Lloyd E. Lenard
Encyclopedia
Lloyd Edgar Lenard was an American
businessman from Shreveport
, and a former Caddo Parish commissioner, author
, United States Navy
officer, civic leader, and a pioneer in the establishment of the two-party system
in his native Louisiana
.
in Ouachita Parish. The second youngest of seven children, he outlived all of his siblings. James Lenard deserted the family during the Great Depression
. Lloyd Lenard’s difficult upbringing is highlighted in his 2005 book Papa Left Us But Mama Pulled Us Through. Of his mother, Lenard said: "This tiny woman had only Christian
love and pioneer courage with which to hold her family together after her handsome, womanizing husband left her on a tenant farm with seven children and no resources." Lenard further recalled how his mother taught him and his brothers and sisters to "take care of ourselves and stand on our own two feet. [We] did just that, and in her declining years, the children took care of her and, strangely enough, of their handsome father who had no others to whom to turn as he became ill and started his long slide into death."
Lenard graduated from Ouachita Parish High School
in Monroe
and attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe
, then "Northeast Junior College". He completed his bachelor’s degree in journalism
on a scholarship at Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge. He obtained his master’s degree in advertising
and merchandising
at the University of Missouri
in Columbia
, a premier school in the field.
In Missouri
, he met his future wife, the former Betty-Jo Sawyer (born September 24, 1928) of Framingham, Massachusetts
, whom he nicknamed “Sky”. She was attending Stephens College
, a women’s liberal arts
institution also in Columbia. The couple met at the First Baptist
Church of Columbia. They married in Massachusetts on December 23, 1947, at the time of what was determined to have been the worst blizzard
in the state in a half-century.
During World War II
, Lenard was chosen for the Navy's officer training school at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana
. He was a lieutenant
with the amphibious forces in the Mediterranean Theatre
.
-based Neiman Marcus
Company on the southwestern United States
. He was offered a position with the Nieman Marcus training program but soon left to return to Monroe, where he became advertising manager of former Governor
James A. Noe
’s KNOE
radio
, since sold by the Noe heirs. Lenard became active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars
, the Junior Chamber International
(or Jaycees), and the fledgling Louisiana Republican Party
.
In the 1963-1964 gubernatorial campaign
, he flew around the state with Republican Party
nominee Charlton Lyons
, a Shreveport oilman whom he called "Papa" Lyons, to interview the candidate for radio stations and newspaper
s. Lyons was defeated by Democrat
John McKeithen
but nevertheless waged the first determined Republican bid for governor since Reconstruction.
Lenard left KNOE and relocated to Shreveport to joined Atena Life Insurance Company
as its assistant general agent. He later became general agent for Pan American Life Insurance, having been responsible for the hiring and training of sales associates. He also worked as a recruiter and trainer for Lincoln National Life Insurance
.
As a past president of the Americanism Forum, Lenard engaged in public speaking, mostly before civic clubs and schools. One of his lectures was entitled "Fires of Tyranny." He also was the moderator of the Shreveport KWKH
radio program, Party Line.
Lenard’s Republican activities steadily increased, and he served on the 144-member Republican State Central Committee, which meets in Baton Rouge. He was the state party treasurer for seven years.
On December 11, 1984, he began the first of his three four-year terms on the newly-formed Caddo Parish Commission, formerly known as the Police Jury. His first term was actually three years. Other Republicans serving on the new 12-member panel were W.D. “Rusty” George and Tommy Gene Armstrong
. The commission chairman at the time, Roy M. “Hoppy” Hopkins
, was later elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives
. Tommy Armstrong served a one-year unexpired term in the Louisiana House as well from 1991-1992.
Lenard became commissioner more than a year after the defeat of Governor David C. Treen
, Louisiana’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction, who was handily unseated in the fall of 1983 by Democratic former Governor Edwin Washington Edwards. Though Ronald W. Reagan twice won Louisiana’s electoral votes for president, the Louisiana GOP grew slowly during the 1980s, hurt badly by its failure to win the election for U.S. senator in 1986.
Jerry C. Spears of Keithville
, the clerk of the Caddo Parish Commission, recalls Lenard, who held the District 8 seat, as “kind of a watchdog over spending. A budget hawk.” During his tenure, Lenard worked with fellow commissioners to revamp the animal control ordinance
and was involved in the efforts to obtain a new juvenile services building and jail.
Lenard was succeeded on the commission by fellow Republican John P. Escude. In the jungle primary
held on October 21, 1995, Escude defeated Republican Jeffrey D. Sadow
, a political science
professor at LSU in Shreveport, 4,697 votes 56.4 percent to 3,628 (43.6 percent).
