For the former Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 state legislator from Fort Worth

Fort Worth, Texas

Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...

 who also died in 2011, see Don Kennard

Don Kennard

Don Kennard was a United States politician for the Democratic Party representing Fort Worth and Tarrant County in both the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate from 1953 to 1973...

.

Donald Ray Kennard (August 11, 1936 - August 5, 2011) was an educator, athletic director, and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 who represented part of East Baton Rouge Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives

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 1976 to 2008. Originally a conservative Democrat

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...

, Kennard switched his partisan affiliation in 1995, when he won the first of three terms as a 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...

.

Family and background

Kennard was born to Sterling D. Kennard (1914–1989), an East Baton Rouge Parish justice of the peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

 from the Central City

Central City, Louisiana

City of Central is a city in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, United States. The newest city in Louisiana, it is the 12th largest city in the state. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area....

 community, and a son of William and Annie Kennard. Donald Kennard's mother was the former Camille Carpenter (1917–2010), one of ten children born to the late Maurice Carpenter and the former Bertie Ritterman. She was a homemaker and a school bus driver. Donald Kennard and his wife, the former Ramona "Mona" Norris, are the parents of Robin Lisa Kennard and Stacy Rae Kennard Doucet, wife of David Doucet. Their grandchildren are Philip James Doucet, Samuel Sterling Doucet, Thomas David Doucet, and Camille Elizabeth Doucet.

In 1954, Kennard graduated from Central High School in East Baton Rouge Parish, where he held thirteen letters in football, basketball, baseball, and track. In 1958, he procured his Bachelor of Science

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree in professional education from Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University is a state-funded public university in Hammond, Louisiana, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims, the principal of Hammond High School, as Hammond Junior College, located in a wing of the high school building. Sims succeeded in getting the campus...

 in Hammond

Hammond, Louisiana

Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

. He taught and coached at Istrouma High School

Istrouma High School

Istrouma High School is a public school located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was founded in 1917, and is located in East Baton Rouge Parish. Its name is a local Indian word meaning "red stick". Red stick is also the English language translation of the French words baton rouge...

 in Baton Rouge. Thereafter, while he pursued his Master of Education

Master of Education

The Master of Education is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, and administration. It is often conferred for educators advancing in...

 degree from Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 in Baton Rouge, which he completed in 1960, Kennard coached the LSU freshmen basketball team. He served for ten years in the United States Air Force Reserve, having first completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. He was stationed at Fort Dix in Trenton

Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. Afterwards for two years, he taught health and physical education at the University of New Orleans

University of New Orleans

The University of New Orleans, often referred to locally as UNO, is a medium-sized public urban university located on the New Orleans Lakefront within New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. It is a member of the LSU System and the Urban 13 association. Currently UNO is without a proper chancellor...

. He was a football spotter from 1958 until 2007, much of that time as a member of the LSU sports broadcasting team. In January 1963, he launched his LSU career as an academicic advisor in the athletic department, a position that he maintained for twenty-two years. Thereafter, he was for many years the LSU assistant athletic director in charge of sales and marketing.

Legislative service

In the 1987 jungle primary

Jungle primary

A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...

, Kennard defeated the Republican Michael "Mike" Harig, 10,310 (69 percent) to 4,693 (31 percent). In 1991, when his District 65 also included a precinct

Precinct

A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. The term has several different uses...

 from neighboring Livingston Parish, Democrat Kennard defeated the Republican Kenneth "Ken" Wood, 8,092 (58 percent) to 5,908 (42 percent). Kennard was then unopposed as a Republican in 1995 and 1999. He was a big winner in the 2003 primary, when he defeated the Democrat Wade Byrd, 9,329 (73 percent) to 3,482 (27 percent).

While serving in the legislature, Kennard continued as the assistant athletic director at LSU. A licensed counselor, he was also a past president of the American Professional Guidance Association and a member of the National Association of Academic Advisors. He is included in Who's Who in Louisiana.

