunteer Program, and the Louisiana College Wildcat Athletic Association.
Though a Democrat, Dyess crossed party lines in 2004 to contribute $500 to the unsuccessful campaign of Jock Scott to the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Scott lost to fellow Republican Rodney Alexander
Rodney Alexander
Rodney McKinnie Alexander is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district covers twenty-two parishes in roughly the northeast quadrant of the state...
of Quitman
Quitman, Louisiana
Quitman is a village in Jackson Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 168. Quitman is south of Ruston on U.S. Highway 167, and north of Jonesboro, the parish seat of Jackson Parish...
in Jackson Parish. In his eighties, Dyess changed his party from Democrat to Republican.
In 2006, Dyess received the "Friends of Jimmie Davis
Jimmie Davis
James Houston Davis , better known as Jimmie Davis, was a noted singer of both sacred and popular songs who served two nonconsecutive terms as the 47th Governor of Louisiana...
Award" from the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame, named for the gospel singer and Louisiana governor from 1944 to 1948 and 1960 to 1964. During his senatorial service, Dyess labored for the cause of homelessness
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
through membership in the Louisiana Integral Action Council for the Homeless.