Fred Huenefeld

Frederick William "Fred" Huenefeld, Jr. (Louisiana agri-businessman and political activist)
Born	December 27, 1929 Monroe, Louisiana
Died	September 14, 2023 (aged 93) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Political Party	Democrat
Spouse	Elizabeth Jean Gentry Huenefeld (married 1951-2015, her death) Children: Stella Rebecca Harrod Fred Huenefeld, III Rachel Littleton Huenefeld Sylvia Jean Huenefeld (deceased) 13 grandchildren Parents: Frederick and Stella Amy Bennett Huenefeld
Religion	United Methodist

Frederick William Huenefeld, Jr., known as Fred Huenefeld (December 27, 1929 – September 14, 2023), was an agri-businessman, real estate agent, and political figure from Monroe, Louisiana.

Background

His parents, Fred Huenefeld, Sr. (1888-1975), a veteran of World War I, and the former Stella Bennett (1903-1937), are interred at Riverview Cemetery in Monroe, also the resting place of Fred, Jr., and his wife, the former Elizabeth Jean Gentry. The junior Fred's mother died at thirty-four in the month in which he turned eight. Huenefeld graduated from Ouachita Parish High School and attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe, when that institution was known as Northeast Louisiana State College. He received a Bachelor of Science in agricultural economics from Louisiana State University in the capital city of Baton Rouge, where he subsequently died at the age of ninety-three.

Career

Huenefeld ran unsuccessfully for several offices, including Louisiana's 5th congressional district seat in a 1986 race against fellow Democrat, the then incumbent Thomas Gerald "Jerry" Huckaby, and the 1987 state Senate campaign against fellow Democrat Lawson Swearingen. Huckaby said of his former opponent: "He was always a right wing nut and his major issue was the national debt. Always a thorn in my side. He inherited a large farm near the city limits of Monroe and sold it all off over time."

However, Huenefeld has held numerous appointed positions in government. For twelve years, he was the chairman of the Louisiana State Soil & Water Conservation Committee. He also served on the Governor's Council of Environmental Quality and was vice chairman of the Louisiana State Welfare Board. U.S. President Jimmy Carter appointed Huenefeld to the Louisiana State Agriculture & Stabilization Committee, an entity under the United States Department of Agriculture. He was for four years a member of the Democratic National Committee and sat as well on the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee. In the early 1970s, Huenefeld started a July 4 annual festival at Triangle Park in Monroe, which he subsequently turned over the operations to his Rotary International chapter.

Huenefeld is a past president and director of the National Organization of Raw Materials. He is affiliated with the American Cancer Society. He has undertaken numerous speaking engagements in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Italy; he discusses primarily the topic, "The American System of Political Economy.” He is known for his staunchly patriotic views. He has been active in the Schiller Institute's Food for Peace Movement. Huenefeld manages the Millhaven Plantation, which has fields of cotton, corn, soybeans, pecans, and cattle and a cotton gin.

Personal life

Huenefeld was married to the former Elizabeth Jean Gentry (February 23, 1930 – November 20, 2015), a Monroe native and the daughter of Herschel Ace Gentry, Sr. (1904-2006), a native of Jackson Parish who farmed and in the 1930s and founded New York Hardware and Furniture in Monroe, and the former Jean Littleton (1909-1996). Herschel and Jean are interred at Hasley Cemetery in West Monroe.

Jean Huenefeld met her husband at Ouachita Parish High School, at which in their senior year, he was captain of the football team and she was the homecoming queen. Like her husband, she also graduated from LSU. Unlike her husband she was an active Republican, a member of the Monroe Republican Women's Club. She was affiliated with the Monroe Garden Club and Junior League, the United Methodist Church, and the Fort Miro chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Though her degree was in psychology and sociology, she worked in real estate for thirty years. There are three living Huenefeld children, Stella (named for her grandmother) Rebecca Huenefeld Harrod and husband, Chet, of Monroe; Frederick Huenefeld, III, and wife, the former Tonja Thomas, of Ruston, Louisiana, and Rachel Littleton Huenefeld of Atlanta, Georgia. A third daughter was Sylvia Jean Huenefeld (1959-1963).