In 1999, Kennard was elected secretary of the American Legislative Exchange Council

American Legislative Exchange Council

The American Legislative Exchange Council is a politically conservative 501 non-profit Policy Organization, consisting of both state legislators and members of the private sector. ALEC's mission statement describes the organization's purpose as the advancement of free-market principles, limited...

. ALEC is the nation’s largest organization of state legislators and claims to be dedicated to developing policies based on the Jefferson

Jefferson

Jefferson often refers to Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States and the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence.Jefferson may also refer to:-Places:Canada*Jefferson, AlbertaUnited States...

ian principles of free markets, limited government, federalism

Federalism

Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...

, and individual liberty. Kennard first became affiliated with ALEC in 1992, when he was still a Democrat. He served on the board of directors and was the organization's state chairman in 1994. He was the first national ALEC officer from Louisiana. In 2003, he was elevated to ALEC national chairman.

In 1996, as a new Republican, Kennard authored and obtained passage of "Truth In Sentencing" legislation, which mandates that a person convicted of a violent crime must serve 85 percent of the sentence. The change virtually abolished "good time." For his work in passing the legislation, Kennard received the "Crime Fighter of the Year" award from the organization Victims and Citizens Against Crime. He was also recognized by the Law Enforcement Association of America for his support of local, state, and national law enforcement in authoring and passing the first legislation in the nation to protect officers injured on the job by inmates

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...

. ALEC considers this model legislation. Kennard was a strong supporter of former East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

 Elmer Litchfield

Elmer Litchfield

Elmer B. Litchfield was a long-serving sheriff of populous East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, known for his modernization of law-enforcement procedures....

, a Republican who served for twenty-three years before retiring late in 2006.

In 2005, Kennard was among twenty-one legislators who toured areas ravaged by Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

. The lawmaker said: "To me, it just looks like swampland. There's not even the remnants of homes for blocks ... I think it should make all of us humble. It should make all of us sympathetic. It should make all of us thankful for what we have been spared." The legislators toured the area three days before they convened for a special session called by Democratic Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to consider hurricane-recovery issues.

Kennard was active in the successful campaign to separate Central City public schools from the East Baton Rouge Parish system. He also worked to procure funding for roads in his district and to finance the diversion canal of the Comite River

Comite River

The Comite River is a right bank tributary of the Amite River, with a confluence near the city of Denham Springs, east of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The river is long. Its drainage basin comprises approximately and includes portions of Wilkinson and Amite counties in Mississippi, and East Feliciana...

.

Term-limited, Kennard could not seek a ninth four-year term in the primary held on October 20, 2007. Both of the state House candidates who entered the primary are Republicans. Clifton S. Richardson

Clif Richardson

Clifton Russell Richardson , known as Clif Richardson, is an American politician and businessman from Greenwell Springs, Louisiana. He is a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from District 65...

, an East Baton Rouge Parish businessman, justice of the peace, and friend of Kennard's, defeated Edward "Clarke" Clark, 8,610 (67 percent) to 4,193 (33 percent).

Death

Kennard died in Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center is a general medical and surgical facility located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is a Catholic Hospital member of the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System...

 in Baton Rouge from the effects of the rupture of a brain aneurysm six days before what would have been his 75th birthday. Services were held on August 8, 2011, at the Zoar Baptist

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...

 Church at 11848 Hooper Road, where Kennard was a longtime member. Interment was at the church cemetery, where his parents are also buried. His pallbearers will include his three grandsons and his successor in the House, Representative Clif Richardson, along with Democratic State Senator

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...

 Francis C. Thompson

Francis C. Thompson

Francis Coleman Thompson is a wealthy developer from Delhi in Richland Parish, Louisiana, U.S., where he served as a senior Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives. He served continuously from 1975 until 2007...

 of Delhi

Delhi, Louisiana

Delhi, originally called Deerfield, is a town in Richland Parish, Louisiana, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,066.-History:...

 in Richland Parish

Richland Parish, Louisiana

Richland Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Rayville. As of 2010, the population was 20,725.-History:...

.