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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Gregory Williams "Greg" Tarver, Sr. | image=Greg Tarver of LA.jpg | nationality=African American | office Louisiana State Senator<br>for..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Gregory Williams "Greg" Tarver, Sr.
| image=Greg Tarver of LA.jpg
| nationality=[[African American]]
| office [[Louisiana]] State Senator<br>for District 39 (Caddo Parish)
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| term_start1=1984
| term_end1=2004
| preceded=[[Bill Keith]]
| succeeded=Lydia Patrice Jackson
| term_start2=2012
| term_end2=
| preceded2=Lydia P. Jackson
| succeeded2=
| office3=[[Shreveport]] City Council member
| term_start3=1978
| term_end3=1984
| preceded3=New position
| succeeded3=
| birth_date=March 30, 1946
| birth_place=[[Shreveport]], Louisiana
| death_date=
| death_place=
| residence=Shreveport, Louisiana
| religion=[[Baptist]]
| occupation=Funeral home owner
| spouse=Velma Jean Kirksey Tarver
| children=Gregory Tarver, Jr.<br>
Balistine Tarver Anderson<br>
Lauren Tarver<br>
Rebekah Tarver<br>
Carolyne Tarver
| alma_mater=Grambling State University}}
'''Gregory Williams Tarver, Sr.''', known as '''Greg Tarver''' (born March 30, 1946), is an [[African American]] [[business]]man and [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[politician]] in [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who served on the Shreveport City Council from 1978 to 1984 and as a state senator from the predominantly black District 39 in Caddo Parish from 1984 to 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/s1880-2012.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2012|publisher=legis.state.la.us|accessdate=November 25, 2009}}</ref>
After an eight-year hiatus, Tarver returned to the state Senate on January 9, 2012. In the general election held on November 19, 2011, he unseated his successor, Lydia Patrice Jackson, the daughter of former state Representative Alfonse Jackson, Jr. (1927-2014).
==Background==
Tarver's family has operated the J. S. Williams Funeral Home and insurance companies in Shreveport<ref name=senate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/senators/archives/1995/LinkShell.asp?type=tarver|title=Senator Gregory W. "Greg" Tarver, Sr."|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=April 12, 2021}}</ref> for more than a century. Tarver graduated from Alton Senior High School in [Alton in Madison County, [[Illinois]], home of the 19th century [[abolitionist]] Elijah Parish Lovejoy.]. He also attended a business college and the historically black Grambling State University in Grambling west of [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] in Lincoln Parish. He served in the military from 1967 to 1969. From 1973 to 1975, he was one of the directors of what became the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, formerly known as Confederate Memorial Medical Center or "Charity Hospital."<ref name=enlou>Senate District 39, enlou.com, accessed November 25, 2009; no longer on-line.</ref> From 1975 to 1978, he held the District 5 seat on the former Caddo Parish Police Jury, subsequently the Caddo Parish Commission, the parish governing board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caddohistory.com/black_parish_commissioners.html|title=History: Afro-Americans and Caddo Parish Police Jurors/Caddo Pa rish Commissioners|publisher=caddohistory.com|accessdate=November 25, 2009}}</ref> Tarver was named in 1978 among the "Outstanding Young Men of America." In 1983, he was designated "Black Leader of the Year" in Shreveport. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and the [[Baptist]] denomination.<ref name=enlou/>
Tarver is married to Velma J. Kirksey-Tarver, the owner of Quality Office Supply and the chairman of VRC Educational Scholarship Foundation. Mrs. Tarver is also the founder of the Institute for Global Outreach, a [[non-profit organization]] whose mission is to increase awareness of global suffering and to provide humanitarian services to impoverished children and families in [[Ethiopia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reflectionslifecoaching.com/Velma.html|title=Coach Velma K. Tarver, July 16, 2010 |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref>
==Legislative matters==
Tarver served on the Shreveport City Council when the body was first switched to a mayor-council]government from the previous city commission system.
Tarver won his Senate seat in 1983, when he unseated fellow Democrat [[Bill Keith]]. Tarver received 9,264 votes (51.4 percent) to Keith's 8,769 (48.6 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 19, 1983.</ref> Keith, an author, wrote the 1981 Louisiana law which had it been implemented would have required balanced treatment in the presentation of [[creation science]] and [[evolution]] in public schools. The measure was struck down in 1987 by the [[United States Supreme Court]]. Keith, who since relocated to [[Texas]], is the last white person to hold this particular Senate seat.
Senator Tarver was chairman of the Insurance Committee and served on the Environmental Quality and Finance committees as well.<ref name=senate/> He did not seek a sixth term in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held in October 2003.
Tarver was unopposed in the senatorial elections of 1987, 1991, and 1999. In 1995, he polled 18,687 votes (56 percent) in the primary against two other Democrats, the Shreveport [[dentist]] C.O. Simpkins and Michael R. Ward.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.
