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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name=Patricia Phillips Beck "Pat" Brister |office=President of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana |term_start=January 2012 |term_end=Janua..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Patricia Phillips Beck "Pat" Brister
|office=President of St. Tammany Parish, [[Louisiana]]
|term_start=January 2012
|term_end=January 2020
|preceded=Kevin Davis
|succeeded=Michael "Mike" Cooper
|office2=Louisiana [[Republican Party|Republican]] State Chairman
|term_start2=2000
|term_end2=2004
|succeeded2=[[Roger F. Villere, Jr.]]
|preceded2=[[Chuck McMains]]
|office3=St. Tammany Parish Council member for District 4
|term_start3=January 2000
|term_end3=January 2008
|preceded3=New position replacing St. Tammany Parish Police Jury
|succeeded3=[[Reid Falconer]]
|birth_date=LaGrange, [[Georgia]], USA
|death_date=February 2, 2020 (aged 73)
|residence=Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
|spouse=First husband named "Beck"<br>
Joseph Stanley "Joe" Brister, Jr. (married 1977-2017, his death)
|children=From first marriage:<br>
Jill Beck Heebe
Matthew Beck<br>
Mark Beck<br>
'''From second marriage:<br>
Kenneth Brister<br>
Stepson:< br>
Steven Clark Brister (deceased)<br>
Nine grandchildren
|occupation=[[Business]]woman; [[Politician]]
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
|footnotes='''Note''':<br>
*Active at all levels of her party, Brister, a [[Moderate Republican]], was the first and thus far only woman to serve as the [[Louisiana]] state party chairman.
}}
'''Patricia Phillips Beck Brister''', known as '''Pat Brister''' (December 6, 1946 – February 3, 2020), was a [[business]]woman and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] from Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish in [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]].<ref name="nola.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/10/pat_brister_cruises_to_victory.html|title=Pat Brister cruises to victory in St. Tammany Parish president's race|publisher=nola.com|accessdate=October 23, 2011}}</ref>
==Political life==
From 2000 to 2004, Brister served as chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, the first woman to have held that particular position.<ref name=fhfb>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527194316/http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/2472/PR02-08.pdf|title=FHLBANK Boards of Directors|date=March 6, 2002|publisher=fhfa.gov|accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> From 1996 to 2000, she was the Republican national committeewoman from Louisiana.<ref name=fhfb/> She is also a former [[ambassador]] to the [[United Nations Commission on the Status of Women]] under former [[U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]]. Brister's tenure on the commission included the annual meetings held from February 28 through March 11, 2006, and again from February 25 to March 7, 2008. Brister also served on the elected St. Tammany Parish Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Louisiana/Politics/Louisiana_Politics_New_Orleans_Ray_Nagin__Landrieu_Scores_Support_Congress_Race__5868.asp|title=Pat Brister|publisher=bayoubuzz.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref> On October 22, 2011, she was elected parish president of St. Tammany Parish with 73 percent of the vote; she was sworn into office in January 2012.<ref name="nola.com"/>
In May 2006, Brister was confirmed by the [[U.S. Senate]] as ambassador to the [[Commission on the Status of Women]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insidenorthside.com/06JulyAug/kudos0607.htm|title=Kudos-Spotlight on noteworthy achievements|publisher=insidenorthside.com|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref> after her first convention session had ended. The commission was founded in 1946, a year after the [[United Nations]] was organized. During her tenure, Brister defended the Bush administration regarding its policies concerning the role of women and repeatedly praised the appointment of [[Condoleezza Rice]] as the [[United States Secretary of State]]. "The policies of the [[U.S. government]] have been and continue to be to encourage countries to include women in their initiatives. President Bush has been a strong advocate of democratization]and we fully believe empowering women will strengthen a country. We will continue to talk about that specific issue here at CSW," said Brister.<ref name=csw>{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2008/March/20080305133314xjsnommis6.304568e-02.html#ixzz0WFU5fDTS|title=Ambassador Brister Discusses U.S. Support of Women Worldwide|date=March 5, 2008|publisher=America.gov|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>
Brister continued, having noted that the United States commitment to medical care for women and children: "The US has been at the forefront, particularly here at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, in advocating for availability of medical care for women and children. We point to President Bush's Emergency Plan for [[AIDS]] relief . . . which supports a variety of bilateral, regional, and multilateral initiatives."<ref name=csw/>
Brister won the first of her two terms on the St. Tammany Parish Council for District 4 in the primary election held on October 23, 1999. With 2,214 votes (54.1 percent), she defeated two fellow Republicans.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 23, 1999.</ref> Brister was unopposed for a second term in the 2003 primary. She declined to seek a third term and was succeeded by fellow Republican [[Reid Falconer]] of Madisonville, the winner of the 2007 primary over another Republican named John Robertson.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref>
Earlier, Brister ran unsuccessfully for state senator for District 11 (St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes). She was defeated by fellow Republican [[Tom Schedler]] of Slidell in St. Tammany Parish, who held the Senate seat from 1996 to 2008, when he was term-limited by state law and succeeded by the Mandeville Republican [[Jack Donahue]], who was term-limited in the 2019 primary. Schedler went on to serve as Louisiana Secretary of State, a post from which he was forced to resign in a sex scandal in 2018.
