Everett Doerge
Encyclopedia
Everett Gail Doerge was an American
state legislator who served as a Democratic
member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
from District 10 (Webster Parish
) from January 1992 until his death in office.
, a city on the bank of Sabine Lake
in far southeastern Texas
. In 1943, as the country was entering its second year of participation in World War II
, his parents, George G. Doerge (1901–1976) and Jewel M. Doerge (1907–1993) moved the family to the small northern Louisiana
city of Minden
. Young Everett graduated from Minden High School
in 1954, where he had run track
and played on the all-state football
team in 1953. He initially entered Mississippi State University
in Starkville
on a football scholarship but then transferred to Northwestern State College (Northwestern State University after June 1970) in Natchitoches
, where he met and, in August 1957, married Jean McGlothlin. They both obtained their degrees in 1958, the year he commissioned an officer in the U.S. Army, serving six months of active duty and remaining in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1964. He also continued his education at NSC where, following his B.S. in 1958, he received an M.S. in 1964 and, after a decade as a high school teacher, attended studies for an Ed.D. at Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge, which he obtained in 1973.
in Smith County
, Texas, and, back in Louisiana, in another small locality, the town of Iota
. Returning to Minden, he was a social studies teacher and football coach
at Minden High School, from 1964 to 1974 and subsequently advanced to assistant principal and principal of several Webster Parish schools, including stints at Webster Junior High School from 1974-1976 and the former Theresa M. Lowe Junior High School in Minden from 1976 to 1978. In 1979, he was appointed by the Webster Parish School Board as secondary education supervisor, with duties in the central office in Minden. In that capacity, he pushed for the installation of computers in classrooms. He was promoted in 1984 to assistant superintendent, the terminal position in his three-decade educational career when, upon election to the legislature, he retired from the school district.
opposition, including the mayoral nominee, J.E. "Pat" Patterson, who thereafter unseated the Republican Mayor Tom Colten
.
Doerge was elected to the legislature on November 16, 1991, the day that Edwin Edwards
, who had served as governor from 1972 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1988 secured his fourth nonconsecutive term by defeating former Ku Klux Klan
sman David Duke
and, also, the day which saw, in the early morning hours, the death, from cancer, of another famed Louisiana political figure, Bill Dodd. Whereas Edwards overwhelmed Duke statewide, Doerge barely unseated the short-term GOP
incumbent
Eugene S. Eason
(1928–2007) of Springhill
in northern Webster Parish. Eason, a former member of the Springhill City Council, had been elected on March 27, 1991, to fill the remaining months in the term of former State Representative Bruce M. Bolin
of Minden, who resigned to accept a judicial appointment.
Doerge prevailed by 71 votes: 8,389 to Eason's 8,318, a statistical dead heat. Edwards defeated Duke in Webster Parish, 9,024 votes (52 percent) to 8,406 (48 percent). Both Doerge and Eason hence ran behind Duke in raw figures. The discrepancy is that 723 voters who participated in the gubernatorial contest did not vote for either candidate for representative.
In 1995, Doerge was reelected outright in the primary with 8,933 votes (63 percent) of the total ballots over two Republican women, Pamela Hillidge (3,755 ballots - 27 percent) and Helaine George (1,459 votes - 10 percent).
in Minden, and improvements, including partial four-laning, to Louisiana Highway 371.
Doerge worked with Republican Representative Roy L. Brun of Shreveport to repeal the Louisiana forced heirship law. According to Doerge, "When people work hard to support themselves and their family, they should be able to determine what happens to their estate upon death."
Minden mayor Bill Robertson, a fellow Democrat, cited Doerge's willingness to work tirelessly for special appropriations and grants for his district. George French, administrator of the Minden Medical Center, said that Doerge was largely responsible for obtaining approval from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to approve the Doyline Health Clinic in the southwestern Webster Parish community of Doyline
.
At the time of Doerge's death, the Minden Press-Herald
s former publisher David Specht wrote in an editorial that the lawmaker once told him how surprised he was that so few constituents actually contacted him over any matter. Other legislators, however, such as former State Representative and State Senator Robert G. "Bob" Jones of Lake Charles
, however, said that constituent demands were so overwhelming that the constant pressure caused them to leave the legislature.
Doerge also favored the expansion and relocation of Northwest Louisiana Technical College to a new campus on the I-20 service road in Minden. He developed a good working relationship with state Senator Foster Campbell
, whose 36th District includes Webster Parish. In 2007, Campbell, a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
, was a Democratic candidate for governor.
, and the Boy Scouts
. A Methodist, he was also a member of the Lions Club and past commander of Knights Templar
.
Three weeks before his sixty-third birthday, Everett Doerge died in a Shreveport
hospital of complications from a massive heart attack
sustained ten days earlier. In addition to his wife, Jean, he was survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Sherie and Kevin Lester, and two grandsons. He is interred beside his parents at Gardens of Memory Cemetery
in Minden.
Six months later, Jean Doerge, in the October 20, 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary, retained her late husband's District 10 House seat.
