B. F. O'Neal, Jr.
| Benjamin Franklin "B. F." O'Neal, Jr. | |
Louisiana State Representative for District 5 (Caddo Parish)
| |
| In office 1972 – 1988 | |
| Preceded by | Seven at-large members:
Lonnie Odell Aulds |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Roy Brun |
| Born | June 23, 1922 Shreveport, Louisiana, USA |
| Died | April 29, 2004 (aged 81) Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Nancy Johns O'Neal (married c. 1949-2004, his death) |
| Children | Jane O'Neal de Bessonet
Dr. Barron Johns O'Neal |
| Alma mater | Baylor University |
| Occupation | Real estate broker
United States Army |
| Religion | Christian |
Benjamin Franklin O'Neal, Jr., known as B. F. O'Neal, Jr. of Ben O'Neal (June 23, 1922 – April 29, 2004), was a real estate broker in his native Shreveport, Louisiana and a pioneer in the development of the Republican Party in Louisiana. He was a member of the Caddo Parish Police Jury (now the Caddo Parish Commission) from 1964 to 1968 and a state representative for District 5 from 1972 to 1988.[1]
Contents
Background
O'Neal was the son of Benjamin F. O'Neal, Sr., (1889–1968), and the former Susan Abernathy Hendrick (1892-1970). O'Neal's grandfather, also named Benjamin Franklin O'Neal (1845-1910),[2] was the sheriff of neighboring Bossier Parish during Reconstruction from 1871 to 1877,[3] and thereafter the U.S. marshal for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, based in Shreveport. The grandfather was a delegate to the 1896 and 1900 Republican National Conventions, which nominated William McKinley and then added New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt for vice president.[4] The grandfather died in New Orleans in 1910, while he was visiting a son.[5] The original B. F. O'Neal is interred at the rural Bellevue Cemetery in Bossier Parish.[6]
Hence, unlike most Louisiana Republicans, who are former Democrats, O'Neal came from an old Republican family. B. F. O'Neal, Sr., was involved in real estate and property development and was the advertising manager of The Shreveport Times from 1901 to 1919. O'Neal, Jr., had two older sisters, Mary Steele Cooper and Jane Hendrick Kleine, both of whom died in 1999.[7]
O'Neal, Jr., graduated from Southern Baptist-affiliated Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Thereafter, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps Reserve, forerunner to the Air Force.[8] After flight training, he became an instructor in the pilot training program and, later, he was assigned as a pilot for the commander of the Western Flying Training Command. He was released in 1946 as a first lieutenant and later advanced to second lieutenant.[8]
After World War II, he returned to Shreveport after and entered the real estate business with his father in the firm, "B. F. O'Neal & Son, Realtors." In 1960, he was elected president of the Shreveport-Bossier Board of Realtors and was named "Realtor of the Year." He was a vice president of the National Association of Realtors and was a member of the "Build America Better" Committee.
Caddo Parish Police Jury
O'Neal was elected to the police jury (renamed in 1984 as the Caddo Parish Commission) in the general election held on March 3, 1964, He was aided in his victory by coattails provided by the Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlton Lyons of Shreveport. He and the engineer Owen Dickson Adams of Greenwood, of which Adams long after his police jury service was the mayor for twelve years, were the first two Republicans to serve on the police jury since Charles T. Beaird, who had been elected for a single term in 1956, when Earl Kemp Long reclaimed the governorship by defeating New Orleans Mayor deLesseps Story "Chep" Morrison, Sr., Francis Grevemberg, James M. McLemore, and Fred Preaus, the choice of outgoing Governor Robert F. Kennon.
On the police jury, O'Neal worked for equalization of tax assessments, which resulted in most parish homeowners having their assessments lowered from 40 percent to 25 percent. He was chairman of the special committee responsible for the development of an industrial park on the site of the former Caddo Parish Penal Farm.
Four legislative terms
In the general election on February 6, 1968, O'Neal first ran at-large for the state legislature but was defeated when the Democrats swept the state and local offices in Caddo Parish, except for Police Juror Owen Adams. In defeat O'Neal still led the GOP legislative ticket with 13,709 votes that year.
On February 1, 1972, aided again by coattails, this time from the Republican gubernatorial candidate, David C. Treen, O'Neal was elected to the state legislature in a single-member District 5.. The previous legislators had run at-large. One of them, P. J. Mills, a Shreveport banker, opted not to seek a second term but to run, unsuccessfully, for ieutenant governor. O'Neal polled 7,065 votes (54.9 percent) in a race against Democratic nominee Gard Russell Wayt, Sr. (born 1938), a Shreveport insurance agent and lay leader in the United Methodist Church, who drew 5,606 votes (43.6 percent).[9]
O'Neal was one of only four Republicans in the 105-member body at that time. His GOP colleagues included Arthur William Sour, Jr., also of Shreveport, who upset Democratic incumbent Frank Fulco. Sour polled 5,564 votes (53.2 percent) to Fulco's 4,886 (46.8 percent). Sour served until 1992, having been defeated in the 1991 primary. The other Republican lawmakers were E. Clark Gaudin of Baton Rouge, who polled 51 percent of the vote in his race against the Democrat Lillian Walker Walker (1923-2016) and Charles Doerr Lancaster, Jr., defeated after a single term in 1975 but returned to the state House in 1980.