Brister was elected party chairman in 2000 by the 144-member Republican State Central Committee to succeed [[Chuck McMains]], a state representative from [[Baton Rouge]], who served in 2000. She was in turn succeeded in 2004 by [[Roger F. Villere, Jr.]], a flower shop owner in Metairie in Jefferson Parish. Brister was a member of the site-selection committee which tapped [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], to host the 2000 [[Republican National Convention]]. She was a Louisiana state elector in 2000. Thereafter, she was a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention, which met in [[New York City]] to renominate the Bush-[[Dick Cheney|Cheney]] ticket and worked thereafter for the [[Republican Party|GOP]] slate in Louisiana.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bright-britten.html|title=Index to Politicians|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref>
In 2002, President Bush named Brister to a three-year term on the board of the [[Federal Home Loan Bank]] of [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name=fhfb/>
On January 9, 2009, Republican [[Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]] appointed Brister her to the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, the panel which regulates, operates, and controls the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which includes the bridge system and the causeway approach road system on the North Shore.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=903|title=Governor Bobby Jindal Announces the Appointment of Patricia Brister to the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission|date=January 9, 2009|publisher=gov.louisiana.gov|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>
In 2013, Brister attended a fundraiser for [[liberal]] [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]], a candidate for a fourth term in the 2014 midterm elections. Landrieu was unseated by Republican then [[U.S. Representative]] [[Bill Cassidy]] of Louisiana's 6th congressional district.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thedeadpelican.com/2013/brister.html|title=ormer Louisiana GOP Chair Supports Obama? GOP Parish President Pat Brister is Singing Mary Landrieu's praises for her work for Louisiana families|publisher=''The Dead Pelican''|accessdate=November 23, 2013}}</ref> Brister's embrace of Landrieu has been strongly criticized by [[Moon Griffon]], the [[conservative]] statewide [[radio]] [[talk show]] host, then based in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] but since [[Lafayette]], a long-term critic of Senator Landrieu.<ref>''[[Moon Griffon|The Moon Griffon Show]],'' November 22, 2013; December 3, 2013.</ref>
On October 22, 2011, she was elected parish president of St. Tammany Parish with 73 percent of the vote and was sworn into office in January 2012. She was reelected in 2015.<ref name="nola.com"/>
In 2019, Brister was unseated in her bid for a third term as parish president by her fellow Republican Michael Benton "Mike" Cooper (born November 27, 1953) of Covington. Her second term in office was dogged with budget cuts and the failure three times to extend two different [[sale tax]]es.<ref name=wwltv/> In the primary, held on October 12, she trailed Cooper and was unseated in the runoff contest on November 16. In the second balloting, Cooper polled 53,732 votes (61 percent) to Brister's 33,985 (39 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12 and November 16, 2019.</ref>
==Personal life==
Involved in various business enterprises over the years, ,Brister was for a time the chief executive officer and chairman of the trustees<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/educa's diploma mill] which existed in Mandeville from 1997<ref name=fhfb/> to 2002.