Everett Doerge was posthumously honored in 2001, when NSU named a room in his honor in the College of Education.
In 2011, Doerge Landing on Dorcheat Bayou
, located east of Springhill
on State Highway 157, was named in Doerge's honor. The landing was created after the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
completed a new bridge across the bayou, a part of the Scenic Rivers Program of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state legislator who served as a 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 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 District 10 (Webster Parish
Webster Parish, Louisiana
Webster Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The seat of the parish is Minden. In 2010, its population was 41,207....
) from January 1992 until his death in office.
Early years, education, military
Everett Doerge was born in Port ArthurPort Arthur, Texas
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 57,755 people, 21,839 households, and 14,675 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.5 people per square mile . There were 24,713 housing units at an average density of 298.0 per square mile...
, a city on the bank of Sabine Lake
Sabine Lake
200px | thumb | Sabine lake as seen from outer space.Sabine Lake is a salt water estuary on the Texas-Louisiana border. The lake, some long and wide, is formed by the confluence of the Neches River and Sabine River. Through its tidal outlet long, Sabine Pass, Sabine Lake drains some of Texas...
in far southeastern 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...
. In 1943, as the country was entering its second year of participation in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, his parents, George G. Doerge (1901–1976) and Jewel M. Doerge (1907–1993) moved the family to the small northern 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...
city of Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
. Young Everett graduated from Minden High School
Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)
Minden High School is the public secondary educational institution in Minden, a small city of 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana...
in 1954, where he had run track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
and played on the all-state football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team in 1953. He initially entered Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University
The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science commonly known as Mississippi State University is a land-grant university located in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, United States, partially in the town of Starkville and partially in an unincorporated area...
in Starkville
Starkville, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 21,869 people, 9,462 households, and 4,721 families residing in the city. The population density was 851.4 people per square mile . There were 10,191 housing units at an average density of 396.7 per square mile...
on a football scholarship but then transferred to Northwestern State College (Northwestern State University after June 1970) in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
, where he met and, in August 1957, married Jean McGlothlin. They both obtained their degrees in 1958, the year he commissioned an officer in the U.S. Army, serving six months of active duty and remaining in the U.S. Army Reserve until 1964. He also continued his education at NSC where, following his B.S. in 1958, he received an M.S. in 1964 and, after a decade as a high school teacher, attended studies for an Ed.D. at 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 obtained in 1973.
Career as an educator
His first years in education were spent in the tiny community of ArpArp, Texas
Arp is a city in Smith County, Texas, United States. The population was 976 in 2009. It is part of the Tyler, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in Smith County
Smith County, Texas
As of the census of 2000, there were 174,706 people, 65,692 households, and 46,904 families residing in the county. The population density was 188 people per square mile . There were 71,701 housing units at an average density of 77 per square mile...
, Texas, and, back in Louisiana, in another small locality, the town of Iota
Iota, Louisiana
Iota is a town in Acadia Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,376 at the 2000 census. Its previous names were "Pointe Aux Loups" and "Cartville".Iota is part of the Crowley Micropolitan Statistical Area....
. Returning to Minden, he was a social studies teacher and football coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
at Minden High School, from 1964 to 1974 and subsequently advanced to assistant principal and principal of several Webster Parish schools, including stints at Webster Junior High School from 1974-1976 and the former Theresa M. Lowe Junior High School in Minden from 1976 to 1978. In 1979, he was appointed by the Webster Parish School Board as secondary education supervisor, with duties in the central office in Minden. In that capacity, he pushed for the installation of computers in classrooms. He was promoted in 1984 to assistant superintendent, the terminal position in his three-decade educational career when, upon election to the legislature, he retired from the school district.
Two legislative elections
In the fall of 1974, Doerge was serving as secretary of the Minden Democratic Central Committee, which organized a dinner to benefit local candidates facing RepublicanRepublican 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...
opposition, including the mayoral nominee, J.E. "Pat" Patterson, who thereafter unseated the Republican Mayor Tom Colten
Tom Colten
Arthur Thomas Colten, known as Tom Colten , was a Louisiana politician from the 1960s to the 1990s who rose from a small-town mayoralty position to head his state's Department of Transportation and Development under three governors from both parties...
.
Doerge was elected to the legislature on November 16, 1991, the day that Edwin Edwards
Edwin Edwards
Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...
, who had served as governor from 1972 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1988 secured his fourth nonconsecutive term by defeating former Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
sman David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
and, also, the day which saw, in the early morning hours, the death, from cancer, of another famed Louisiana political figure, Bill Dodd. Whereas Edwards overwhelmed Duke statewide, Doerge barely unseated the short-term GOP
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...
incumbent
Incumbent
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...
Eugene S. Eason
Eugene S. Eason
Fulton Eugene Eason was a businessman from Springhill, Louisiana, who ran as a Republican in four elections for the Louisiana House of Representatives in calendar year 1991...