Meanwhile, O'Neal was unopposed in the first-ever nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 1, 1975. At that time, he had only four Republican colleagues, and one of those, Abel John "A. J" McNamara of Jefferson Parish, was actually elected as a Democrat but switched affiliation in 1977. He had also been reelected without opposition in 1979, when Treen won the governorship for a single term.
In 1981, the conservative O'Neal addressed the House Education Committee on the limitations of government, a persistent theme of his political thinking. He remarked: Government doesn't do anything very well. Take government housing. It's almost a complete failure, and anyone who can afford to be out of public housing is out. ... Public education is in serious disrepair. The youngster, parents, teachers, and administrators are all unhappy.... Government has the power to use force to compel, to coerce, and to oppress, and government uses that power at every opportunity ... as in the case of forced busing to achieve racial balance in school ...[10]
O'Neal was elected to his fourth and final House term in 1983, when Edwin Edwards reclaimed the governorship from David C. Treen. He retired from the House in 1988 and was succeeded by his fellow conservative Republican, a later state district court judge, Roy Brun.
O'Neal was a member of the Education Commission of the States, the American Legislative Council, the National Conference of State Legislators, the Council for National Policy, and the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. His favorite hobby was hunting on his family farm.
O'Neal's obituary
O'Neal was mortally injured in an automobile accident on April 4, 2004; he died twenty-five days later. Survivors included his wife, Nancy Johns O'Neal (1925-2018), and their children, Jane O'Neal de Bessonet (born 1950) of Baton Rouge, Dr. Barron Johns O'Neal (born 1952) of Shreveport, Lisa O'Neal Childs (born 1955) of Shreveport, and Mary "Mimi" O'Neal Johnson (born 1960) of Jackson, Mississippi, and twelve grandchildren.[11]
A memorial service was held on May 1, 2004, at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Shreveport, with the Very Reverend M. L. Agnew, Jr., dean of the cathedral, officiating. Interment was at Shreveport's Forest Park Cemetery. Pallbearers included Charlton H. Lyons, Jr (1921-2019), and former Caddo Parish legislative colleague Bruce Lynn. Honorary pallbearers included Judges Tom Stagg and Roy Brun, both of Shreveport.[11] O'Neal is listed as a "Baptist" by Who's Who in American Politics, 2003-2004 though his funeral service and later that of his wife, was held in the Episcopal Church.[8]He along with his parents and wife are interred at Forest Park Cemetery East in Shreveport.[12]
O'Neal's legislative colleague, Woody Jenkins, a Baton Rouge Democrat who later switched parties and waged three unsuccessful races for the United States Senate, praised his friend in a 1981 newspaper column:
No man in the legislature has been a more effective and principled spokesman for individual liberty. His eloquent speeches both in committee and on the House floor have frequently been responsible for carrying the day for free enterprise, limiting the powers of government, and protecting the rights of the individual citizen.[10]
References
- ↑ Membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2024 (Caddo Parish). Louisiana House of Representatives. Retrieved on May 15, 2020.
- ↑ Technically O'Neal, Jr., is O'Neal, III. His father used the number "I," but his grandfather, whom O'Neal never met, was the actual O'Neal, I.
- ↑ Lt. Bill Davis, Public Information Officer, List of sheriffs since 1843 of Bossier Parish, Louisiana.
- ↑ O'Neal, B. F.. The Political Graveyard. Retrieved on May 15, 2020.
- ↑ Monroe News Star, August 18, 1910.
- ↑ Benjamin Franklin O'Neal. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on May 15, 2020.
- ↑ Benjamin Franklin O'Neal, Sr.. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on May 15, 2020.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Louisiana: O'Neal, B. F., Jr.", Who's Who in American Politics, 2003-2004, 19th ed., Vol. 1 (Alabama-Montana) (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, New Jersey, 2003), p. 790.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, February 1, 1972; not available on-line.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Woody Jenkins, "B. F. O'Neal: Champion of Individual Liberty," Minden Press-Herald, June 9, 1981, p. 2.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Benjamin F. O'Neal, Jr., obituary, The Shreveport Times, May 2, 2004.
- ↑ Lieutenant Benjamin Franklin "B. F." O'Neal, Jr.. Findagrave.com.
