L. B. Henry
Encyclopedia
Louie Brannon Henry, known as L. B. Henry (November 28, 1920 – April 13, 2008), was a figure in Louisiana
parish government between 1956 and 1992. A businessman in Pineville
, Henry served on the Rapides Parish Police Jury (equivalent to county commission
in other states) from, first, 1956–1960, and, again, from 1968-1992. He was defeated for a seventh term in the jungle primary
held on October 19, 1991. Henry was the jury president for thirteen years, having been elected annually by his colleagues. From 1979-1987, while he still served on the police jury, he also held the administrative post of "parish manager". In 1982, the versatile Henry, was president of the Louisiana Police Jury Association, based in Baton Rouge
.
Henry's police jury tenure largely corresponded with the thirty-two years that Geraldine Small "Gerri" Gerami (1924–2008) served as the police jury secretary-treasurer. She died five weeks after Henry's death. One of Henry's jury colleagues, Charles W. DeWitt, Jr.
, was the jury vice-president from 1976–1978 and became a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
in 1980 and ultimately served as Speaker
from 2000-2004. Henry was a member too of the Pineville City Council from 1954–1956, when he stepped down in the middle of his term to join the police jury.
Henry was born in Rapides Parish to Louie Manuel Henry and the former Annie Ethal Hooter. He was disabled at birth because the umbilical cord
wrapped around an arm. He adapted to a missing forearm by using the half-remaining limb like a hand, which proved possible in his business as a plumber
. Like Henry, another Rapides Parish politician
, Frederick H. Baden, Sr.
, who served as mayor
of Pineville from 1970–1998, was also a plumber, and the two were friends for many years. Baden said that he worked with Henry to upgrade the infrastructure
and procure sewerage
service to the outlying Wardville and Lee Heights areas. Baden worked with Henry to establish an animal shelter
for Pineville and Rapides Parish. "He loved people. He always tried to help the underprivileged," Baden said of Henry.
In addition to his presidency of the state association, Henry served on the police jury executive board for seven years. He served for four years on the Transportation Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties
.
On October 24, 1987, in his final election to the single-member District B seat on the police jury, Henry, a Democrat
, defeated the Republican
Gerard Guillory (born ca. 1940) of Pineville, 2,701 votes (58.5 percent) to 1,977 (41.5 percent). He was defeated for a seventh term on the jury in 1991 by fellow Democrat Stephen P. "Steve" Bordelon (born ca. 1939) of Pineville, 2,894 votes (55.47 percent) to 2,323 ballots (44.5 percent). The long tenure suddenly ended. Bordelon held the seat for four terms and did not seek reelection in the 2007 primary.
Henry was a former president of the trade association
, the Alexandria
-Pineville Master Plumbers Association. He was a past president of the Pineville Kiwanis Club and a member of the Masonic lodge
and Shriners
. For ten years, he provided use of his L. B. Henry Rodeo
Arena for the annual Kiwanis rodeo. Henry also dug water
wells and operated his L.B. Henry Mobile Home Park on the Marksville Highway in Pineville. He was a cattleman and owned horse
s too.
Jack Bennett DeWitt (born 1940) of Boyce
served as Rapides Parish highway superintendent and general superintendent in a career which largely paralleled the years that Henry also served. He ran unsuccessfully in 1995 for the Louisiana State Senate
seat from Rapides Parish against the Reverend B.G. Dyess
. In an interview with the Alexandria Daily Town
, the major newspaper of Central Louisiana
, DeWitt recalled how Henry would "help you, he would do it in a minute. I remember him as a leader, someone capable of working with other elected officials to get things done." DeWitt was an honorary pallbearer
at Henry's funeral, along with former Pineville City Council member Robert F. Cespiva.
Lyn Rollins, who as a broadcast journalist covered the Rapides Parish Police Jury in the 1970s, described Henry as "a populist
at heart. A little Edwin Edwards
, a little Gillis Long
, a little Tillie Snyder
. . . . he was a very likable local politician. He was always accessible. He never dodged a question. . . . It's hard to call him progressive
, but in some ways he did some progressive things."