Lenard also wrote the novel The Last Confederate Flag, which explores the philosophical controversy over the display of the Confederate
flag in the American South. Lenard was a member of the heritage association, Sons of Confederate Veterans
. In the story, a fictitious Stonewall Bedford of Georgia
arises at a city council
meeting to oppose militants calling for the removal of the Confederate battle flag. Bedford finds that the dispute before the city council is merely the "first skirmish in an all-out assault against his beloved flag and the South's cultural heritage."
Other Lenard books are Miracle on the Thirteenth Hole (2003), a Christian novel about a golf-playing Baptist minister aptly named Dwight Church, who attempts to maintain his faith while he struggles with the pressures of society. The novel demonstrates that, like other human beings, pastors must seek renewal of their own faith from a greater power than themselves.
Lenard wrote a collection of short stories
entitled The Moon’s Cold Light. His final work is the otherwise prophetically named "The Last Goodbye". Ritz Publications of Shreveport, Louisiana, published this poignant love story based on his wartime experience in Marseille, France.
. He often lectured at high school
s on the importance of good citizenship and the necessary vigilance to protect liberty, and, during the Cold War
, on the threat of international communism.
For some fifty years, Lenard was a member of the Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport. He was also affiliated with the Shreveport Kiwanis Club. He was a board member of the Shreveport Symphony.
, the seat of Gregg County
in East Texas
; two sons, Brian Drury Lenard (born November 11, 1954) of Hammond
, and Lloyd "Chip" Lenard of Shreveport; a grandson, Ian Frye of Denver
, and a granddaughter, Holly Frye of Dallas.
Services were held on June 13, 2008, at the Rose-Neath Marshall Street Chapel in Shreveport, with Dr. Larry Williams officiating and Dr. Scott Tatum assisting. Interment was in Section 5, lot 221, Forest Park Cemetery on St. Vincent Avenue in Shreveport.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman from Shreveport
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....
, and a former Caddo Parish commissioner, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
officer, civic leader, and a pioneer in the establishment of the two-party system
Two-party system
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties...
in his native 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...
.
Family, education, military
Lenard was born to James Lenard (1890–1966) and Doshie Lenard (1888–1971) in West MonroeWest Monroe, Louisiana
West Monroe is a city in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 13,250 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area....
in Ouachita Parish. The second youngest of seven children, he outlived all of his siblings. James Lenard deserted the family during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Lloyd Lenard’s difficult upbringing is highlighted in his 2005 book Papa Left Us But Mama Pulled Us Through. Of his mother, Lenard said: "This tiny woman had only Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
love and pioneer courage with which to hold her family together after her handsome, womanizing husband left her on a tenant farm with seven children and no resources." Lenard further recalled how his mother taught him and his brothers and sisters to "take care of ourselves and stand on our own two feet. [We] did just that, and in her declining years, the children took care of her and, strangely enough, of their handsome father who had no others to whom to turn as he became ill and started his long slide into death."
Lenard graduated from Ouachita Parish High School
Ouachita Parish High School
Ouachita Parish High School is a high school located in Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administrated by the Ouachita Parish School Board. It is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school mascot is the Lion....
in Monroe
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
and attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe
University of Louisiana at Monroe
The University of Louisiana at Monroe is a coeducational public university in Monroe, Louisiana and part of the University of Louisiana System.-History:...
, then "Northeast Junior College". He completed his bachelor’s degree in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
on a scholarship 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. He obtained his master’s degree in advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
and merchandising
Merchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
at the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Columbia
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
, a premier school in the field.
In Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, he met his future wife, the former Betty-Jo Sawyer (born September 24, 1928) of Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
, whom he nicknamed “Sky”. She was attending Stephens College
Stephens College
Stephens College is a women's college located in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833 as the Columbia Female Academy. In 1856, David H. Hickman turned it into a college,...
, a women’s liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
institution also in Columbia. The couple met at the First 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 of Columbia. They married in Massachusetts on December 23, 1947, at the time of what was determined to have been the worst blizzard
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...
in the state in a half-century.
During 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...
, Lenard was chosen for the Navy's officer training school at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
. He was a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
with the amphibious forces in the Mediterranean Theatre
Mediterranean Theatre
The Mediterranean Theatre is the war zone covering the Mediterranean Sea. It has seen at least two wars spanning the whole of the sea:*Mediterranean theatre of World War I*Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres of World War II...
.
