Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page with "{{Infobox person |name= Jack Lynn Keahey, Jr. |image= |image_size= |caption= |birth_date=August 24, 1935 |birth_place=St. , Tensas Parish<br> Louisiana, United States|US..."
{{Infobox person
|name= Jack Lynn Keahey, Jr.
|image=
|image_size=
|caption=
|birth_date=August 24, 1935
|birth_place=St. , Tensas Parish<br> [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]
|death_place=
|death_date=May 4, 2007 (aged 71)
|resting_place=Columbia Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana
|residence=Columbia, Louisiana
|spouse=Marie Herring Keahey (married c. 1957 – 2007, his death)
|children=Drew Keahey<br>
Cash Keahey<br>
Margo Keahey
|parents=Jack, Sr.,and Rayma Lorena George Keahey
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
|occupation=Levee district president
|footnotes=
}}
'''Jack Lynn Keahey, Jr.''' (August 24, 1935 – May 4, 2007), was a [[business]]man, boat builder, welder, mechanic, [[politician]], and civic leader Columbia, in Caldwell Parish in northeastern [[Louisiana]]. He was best known as the president of the Tensas Basin Levee Board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/deaths/4780352.html|title=Deaths elsewhere|publisher=''[[Houston Chronicle]]'', May 6, 2007|accessdate=August 8, 2011}}</ref> Having joined the district in 1992, he served as its president from 2000 until his death.
==Background==
Keahey (pronounced KAY HE) was born to Jack Keahey, Sr. (1908–1995), and the former Rayma Lorena George (1912–2011)<ref name=lmc>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GSsr=1281&GScid=197122&|title=Legion Memorial Cemetery interments|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 8, 2011}}</ref> St. Joseph in Tensas Parish, the smallest parish in population in Louisiana, located adjacent to the [[Mississippi River]] in the northeastern portion of the state. The senior Keahey relocated to Louisiana Cairo, [[Illinois]], to assist in the construction of the Mississippi River levee. Rayma Keahey's family moved Yell County in northern [[Arkansas]] to Newellton in northern Tensas Parish. Interest in levees hence spanned two generation of Keaheys.<ref name=obit>Obituary of Jack Keahey, ''The Monroe News-Star'', May 6, 2007.</ref>
==Levee district==
Keahey was a visible spokesman for his levee district operation, which earned repeated "Outstanding Maintenance Awards" from the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]. The Tensas district appeared strong amid questions having been raised about the preparedness of other levee districts in the wake Huricanes Katrina and Rita.<ref name=keahey>News article on death of Levee District President Jack Keahey, ''Monroe News Star, May 6, 2007.</ref>
"I would say that we're the best run district in the state. We ought to be the model. Our board welcomes any scrutiny and will pass the test." Keahey told the ''Monroe News Star'' in 2006.<ref name=keahey/> John Stringer, the Tensas Levee District executive director, told the ''The News-Star'' that Keahey was "a fine public servant and an even better friend. He was dedicated to the levee board and a wonderful steward of the public's money."<ref name=keahey/>
A pilot, Keahey founded crop dusting company, Keahey Flying Service, in 1964. The firm remains operational under the direction of Keahey's son, Drew Keahey, also of Columbia. Keahey previously served as president of both the Louisiana and National agricultural aviation associations, and Drew has headed the Louisiana association.<ref name=keahey/> Jack Keahey also built his own boat. He was a former member and president of the Caldwell Parish School Board. He was also affiliated with the Louisiana Pesticide Advisory Committee.<ref name=obit/>
In 1991, Keahey made a failed bid for the statewide position of Louisiana commissioner of agriculture and forestry, having lost to the [[incumbent]], his fellow [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Robert 'Bob" Odom. He ran third and received 146,256 votes (11 percent) to Odom's 824,167 (60 percent). [[Republican Party|Republican]] Don Johnson finished second with 199,688 votes (15 percent). Two other candidates, one Democrat and one Republican, shared the remaining 14 percent of the vote.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Statewide primary election returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>
==Death and aftermath==
Keahey was a founding member of the Columbia [[Church of Christ]] and taught [[Sunday school]] there.<ref name=obit/> He died of [[cancer]]. In addition to his mother, who still resided at the time of his death in St. Joseph, and his son Drew and Drew's wife, Becky, Keahey was survived by his wife of a half-century, the former Marie Herring; son, Cash Keahey of Richardson, [[Texas]]; daughter, Margo Keahey of Gallatin, [[Tennessee]], and five grandchildren.<ref name=obit/> His younger brother, Boyd Farrel Keahey (1937-1994), who ran unsuccessfully for [[sheriff]] of Tensas Parish in 1971 against the incumbent Theo
"Bill" Poe, is interred in Newellton beside their parents.<ref name=lmc/>
Services were held in the First Baptist Church in Columbia. Interment was at the large Columbia Hill Cemetery in Columbia.<ref name=obit/> Keahey's friend, [[Dave Norris]], then the long-term [[mayor]] West Monroe in uachita Parish, wrote in a personal letter that Keahey was "a fine, unselfish public servant — and those are not too common."<ref name=keahey/>
Keahey was succeeded as board president by Andrew Harris Brown (born June 1965) of Monroe, the sitting vice president and son of the late Louisiana State Senator William Denis Brown, III.. Drew Keahey was nominated to fill the seat previously held by his father.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keahey, Jack}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Churches of Christ]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
|name= Jack Lynn Keahey, Jr.