Brister was married to Joseph Stanley "Joe" Brister, Jr. (1933-2017) a New Orleans native who established Brister-Stephens, Inc., an air conditioning and heating company, of which she was the former vice president. Her children from a previous marriage are Jill Beck Heebe, Matthew Beck, Mark Beck, Kenneth Beck, and stepson, Steven Clark Beck (1962-2010) of Destrehan in St. Charles Parish.<ref<{{cite web|url=http://www.tributes.com/show/Steven-Brister-88039253|title=Steven Brister obituary|publisher=Tributes.com|accessdate=February 4, 2020}}</ref><ref name=wwltv>{{cite web |url=http://lwvofst.org/_archives/2011/Documents/Biographies/LWVST%20Parish%20President%20Brister%20BIO.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203034845/http://lwvofst.org/_archives/2011/Documents/Biographies/LWVST%20Parish%20President%20Brister%20BIO.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She is a [[Presbyterian]]. Her political interest was initially fueled by the Parent-Teacher Association. She was formerly the executive director of the Northshore Business Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1012corridor.com/news/2009/apr/30/25-most-powerful-people-corridor/|title=Pat Brister: Executive Director, Northshore Business Council|publisher=1012corridor.com|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref><ref name=wwwltv/>
Brister died on February 3, 2020 after a brief battle with [[cancer]], which she had previously overcome. Her death came only three weeks after leaving office as parish president.<ref name=wwltv/>>{{cite web |url=https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/northshore/ex-st-tammany-parish-president-pat-brister-has-died/289-2cb82444-c457-4aa7-9b15-b775f45dae75|title=Former St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister has died: Parish President Brister "was a role model, mentor, and trailblazer for women in Louisiana politics," a family spokesperson said.|author=Dominic Massa |publisher=WWL-TV ([[CBS]]) in [[New Orleans]]|date=February 3, 2020|accessdate=February 4, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brister, Pat}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Georgia]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
|name=Patricia Phillips Beck "Pat" Brister
|office=President of St. Tammany Parish, [[Louisiana]]
|term_start=January 2012
|term_end=January 2020
|preceded=Kevin Davis
|succeeded=Michael "Mike" Cooper
|office2=Louisiana [[Republican Party|Republican]] State Chairman
|term_start2=2000
|term_end2=2004
|succeeded2=[[Roger F. Villere, Jr.]]
|preceded2=[[Chuck McMains]]
|office3=St. Tammany Parish Council member for District 4
|term_start3=January 2000
|term_end3=January 2008
|preceded3=New position replacing St. Tammany Parish Police Jury
|succeeded3=[[Reid Falconer]]
|birth_date=LaGrange, [[Georgia]], USA
|death_date=February 2, 2020 (aged 73)
|residence=Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
|spouse=First husband named "Beck"<br>
Joseph Stanley "Joe" Brister, Jr. (married 1977-2017, his death)
|children=From first marriage:<br>
Jill Beck Heebe
Matthew Beck<br>
Mark Beck<br>
'''From second marriage:<br>
Kenneth Brister<br>
Stepson:< br>
Steven Clark Brister (deceased)<br>
Nine grandchildren
|occupation=[[Business]]woman; [[Politician]]
|religion=[[Presbyterian]]
|footnotes='''Note''':<br>
*Active at all levels of her party, Brister, a [[Moderate Republican]], was the first and thus far only woman to serve as the [[Louisiana]] state party chairman.