Career and political choices
Lenard’s graduate thesis was on the impact of the DallasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
-based Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
Company on the southwestern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He was offered a position with the Nieman Marcus training program but soon left to return to Monroe, where he became advertising manager of former Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
James A. Noe
James A. Noe
James Albert Noe, Sr. of Monroe served for three and a half months as the 43rd Governor of Louisiana after the death of Oscar K. Allen on January 28, 1936....
’s KNOE
KMLB
KMLB is a radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. Licensed to Monroe, Louisiana, USA, the station is currently owned by Holladay Broadcasting. The current schedule includes Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Moon Griffon, Michael Savage, Neil Boortz, Art Bell, George Noory and Rob...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, since sold by the Noe heirs. Lenard became active in the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
, the Junior Chamber International
Junior Chamber International
Junior Chamber International is the only worldwide non-political and non-sectarian youth service organization. It is an international community of citizens between the ages of to with the aim and purpose of creating positive changes in the world...
(or Jaycees), and the fledgling Louisiana Republican Party
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...
.
In the 1963-1964 gubernatorial campaign
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1963-64
The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1963–64 was held in three rounds. The two Democratic Party primaries were held on December 7, 1963 and January 11, 1964. The general election was held on March 3, 1964...
, he flew around the state with Republican Party
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...
nominee Charlton Lyons
Charlton Lyons
Charlton Havard Lyons, Sr., also known as Big Papa Lyons , was a Shreveport oilman who in 1964 waged the first determined Republican bid for the Louisiana governorship since Reconstruction. Lyons also made a strong but losing bid for the United States House of Representatives in a special election...
, a Shreveport oilman whom he called "Papa" Lyons, to interview the candidate for radio stations and newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s. Lyons was defeated by 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...
John McKeithen
John McKeithen
John Julian McKeithen was the 49th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1964 to 1972. A Democrat from the town of Columbia, he was the first governor of his state in the twentieth century to serve two consecutive terms...
but nevertheless waged the first determined Republican bid for governor since Reconstruction.
Lenard left KNOE and relocated to Shreveport to joined Atena Life Insurance Company
Aetna
Aetna, Inc. is an American health insurance company, providing a range of traditional and consumer directed health care insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, group life, long-term care, and disability plans, and medical management...
as its assistant general agent. He later became general agent for Pan American Life Insurance, having been responsible for the hiring and training of sales associates. He also worked as a recruiter and trainer for Lincoln National Life Insurance
Lincoln National Corporation
Lincoln National Corporation is a Fortune 200 American holding company, which operates multiple insurance and investment management businesses through subsidiary companies...
.
As a past president of the Americanism Forum, Lenard engaged in public speaking, mostly before civic clubs and schools. One of his lectures was entitled "Fires of Tyranny." He also was the moderator of the Shreveport KWKH
KWKH
KWKH is a classic country music radio station serving Shreveport, Louisiana. The 50-kilowatt station broadcasts at 1130 kHz. Formerly owned by Clear Channel Communications and Gap Central Broadcasting, it is now owned by Townsquare Media....
radio program, Party Line.
Political activities
On November 5, 1974, Lenard lost a race for the 4th congressional district seat on the Louisiana State Board of Education, a position vacated by Robert H. "Bob" Curry. The Democratic nominee, F.A. "Red" Davis, handily prevailed in a heavily Democratic year.Lenard’s Republican activities steadily increased, and he served on the 144-member Republican State Central Committee, which meets in Baton Rouge. He was the state party treasurer for seven years.
On December 11, 1984, he began the first of his three four-year terms on the newly-formed Caddo Parish Commission, formerly known as the Police Jury. His first term was actually three years. Other Republicans serving on the new 12-member panel were W.D. “Rusty” George and Tommy Gene Armstrong
Tommy Armstrong (Louisiana politician)
Tommy Gene Armstrong is a businessman from Shreveport, Louisiana, who served as a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1991-1992. He filled the unexpired term of the Democrat, Robert P. "Bobby" Waddell, who resigned to become a state district court judge...
. The commission chairman at the time, Roy M. “Hoppy” Hopkins
Roy M. Hopkins
Roy McArthur Hopkins, known as Hoppy Hopkins , was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, having represented District 1 in northern Caddo Parish and two precincts in northern Bossier Parish from 1988 until his Thanksgiving Day death after a long illness of bone cancer...
, was later elected to 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...
. Tommy Armstrong served a one-year unexpired term in the Louisiana House as well from 1991-1992.
Lenard became commissioner more than a year after the defeat of Governor David C. Treen
David C. Treen
David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...
, Louisiana’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction, who was handily unseated in the fall of 1983 by Democratic former Governor Edwin Washington Edwards. Though Ronald W. Reagan twice won Louisiana’s electoral votes for president, the Louisiana GOP grew slowly during the 1980s, hurt badly by its failure to win the election for U.S. senator in 1986.