In the [onpartisan blanket primary]held on November 19, 2011 Tarver beat incumbent Lydia Jackson for the State Senate District 39 seat.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Electio Returns, November 19, 2011.</ref>
In his latest bid for re-election in 2015, Tarver was to have faced a No Party" candidate, Jim Slagle of Vivian, but he withdrew from ther ace. No Republican contested the seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/candidates-qualified-in-statewide-elections/|title=Candidates Qualified in Statewide Elections|publisher=KEEL (AM)]accessdate=September 10, 2015|accessdate=September 11, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarver, Greg}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:African Americans]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Baptists]]
| name=Gregory Williams "Greg" Tarver, Sr.
| image=Greg Tarver of LA.jpg
| nationality=[[African American]]
| office [[Louisiana]] State Senator<br>for District 39 (Caddo Parish)
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| term_start1=1984
| term_end1=2004
| preceded=[[Bill Keith]]
| succeeded=Lydia Patrice Jackson
| term_start2=2012
| term_end2=
| preceded2=Lydia P. Jackson
| succeeded2=
| office3=[[Shreveport]] City Council member
| term_start3=1978
| term_end3=1984
| preceded3=New position
| succeeded3=
| birth_date=March 30, 1946
| birth_place=[[Shreveport]], Louisiana
| death_date=
| death_place=
| residence=Shreveport, Louisiana
| religion=[[Baptist]]
| occupation=Funeral home owner
| spouse=Velma Jean Kirksey Tarver
| children=Gregory Tarver, Jr.<br>
Balistine Tarver Anderson<br>
Lauren Tarver<br>
Rebekah Tarver<br>
Carolyne Tarver
| alma_mater=Grambling State University}}
'''Gregory Williams Tarver, Sr.''', known as '''Greg Tarver''' (born March 30, 1946), is an [[African American]] [[business]]man and [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] [[politician]] in [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who served on the Shreveport City Council from 1978 to 1984 and as a state senator from the predominantly black District 39 in Caddo Parish from 1984 to 2004.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/s1880-2012.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2012|publisher=legis.state.la.us|accessdate=November 25, 2009}}</ref>
After an eight-year hiatus, Tarver returned to the state Senate on January 9, 2012. In the general election held on November 19, 2011, he unseated his successor, Lydia Patrice Jackson, the daughter of former state Representative Alfonse Jackson, Jr. (1927-2014).
==Background==
Tarver's family has operated the J. S. Williams Funeral Home and insurance companies in Shreveport<ref name=senate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/senators/archives/1995/LinkShell.asp?type=tarver|title=Senator Gregory W. "Greg" Tarver, Sr."|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=April 12, 2021}}</ref> for more than a century. Tarver graduated from Alton Senior High School in [Alton in Madison County, [[Illinois]], home of the 19th century [[abolitionist]] Elijah Parish Lovejoy.]. He also attended a business college and the historically black Grambling State University in Grambling west of [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] in Lincoln Parish. He served in the military from 1967 to 1969. From 1973 to 1975, he was one of the directors of what became the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, formerly known as Confederate Memorial Medical Center or "Charity Hospital."<ref name=enlou>Senate District 39, enlou.com, accessed November 25, 2009; no longer on-line.</ref> From 1975 to 1978, he held the District 5 seat on the former Caddo Parish Police Jury, subsequently the Caddo Parish Commission, the parish governing board.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.caddohistory.com/black_parish_commissioners.html|title=History: Afro-Americans and Caddo Parish Police Jurors/Caddo Pa rish Commissioners|publisher=caddohistory.com|accessdate=November 25, 2009}}</ref> Tarver was named in 1978 among the "Outstanding Young Men of America." In 1983, he was designated "Black Leader of the Year" in Shreveport. He is a member of the Masonic lodge and the [[Baptist]] denomination.<ref name=enlou/>
Tarver is married to Velma J. Kirksey-Tarver, the owner of Quality Office Supply and the chairman of VRC Educational Scholarship Foundation. Mrs. Tarver is also the founder of the Institute for Global Outreach, a [[non-profit organization]] whose mission is to increase awareness of global suffering and to provide humanitarian services to impoverished children and families in [[Ethiopia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reflectionslifecoaching.com/Velma.html|title=Coach Velma K. Tarver, July 16, 2010 |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref>
==Legislative matters==
Tarver served on the Shreveport City Council when the body was first switched to a mayor-council]government from the previous city commission system.
Tarver won his Senate seat in 1983, when he unseated fellow Democrat [[Bill Keith]]. Tarver received 9,264 votes (51.4 percent) to Keith's 8,769 (48.6 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 19, 1983.</ref> Keith, an author, wrote the 1981 Louisiana law which had it been implemented would have required balanced treatment in the presentation of [[creation science]] and [[evolution]] in public schools. The measure was struck down in 1987 by the [[United States Supreme Court]]. Keith, who since relocated to [[Texas]], is the last white person to hold this particular Senate seat.
Senator Tarver was chairman of the Insurance Committee and served on the Environmental Quality and Finance committees as well.<ref name=senate/> He did not seek a sixth term in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]] held in October 2003.
Tarver was unopposed in the senatorial elections of 1987, 1991, and 1999. In 1995, he polled 18,687 votes (56 percent) in the primary against two other Democrats, the Shreveport [[dentist]] C.O. Simpkins and Michael R. Ward.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 21, 1995.
In the [onpartisan blanket primary]held on November 19, 2011 Tarver beat incumbent Lydia Jackson for the State Senate District 39 seat.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Electio Returns, November 19, 2011.</ref>
In his latest bid for re-election in 2015, Tarver was to have faced a No Party" candidate, Jim Slagle of Vivian, but he withdrew from ther ace. No Republican contested the seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/candidates-qualified-in-statewide-elections/|title=Candidates Qualified in Statewide Elections|publisher=KEEL (AM)]accessdate=September 10, 2015|accessdate=September 11, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarver, Greg}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:African Americans]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Baptists]]