|image=
|image_size=
|caption=
|birth_date=August 24, 1935
|birth_place=St. , Tensas Parish<br> [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]
|death_place=
|death_date=May 4, 2007 (aged 71)
|resting_place=Columbia Hill Cemetery in Columbia, Caldwell Parish, Louisiana
|residence=Columbia, Louisiana
|spouse=Marie Herring Keahey (married c. 1957 – 2007, his death)
|children=Drew Keahey<br>
Cash Keahey<br>
Margo Keahey
|parents=Jack, Sr.,and Rayma Lorena George Keahey
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
|occupation=Levee district president
|footnotes=
}}
'''Jack Lynn Keahey, Jr.''' (August 24, 1935 – May 4, 2007), was a [[business]]man, boat builder, welder, mechanic, [[politician]], and civic leader Columbia, in Caldwell Parish in northeastern [[Louisiana]]. He was best known as the president of the Tensas Basin Levee Board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/deaths/4780352.html|title=Deaths elsewhere|publisher=''[[Houston Chronicle]]'', May 6, 2007|accessdate=August 8, 2011}}</ref> Having joined the district in 1992, he served as its president from 2000 until his death.
==Background==
Keahey (pronounced KAY HE) was born to Jack Keahey, Sr. (1908–1995), and the former Rayma Lorena George (1912–2011)<ref name=lmc>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gsr&GSsr=1281&GScid=197122&|title=Legion Memorial Cemetery interments|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=August 8, 2011}}</ref> St. Joseph in Tensas Parish, the smallest parish in population in Louisiana, located adjacent to the [[Mississippi River]] in the northeastern portion of the state. The senior Keahey relocated to Louisiana Cairo, [[Illinois]], to assist in the construction of the Mississippi River levee. Rayma Keahey's family moved Yell County in northern [[Arkansas]] to Newellton in northern Tensas Parish. Interest in levees hence spanned two generation of Keaheys.<ref name=obit>Obituary of Jack Keahey, ''The Monroe News-Star'', May 6, 2007.</ref>
==Levee district==
Keahey was a visible spokesman for his levee district operation, which earned repeated "Outstanding Maintenance Awards" from the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]]. The Tensas district appeared strong amid questions having been raised about the preparedness of other levee districts in the wake Huricanes Katrina and Rita.<ref name=keahey>News article on death of Levee District President Jack Keahey, ''Monroe News Star, May 6, 2007.</ref>
"I would say that we're the best run district in the state. We ought to be the model. Our board welcomes any scrutiny and will pass the test." Keahey told the ''Monroe News Star'' in 2006.<ref name=keahey/> John Stringer, the Tensas Levee District executive director, told the ''The News-Star'' that Keahey was "a fine public servant and an even better friend. He was dedicated to the levee board and a wonderful steward of the public's money."<ref name=keahey/>
A pilot, Keahey founded crop dusting company, Keahey Flying Service, in 1964. The firm remains operational under the direction of Keahey's son, Drew Keahey, also of Columbia. Keahey previously served as president of both the Louisiana and National agricultural aviation associations, and Drew has headed the Louisiana association.<ref name=keahey/> Jack Keahey also built his own boat. He was a former member and president of the Caldwell Parish School Board. He was also affiliated with the Louisiana Pesticide Advisory Committee.<ref name=obit/>
In 1991, Keahey made a failed bid for the statewide position of Louisiana commissioner of agriculture and forestry, having lost to the [[incumbent]], his fellow [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], Robert 'Bob" Odom. He ran third and received 146,256 votes (11 percent) to Odom's 824,167 (60 percent). [[Republican Party|Republican]] Don Johnson finished second with 199,688 votes (15 percent). Two other candidates, one Democrat and one Republican, shared the remaining 14 percent of the vote.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Statewide primary election returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>
==Death and aftermath==
Keahey was a founding member of the Columbia [[Church of Christ]] and taught [[Sunday school]] there.<ref name=obit/> He died of [[cancer]]. In addition to his mother, who still resided at the time of his death in St. Joseph, and his son Drew and Drew's wife, Becky, Keahey was survived by his wife of a half-century, the former Marie Herring; son, Cash Keahey of Richardson, [[Texas]]; daughter, Margo Keahey of Gallatin, [[Tennessee]], and five grandchildren.<ref name=obit/> His younger brother, Boyd Farrel Keahey (1937-1994), who ran unsuccessfully for [[sheriff]] of Tensas Parish in 1971 against the incumbent Theo
"Bill" Poe, is interred in Newellton beside their parents.<ref name=lmc/>
Services were held in the First Baptist Church in Columbia. Interment was at the large Columbia Hill Cemetery in Columbia.<ref name=obit/> Keahey's friend, [[Dave Norris]], then the long-term [[mayor]] West Monroe in uachita Parish, wrote in a personal letter that Keahey was "a fine, unselfish public servant — and those are not too common."<ref name=keahey/>
Keahey was succeeded as board president by Andrew Harris Brown (born June 1965) of Monroe, the sitting vice president and son of the late Louisiana State Senator William Denis Brown, III.. Drew Keahey was nominated to fill the seat previously held by his father.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keahey, Jack}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Education]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Louisiana]]
[[Category:Churches of Christ]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]