Jerry C. Spears of Keithville
Keithville, Louisiana
Keithville is an unincorporated community in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies to the south of Shreveport along U.S. Route 171. Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 71047. Along with a large elementary and middle school, Keithville has several...
, the clerk of the Caddo Parish Commission, recalls Lenard, who held the District 8 seat, as “kind of a watchdog over spending. A budget hawk.” During his tenure, Lenard worked with fellow commissioners to revamp the animal control ordinance
Local ordinance
A local ordinance is a law usually found in a municipal code.-United States:In the United States, these laws are enforced locally in addition to state law and federal law.-Japan:...
and was involved in the efforts to obtain a new juvenile services building and jail.
Lenard was succeeded on the commission by fellow Republican John P. Escude. 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 21, 1995, Escude defeated Republican Jeffrey D. Sadow
Jeffrey D. Sadow
Jeffrey Dennis Sadow is an associate professor of political science at Louisiana State University in Shreveport known for his Internet writings on behalf of political conservatism and the Republican Party in Louisiana....
, a political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
professor at LSU in Shreveport, 4,697 votes 56.4 percent to 3,628 (43.6 percent).
Literary works
Lenard’s sentimental autobiography Papa Left Us But Mama Held Us Together received high reviews. Retired Judge Dan Sawyer of Shreveport evaluates Lenard’s work, accordingly, “a book for all ages. For the generation beginning its search in life, it serves as an example that anyone who keeps his/her eyes fixed on a goal can accomplish anything. To the mature generation it gives insights on life only maturity can understand and appreciate, but it will pry open the minds of all generations. The book is masterfully written. It has all the details of a biography written in the style of a fine novel. Mr. Lenard has the gift of choosing just enough descriptive language to paint a picture without losing the story in syrupy picturesque details.”Lenard also wrote the novel The Last Confederate Flag, which explores the philosophical controversy over the display of the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
flag in the American South. Lenard was a member of the heritage association, Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American national heritage organization with members in all fifty states and in almost a dozen countries in Europe, Australia and South America...
. In the story, a fictitious Stonewall Bedford of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
arises at a city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
meeting to oppose militants calling for the removal of the Confederate battle flag. Bedford finds that the dispute before the city council is merely the "first skirmish in an all-out assault against his beloved flag and the South's cultural heritage."
Other Lenard books are Miracle on the Thirteenth Hole (2003), a Christian novel about a golf-playing Baptist minister aptly named Dwight Church, who attempts to maintain his faith while he struggles with the pressures of society. The novel demonstrates that, like other human beings, pastors must seek renewal of their own faith from a greater power than themselves.
Lenard wrote a collection of short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
entitled The Moon’s Cold Light. His final work is the otherwise prophetically named "The Last Goodbye". Ritz Publications of Shreveport, Louisiana, published this poignant love story based on his wartime experience in Marseille, France.
Other interests
Lenard instructed evening courses in finance and insurance at Louisiana State University in ShreveportLouisiana State University in Shreveport
Louisiana State University in Shreveport is a branch of the Louisiana State University System in Shreveport, Louisiana. Opened in 1967, LSUS is the only public four-year university in the Shreveport-Bossier metro area....
. He often lectured at high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s on the importance of good citizenship and the necessary vigilance to protect liberty, and, during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, on the threat of international communism.
For some fifty years, Lenard was a member of the Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport. He was also affiliated with the Shreveport Kiwanis Club. He was a board member of the Shreveport Symphony.
Death
Lenard died in Shreveport. In addition to his wife, he was survived by a daughter, Carla Dawn Lenard Frye and husband, Hollis A. Frye (born 1946) of LongviewLongview, Texas
Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 80,455. Most of the city is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat; only a small part extends into the western part of neighboring Harrison County. It is...
, the seat of Gregg County
Gregg County, Texas
There were 42,687 households out of which 33.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.00% were married couples living together, 13.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.50% were non-families. 26.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.50% had...
in East Texas
East Texas
East Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
; two sons, Brian Drury Lenard (born November 11, 1954) of 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...
, and Lloyd "Chip" Lenard of Shreveport; a grandson, Ian Frye of Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, and a granddaughter, Holly Frye of Dallas.
Services were held on June 13, 2008, at the Rose-Neath Marshall Street Chapel in Shreveport, with Dr. Larry Williams officiating and Dr. Scott Tatum assisting. Interment was in Section 5, lot 221, Forest Park Cemetery on St. Vincent Avenue in Shreveport.