}}
'''Patricia Phillips Beck Brister''', known as '''Pat Brister''' (December 6, 1946 – February 3, 2020), was a [[business]]woman and [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[politician]] from Mandeville in St. Tammany Parish in [[suburb]]an [[New Orleans]].<ref name="nola.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/10/pat_brister_cruises_to_victory.html|title=Pat Brister cruises to victory in St. Tammany Parish president's race|publisher=nola.com|accessdate=October 23, 2011}}</ref>
==Political life==
From 2000 to 2004, Brister served as chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, the first woman to have held that particular position.<ref name=fhfb>{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527194316/http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/2472/PR02-08.pdf|title=FHLBANK Boards of Directors|date=March 6, 2002|publisher=fhfa.gov|accessdate=November 15, 2009}}</ref> From 1996 to 2000, she was the Republican national committeewoman from Louisiana.<ref name=fhfb/> She is also a former [[ambassador]] to the [[United Nations Commission on the Status of Women]] under former [[U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]]. Brister's tenure on the commission included the annual meetings held from February 28 through March 11, 2006, and again from February 25 to March 7, 2008. Brister also served on the elected St. Tammany Parish Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Louisiana/Politics/Louisiana_Politics_New_Orleans_Ray_Nagin__Landrieu_Scores_Support_Congress_Race__5868.asp|title=Pat Brister|publisher=bayoubuzz.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref> On October 22, 2011, she was elected parish president of St. Tammany Parish with 73 percent of the vote; she was sworn into office in January 2012.<ref name="nola.com"/>
In May 2006, Brister was confirmed by the [[U.S. Senate]] as ambassador to the [[Commission on the Status of Women]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insidenorthside.com/06JulyAug/kudos0607.htm|title=Kudos-Spotlight on noteworthy achievements|publisher=insidenorthside.com|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref> after her first convention session had ended. The commission was founded in 1946, a year after the [[United Nations]] was organized. During her tenure, Brister defended the Bush administration regarding its policies concerning the role of women and repeatedly praised the appointment of [[Condoleezza Rice]] as the [[United States Secretary of State]]. "The policies of the [[U.S. government]] have been and continue to be to encourage countries to include women in their initiatives. President Bush has been a strong advocate of democratization]and we fully believe empowering women will strengthen a country. We will continue to talk about that specific issue here at CSW," said Brister.<ref name=csw>{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-english/2008/March/20080305133314xjsnommis6.304568e-02.html#ixzz0WFU5fDTS|title=Ambassador Brister Discusses U.S. Support of Women Worldwide|date=March 5, 2008|publisher=America.gov|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>
Brister continued, having noted that the United States commitment to medical care for women and children: "The US has been at the forefront, particularly here at the UN Commission on the Status of Women, in advocating for availability of medical care for women and children. We point to President Bush's Emergency Plan for [[AIDS]] relief . . . which supports a variety of bilateral, regional, and multilateral initiatives."<ref name=csw/>
Brister won the first of her two terms on the St. Tammany Parish Council for District 4 in the primary election held on October 23, 1999. With 2,214 votes (54.1 percent), she defeated two fellow Republicans.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 23, 1999.</ref> Brister was unopposed for a second term in the 2003 primary. She declined to seek a third term and was succeeded by fellow Republican [[Reid Falconer]] of Madisonville, the winner of the 2007 primary over another Republican named John Robertson.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref>
Earlier, Brister ran unsuccessfully for state senator for District 11 (St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes). She was defeated by fellow Republican [[Tom Schedler]] of Slidell in St. Tammany Parish, who held the Senate seat from 1996 to 2008, when he was term-limited by state law and succeeded by the Mandeville Republican [[Jack Donahue]], who was term-limited in the 2019 primary. Schedler went on to serve as Louisiana Secretary of State, a post from which he was forced to resign in a sex scandal in 2018.
