Gayle Hamilton
| Gayle Key Hamilton (State court judge, 1976-1994) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | December 28, 1925 Shreveport, Louisiana | ||
| Died | April 8, 2023 Shreveport, Louisiana Resting place: | ||
| Political Party | Democrat-turned-Republican | ||
| Spouse | Gloria Hernandez Hamilton (married c. 1959-2023, his death) | ||
| Religion | Southern Baptist | ||
| Military Service | |||
| Service/branch | United States Marine Corps | ||
| Years of service | 1943 to 1946 | ||
| Battles/wars | Guadalcanal, Okinawa in World War II | ||
Gayle Key Hamilton (December 28, 1925 – April 8, 2023) was a District 1 state court judge in his native Shreveport, Louisiana. He sat on the bench for three six-year terms from 1976 until his retirement in 1994.
Contents
Background
Hamilton was a son of Edward Clinton Hamilton, Sr. (1897-1951), and the former Elizabeth "Beth" Gayle (1895-1947).[1] Edward Hamilton was a United States Army combat veteran of World War I.
In 1942, Gayle Hamilton graduated from the Clifton Ellis Byrd High School in Shreveport.[2]
Career
After high school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, with service from 1943 to 1946. After finishing boot camp, radio school, and training at Camp Pendleton, he was sent to Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, and on April 1, 1945, he participated in the invasion of Okinawa. In November 1945, he was sent to Beijing, China, as a Marine guard until he returned home in February 1946. He then entered Southern Methodist University near Dallas, Texas, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. After SMU, he was a treaty affairs analyst for the U.S. Department of State from 1949 to 1952. After the death of his father, he returned to Shreveport. He became a petroleum scout and landman with the Pan American Production Company[2] while he studied at night under prominent attorney Horace Morrison Holder (1913-1989).[3] He was admitted to the state bar in 1956 and practiced law for two decades prior to becoming a judge.[2]
He was one of the first local judges to have attended the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, at which he was the faculty advisor in 1990. He served on many boards and committees. As a member of First Baptist Church, he was from 1977 to 1978 the chairman if the First Baptist Church School just shortly after its founding. He was also active with the Shreveport Shriner’s Children’s Hospital Board, for which he established a ham radio station so that children from Latin America while undergoing treatment could communicate with their families. He was affiliated with the Council for Development of French (CODOFIL), Veterans War Memorial Committee, the International Trade Council of New Orleans, and the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport.[2]
Family
He was married for sixty-four years until his death to the former Gloria Hernandez of Barranquilla, Colombia. He was predeceased by his parents, a brother, Edward C. "Ned" Hamilton, Jr. (1924-1998), who was the husband of the former Margaret Mary Hightower (1924-2011), and a sister, Deryl Elizabeth Hamilton Freeman (1928-2010), the wife of William Augustus Freeman (1923-2009). The Hamiltons had four children, Herbert Edward Hamilton, M.D., and wife Ruth Ann Butter of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Elizabeth "Betsy" Hamilton Woodall of Austin, Texas; Gloria Elaine Hamilton of Shreveport, and Patricia Gayle Hamilton of Tyler, Texas. The couple had seven grandchildren.[2]
Judge Hamilton's memorial service was held at the Frost Chapel of the First Baptist Church. He is interred at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.[4]
References
- ↑ Edward Clinton Hamilton, Sr.. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on April 20, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Judge Gayle Hamilton Obituary - Shreveport Times, accessed April 19, 2023.
- ↑ Horace Morrison Holder (1913-1989) - Find a Grave Memorial, accessed April 18, 2023.
- ↑ Judge Gayle Hamilton (1925-2023) - Find a Grave Memorial, accessed April 19, 2023.