Henry was also influential in establishing one of the first parish programs to use state prison
labor for local public works
projects.
in Pineville from the effects of Alzheimer's disease
; he was eighty-seven. Survivors included his wife, Addie Mae Henry; two sons from Pineville, Luther Manuel Henry (born October 14, 1944) and wife, Bonnie, and Louie Rodney Henry (born ca. 1950); daughter, Martha Ann Henry Peters and husband, John R. Peters (both born ca. 1948) of Homer
, the seat of Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana; sisters, Louise Henry Graef Hebert and Lorraine Deville; nine grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Russell A. Elliot (1925–2000). Services were held three days later at the chapel of Hixson Brothers in Pineville. Burial was at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Ball
, located north of Pineville.
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...
parish government between 1956 and 1992. A businessman 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....
, Henry served on the Rapides Parish Police Jury (equivalent 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) from, first, 1956–1960, and, again, from 1968-1992. He was defeated for a seventh term in the 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...
held on October 19, 1991. Henry was the jury president for thirteen years, having been elected annually by his colleagues. From 1979-1987, while he still served on the police jury, he also held the administrative post of "parish manager". In 1982, the versatile Henry, was president of the Louisiana Police Jury Association, based in 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...
.
Henry's police jury tenure largely corresponded with the thirty-two years that Geraldine Small "Gerri" Gerami (1924–2008) served as the police jury secretary-treasurer. She died five weeks after Henry's death. One of Henry's jury colleagues, Charles W. DeWitt, Jr.
Charles W. DeWitt, Jr.
Charles W. "Charlie" DeWitt, Jr. , is a former Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, having served from District 25 from 1980 to 2008. He was the Speaker of the House from 2000 to 2004 during the second term of Republican Governor Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr...
, was the jury vice-president from 1976–1978 and became a 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...
in 1980 and ultimately served as Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
from 2000-2004. Henry was a member too of the Pineville City Council from 1954–1956, when he stepped down in the middle of his term to join the police jury.
Henry was born in Rapides Parish to Louie Manuel Henry and the former Annie Ethal Hooter. He was disabled at birth because the umbilical cord
Umbilical cord
In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
wrapped around an arm. He adapted to a missing forearm by using the half-remaining limb like a hand, which proved possible in his business as a plumber
Plumber
A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable water, sewage, and drainage in plumbing systems. The term dates from ancient times, and is related to the Latin word for lead, "plumbum." A person engaged in fixing metaphorical "leaks" may also be...
. Like Henry, another Rapides Parish politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, Frederick H. Baden, Sr.
Fred Baden
Frederick Herman Baden, Sr., known as Fred Baden , was a Democratic mayor of Pineville, a small city across the Red River from Alexandria in Rapides Parish, Louisiana...
, who served as mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Pineville from 1970–1998, was also a plumber, and the two were friends for many years. Baden said that he worked with Henry to upgrade the infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
and procure sewerage
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
service to the outlying Wardville and Lee Heights areas. Baden worked with Henry to establish an animal shelter
Animal shelter
An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost, or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats.Parrots, for example, are the third most common pet owned by people...
for Pineville and Rapides Parish. "He loved people. He always tried to help the underprivileged," Baden said of Henry.
In addition to his presidency of the state association, Henry served on the police jury executive board for seven years. He served for four years on the Transportation Steering Committee of the National Association of Counties
National Association of Counties
The National Association of Counties is an organization that represents county governments in the United States.The National Association of Counties is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States. Founded in 1935, NACo provides essential services to the...
.
On October 24, 1987, in his final election to the single-member District B seat on the police jury, Henry, a 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...
, defeated the 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...
Gerard Guillory (born ca. 1940) of Pineville, 2,701 votes (58.5 percent) to 1,977 (41.5 percent). He was defeated for a seventh term on the jury in 1991 by fellow Democrat Stephen P. "Steve" Bordelon (born ca. 1939) of Pineville, 2,894 votes (55.47 percent) to 2,323 ballots (44.5 percent). The long tenure suddenly ended. Bordelon held the seat for four terms and did not seek reelection in the 2007 primary.