(1928–2007) of Springhill
Springhill, Louisiana
Springhill is a city in northern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,439 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
in northern Webster Parish. Eason, a former member of the Springhill City Council, had been elected on March 27, 1991, to fill the remaining months in the term of former State Representative Bruce M. Bolin
Bruce M. Bolin
Bruce Martin Bolin is a current Louisiana state district court judge who was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1979 to 1990. Bolin holds court in the 26th Judicial District based in Benton, the seat of Bossier Parish. He is a native of Minden, the seat of...
of Minden, who resigned to accept a judicial appointment.
Doerge prevailed by 71 votes: 8,389 to Eason's 8,318, a statistical dead heat. Edwards defeated Duke in Webster Parish, 9,024 votes (52 percent) to 8,406 (48 percent). Both Doerge and Eason hence ran behind Duke in raw figures. The discrepancy is that 723 voters who participated in the gubernatorial contest did not vote for either candidate for representative.
In 1995, Doerge was reelected outright in the primary with 8,933 votes (63 percent) of the total ballots over two Republican women, Pamela Hillidge (3,755 ballots - 27 percent) and Helaine George (1,459 votes - 10 percent).
Legislative service
Having campaigned on educational issues, Doerge worked for higher teacher pay and helped to secure passage of a bill which raised the driving age from fifteen to sixteen. He backed increased funds for fire protection and industrial expansion, the construction of a service road along Interstate 20Interstate 20
Interstate 20 is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I‑20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95...
in Minden, and improvements, including partial four-laning, to Louisiana Highway 371.
Doerge worked with Republican Representative Roy L. Brun of Shreveport to repeal the Louisiana forced heirship law. According to Doerge, "When people work hard to support themselves and their family, they should be able to determine what happens to their estate upon death."
Minden mayor Bill Robertson, a fellow Democrat, cited Doerge's willingness to work tirelessly for special appropriations and grants for his district. George French, administrator of the Minden Medical Center, said that Doerge was largely responsible for obtaining approval from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to approve the Doyline Health Clinic in the southwestern Webster Parish community of Doyline
Doyline, Louisiana
Doyline is a village in southwestern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 841 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area....
.
At the time of Doerge's death, the Minden Press-Herald
Minden Press-Herald
The Minden Press-Herald is a Monday-Friday daily newspaper published in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, by Specht Newspapers, Inc...
s former publisher David Specht wrote in an editorial that the lawmaker once told him how surprised he was that so few constituents actually contacted him over any matter. Other legislators, however, such as former State Representative and State Senator Robert G. "Bob" Jones of Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
, however, said that constituent demands were so overwhelming that the constant pressure caused them to leave the legislature.
Doerge also favored the expansion and relocation of Northwest Louisiana Technical College to a new campus on the I-20 service road in Minden. He developed a good working relationship with state Senator Foster Campbell
Foster Campbell
Foster L. Campbell, Jr. , is a Democratic member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, a former 26-year member of the Louisiana State Senate, and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. Campbell polled 161,425 votes and won two parishes: Red River and...
, whose 36th District includes Webster Parish. In 2007, Campbell, a member of 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...
, was a Democratic candidate for governor.
Obituary and honors
Doerge won Distinguished Service Awards from Civitan International (of which he had been a past president and district governor), the Masonic LodgeMasonic 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...
, and the Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
. A Methodist, he was also a member of the Lions Club and past commander of Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
.
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
hospital of complications from a massive heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
sustained ten days earlier. In addition to his wife, Jean, he was survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Sherie and Kevin Lester, and two grandsons. He is interred beside his parents at Gardens of Memory Cemetery
Gardens of Memory Cemetery (Minden, Louisiana)
Other cemeteries named "Gardens of Memory" are located in Muncie, and Marion, Indiana, and Houston County, Alabama. There is an Erath Gardens of Memory in Stephenville in Erath County, Texas, an Oakhaven Gardens of Memory in Gibson County, Tennessee, a Resthaven Gardens of Memory in Baton Rouge,...
in Minden.
Six months later, Jean Doerge, in the October 20, 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary, retained her late husband's District 10 House seat.
Everett Doerge was posthumously honored in 2001, when NSU named a room in his honor in the College of Education.
In 2011, Doerge Landing on Dorcheat Bayou
Dorcheat Bayou
Dorcheat Bayou, also known as Bayou Dorcheat, is a stream in the USA that extends from Nevada County in southwestern Arkansas through Columbia County and into Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana before emptying into Lake Bistineau east of the village of Doyline. To its south, Lake Bistineau...
, located east of Springhill
Springhill, Louisiana
Springhill is a city in northern Webster Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,439 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minden Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
on State Highway 157, was named in Doerge's honor. The landing was created after the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public transportation, roadways, bridges, canals, select levees, floodplain management, port facilities, commercial vehicles, and aviation which includes 69 airports, in the U.S....
completed a new bridge across the bayou, a part of the Scenic Rivers Program of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is a state agency of Louisiana that maintains state parks and wildlife and fishery areas. The agency has its headquarters in Baton Rouge.-External links:*...
.