Brister was elected party chairman in 2000 by the 144-member Republican State Central Committee to succeed [[Chuck McMains]], a state representative from [[Baton Rouge]], who served in 2000. She was in turn succeeded in 2004 by [[Roger F. Villere, Jr.]], a flower shop owner in Metairie in Jefferson Parish. Brister was a member of the site-selection committee which tapped [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], to host the 2000 [[Republican National Convention]]. She was a Louisiana state elector in 2000. Thereafter, she was a delegate to the 2004 Republican National Convention, which met in [[New York City]] to renominate the Bush-[[Dick Cheney|Cheney]] ticket and worked thereafter for the [[Republican Party|GOP]] slate in Louisiana.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/bright-britten.html|title=Index to Politicians|publisher=politicalgraveyard.com|accessdate=November 7, 2009}}</ref>
In 2002, President Bush named Brister to a three-year term on the board of the [[Federal Home Loan Bank]] of [[Dallas]], [[Texas]].<ref name=fhfb/>
On January 9, 2009, Republican [[Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]] appointed Brister her to the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission, the panel which regulates, operates, and controls the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which includes the bridge system and the causeway approach road system on the North Shore.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gov.louisiana.gov/index.cfm?md=newsroom&tmp=detail&articleID=903|title=Governor Bobby Jindal Announces the Appointment of Patricia Brister to the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission|date=January 9, 2009|publisher=gov.louisiana.gov|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref>
In 2013, Brister attended a fundraiser for [[liberal]] [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]], a candidate for a fourth term in the 2014 midterm elections. Landrieu was unseated by Republican then [[U.S. Representative]] [[Bill Cassidy]] of Louisiana's 6th congressional district.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thedeadpelican.com/2013/brister.html|title=ormer Louisiana GOP Chair Supports Obama? GOP Parish President Pat Brister is Singing Mary Landrieu's praises for her work for Louisiana families|publisher=''The Dead Pelican''|accessdate=November 23, 2013}}</ref> Brister's embrace of Landrieu has been strongly criticized by [[Moon Griffon]], the [[conservative]] statewide [[radio]] [[talk show]] host, then based in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] but since [[Lafayette]], a long-term critic of Senator Landrieu.<ref>''[[Moon Griffon|The Moon Griffon Show]],'' November 22, 2013; December 3, 2013.</ref>
On October 22, 2011, she was elected parish president of St. Tammany Parish with 73 percent of the vote and was sworn into office in January 2012. She was reelected in 2015.<ref name="nola.com"/>
In 2019, Brister was unseated in her bid for a third term as parish president by her fellow Republican Michael Benton "Mike" Cooper (born November 27, 1953) of Covington. Her second term in office was dogged with budget cuts and the failure three times to extend two different [[sale tax]]es.<ref name=wwltv/> In the primary, held on October 12, she trailed Cooper and was unseated in the runoff contest on November 16. In the second balloting, Cooper polled 53,732 votes (61 percent) to Brister's 33,985 (39 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12 and November 16, 2019.</ref>
==Personal life==
Involved in various business enterprises over the years, ,Brister was for a time the chief executive officer and chairman of the trustees<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/educa's diploma mill] which existed in Mandeville from 1997<ref name=fhfb/> to 2002.
Brister was married to Joseph Stanley "Joe" Brister, Jr. (1933-2017) a New Orleans native who established Brister-Stephens, Inc., an air conditioning and heating company, of which she was the former vice president. Her children from a previous marriage are Jill Beck Heebe, Matthew Beck, Mark Beck, Kenneth Beck, and stepson, Steven Clark Beck (1962-2010) of Destrehan in St. Charles Parish.<ref<{{cite web|url=http://www.tributes.com/show/Steven-Brister-88039253|title=Steven Brister obituary|publisher=Tributes.com|accessdate=February 4, 2020}}</ref><ref name=wwltv>{{cite web |url=http://lwvofst.org/_archives/2011/Documents/Biographies/LWVST%20Parish%20President%20Brister%20BIO.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-12-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203034845/http://lwvofst.org/_archives/2011/Documents/Biographies/LWVST%20Parish%20President%20Brister%20BIO.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She is a [[Presbyterian]]. Her political interest was initially fueled by the Parent-Teacher Association. She was formerly the executive director of the Northshore Business Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1012corridor.com/news/2009/apr/30/25-most-powerful-people-corridor/|title=Pat Brister: Executive Director, Northshore Business Council|publisher=1012corridor.com|accessdate=November 8, 2009}}</ref><ref name=wwwltv/>
Brister died on February 3, 2020 after a brief battle with [[cancer]], which she had previously overcome. Her death came only three weeks after leaving office as parish president.<ref name=wwltv/>>{{cite web |url=https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/northshore/ex-st-tammany-parish-president-pat-brister-has-died/289-2cb82444-c457-4aa7-9b15-b775f45dae75|title=Former St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister has died: Parish President Brister "was a role model, mentor, and trailblazer for women in Louisiana politics," a family spokesperson said.|author=Dominic Massa |publisher=WWL-TV ([[CBS]]) in [[New Orleans]]|date=February 3, 2020|accessdate=February 4, 2020}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brister, Pat}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Georgia]]
[[Category:Women]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]