Henry was a former president of the trade association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
, the 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....
-Pineville Master Plumbers Association. He was a past president of the Pineville Kiwanis Club and a member of 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...
and Shriners
Shriners
The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870, is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States...
. For ten years, he provided use of his L. B. Henry Rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
Arena for the annual Kiwanis rodeo. Henry also dug water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
wells and operated his L.B. Henry Mobile Home Park on the Marksville Highway in Pineville. He was a cattleman and owned horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s too.
Henry in perspective
At times, Henry came under scrutiny for authorizing at public expense the paving of portions of private driveways in outyling areas. Henry said that he was compelled to stop the assistance because "it is against the law to put it on private property." But he said that he thought he was doing the right thing: "My theory on it was those are poor people, and they couldn't afford to buy gravel. All I was doing was trying to help those poor people."Jack Bennett DeWitt (born 1940) of 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:...
served as Rapides Parish highway superintendent and general superintendent in a career which largely paralleled the years that Henry also served. He ran unsuccessfully in 1995 for 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...
seat from Rapides Parish against the Reverend B.G. Dyess
B.G. Dyess
Bernice G. Dyess, known as B. G. Dyess , 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...
. In an interview with the Alexandria Daily Town
The Town Talk (Alexandria)
The Town Talk, started as The Daily Town Talk in 1883 and later named the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, is the major newspaper of Central Louisiana. It is published by Gannett in Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the economic center of Central Louisiana.The daily newspaper has a circulation...
, the major newspaper of Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana , also known as the Crossroads region, is the part of Louisiana that includes the following parishes: Allen Parish, Beauregard Parish, Catahoula Parish, Concordia Parish, Grant Parish, La Salle Parish, Natchitoches Parish, Rapides Parish, Sabine Parish and Vernon Parish.The five...
, DeWitt recalled how Henry would "help you, he would do it in a minute. I remember him as a leader, someone capable of working with other elected officials to get things done." DeWitt was an honorary pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
at Henry's funeral, along with former Pineville City Council member Robert F. Cespiva.
Lyn Rollins, who as a broadcast journalist covered the Rapides Parish Police Jury in the 1970s, described Henry as "a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
at heart. A little 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...
, a little Gillis Long
Gillis William Long
Gillis William Long was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana and member of the Long family. Long served seven non-consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives but placed third in two campaigns for the Democratic gubernatorial nominations in 1963 and 1971...
, a little Tillie Snyder
John K. Snyder
John Kenneth Snyder, Sr., sometimes known as Tillie Snyder , was a colorful, outspoken Democratic mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana, from 1973–1977 and again from 1982-1986....
. . . . he was a very likable local politician. He was always accessible. He never dodged a question. . . . It's hard to call him progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
, but in some ways he did some progressive things."
Henry was also influential in establishing one of the first parish programs to use state prison
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...
labor for local public works
Public works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
projects.
Death
Henry died in 2008 in a nursing homeNursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
in Pineville from the effects of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
; he was eighty-seven. Survivors included his wife, Addie Mae Henry; two sons from Pineville, Luther Manuel Henry (born October 14, 1944) and wife, Bonnie, and Louie Rodney Henry (born ca. 1950); daughter, Martha Ann Henry Peters and husband, John R. Peters (both born ca. 1948) of Homer
Homer, Louisiana
Homer is present day parish seat of Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The town was named after the Greek poet Homer and was laid out around the Courthouse Square in 1850 by Frank Vaughn. The present day brick courthouse, built in the Greek Revival style of architecture, is one of only...
, the seat of Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana; sisters, Louise Henry Graef Hebert and Lorraine Deville; nine grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Russell A. Elliot (1925–2000). Services were held three days later at the chapel of Hixson Brothers in Pineville. Burial was at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Ball
Ball, Louisiana
Ball is a town in Rapides Parish just north of Pineville, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, located north of Pineville.