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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Jerry Kreth Thomasson | office=Arkansas State Representative<br>for Clark County | party=Democrat-turned-Republican P..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Jerry Kreth Thomasson
| office=[[Arkansas]] State Representative<br>for Clark County
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (1966)
| term_start=January 1, 1963
| term_end=December 31, 1966
| birth_date=October 17, 1931
| birth_place=Arkadelphia, Clark County<br>Arkansas, [[United States|USA]]
| residence=Arkadelphia, Arkansas
| death_date=April 29, 2007 (aged 75)<br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
DeRoche Cemetery in DeRoche in Hot Spring County
| occupation=[[Attorney]]
| spouse=Dortha Juanita Yates Thomasson (married 1960-2007, his death)
| children=Bryan Keith Thomasson<br>
Grace Ann Thomasson Weber<br>
Four grandchildren
'''Parents''':br>
Joseph Baron and Lillian Gerturde Dean Thomasson
| alma_mater=Arkadelphia High School<br>
Henderson State University<br>
[[University of Arkansas]]<br>
William H. Bowen School of Law<br>
in [[Little Rock]]
|battles/wars=[[Korean War]]}}
'''Jerry Kreth Thomasson''' (October 17, 1931 – April 29, 2007) was an [[attorney]] and a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the [[Arkansas]] House of Representatives, who in 1966 switched to the [[Republican Party]]and ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general in 1966 and 1968 on the ticket of [[Winthrop Rockefeller]].<ref name=obit>Jerry Thomasson obituary, ''The Arkadelphia Siftings Herald,'' May 2, 2007.</ref>
==Background==
Thomasson was born in Arkadelphia, the seat of staunchly Democratic Clark County in south central Arkansas, to Joseph Baron Thomasson (1889--1966) and the former Lillian Gertrude Dean (1891-1969). He graduated in 1949 from Arkadelphia High School and attended the then Henderson State Teachers College there. He was a veteran of the [[Korean War]]. In 1959, he received his [[Juris Doctor]]ate degree from the William H. Bowen School of Law in the capital city of [[Little Rock]].<ref name=findagrave>Jerry K Thomasson (1931-2007) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed May 1, 2021.</ref>
In 1960, Thomasson married Dortha Juanita Yates (1937-2010) in Bismarck in Hot Spring County, not to be confused with the nearby [[Hot Springs]], Arkansas. They had a son, Bryan Keith Thomasson (born 1962), and a daughter, Grace Ann Weber. The daughter of El Dad "E.D." Yates (1888-1983) and the former Grace Lee Pierce (1898-1993). Mrs. Thomasson was the director of nurses at Clark County Memorial Hospital and the owner of McNutt Bed and Breakfast in Arkadelphia. She was a member of the First [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church of Arkadelphia.<ref>Juanita Yates Thomasson (1937-2010) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed May 1, 2021.</ref>
==Career==
Thomasson was in private law practice for eight years with Huie, Huie & Thomasson in Arkadelphia. He was a referee for the Arkansas Workmen’s Compensation Commission from 1960–1961. From 1959–1960, Thomasson was the librarian of the Arkansas Supreme Court when segregationist [[James D. Johnson|James Douglas "Justice Jim" Johnson]] of Conway in Faulkner County was an associate justice. Thomasson was also a past chairman for the Legal Aid Committee of the Arkansas Bar Association.<ref name=findagrave/>
As a Democratic member of the Arkansas House (1963-1966), Thomasson introduced legislation to add white safety lines to the outside edges of Arkansas highways. He introduced the 1967 bill to change Henderson State Teachers College to Henderson State College; the change finally occurred in 1985. He was a lifelong devotee of his alma mater, now known as Henderson State University.<ref name=findagrave/> When Thomasson ran for attorney general in 1966, he expected to face the Democratic incumbent, [[Bruce Bennett (Arkansas politician)|Bruce Bennett]]. However, in the Democratic [[primary]] election, Joe Purcell of Benton in Saline County, unseated the [[Segregation|segregationist]] Bennett, an attorney from El Dorado. During the campaign, both Thomasson and Purcell ran as reformers.<ref> ''Arkansas Outlook,'' August 1966.</ref>
Despite running on the Republican ticket with the successful gubernatorial candidate, Winthrop Rockefeller, Thomasson lost in the general election. Purcell received 287,983 votes (53.9 percent) to Thomasson's 246,133 (46.1 percent). Thomasson carried twelve of the state's seventy-five counties and received more than 60 percent of the ballots in Baxter, Benton, Searcy, Sebastian and Washington counties. He also won in Crawford County near [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]], which Rockefeller lost. His strength was concentrated in the northwestern portion of the state. Indeed he lost his own Calrk County in the race against Purcell.<ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Arkansas, 1920-1982,'' [[Texas A&M University]] dissertation, pp. 271, 573.</ref>
In 1968, Thomasson again challenged Purcell. He received 240,725 votes (41.4 percent) to Purcell's 341,233 (58.6 percent). Thomasson won nine counties, again all in northwestern Arkansas, three fewer than he had in 1966.<ref>"The Republican Party in Arkansas,'' p. 578.</ref> From 1968 to 1971, he was the director of planning for Region VI under Title XVI of the [[Social Security]] Act.
In 1971, [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] appointed Thomasson as an administrative law judge of the [[Social Security Administration]], a position that he retained until his retirement in 2000.<ref name=obit/>
Despite his party switch in 1966, Thomasson was a friend and supporter of former President [[Bill Clinton]] and is mentioned in Clinton’s autobiography as "a fair-minded Republican."<ref>Bill Clinton, ''My Life,'' p. 231.</ref>.
==Referencs==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomasson, Jerry}}
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Representatives]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
| name=Jerry Kreth Thomasson
| office=[[Arkansas]] State Representative<br>for Clark County
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]-turned-[[Republican Party|Republican]] (1966)
| term_start=January 1, 1963
| term_end=December 31, 1966
| birth_date=October 17, 1931
| birth_place=Arkadelphia, Clark County<br>Arkansas, [[United States|USA]]
| residence=Arkadelphia, Arkansas
| death_date=April 29, 2007 (aged 75)<br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
DeRoche Cemetery in DeRoche in Hot Spring County
| occupation=[[Attorney]]
| spouse=Dortha Juanita Yates Thomasson (married 1960-2007, his death)
| children=Bryan Keith Thomasson<br>
Grace Ann Thomasson Weber<br>
Four grandchildren
'''Parents''':br>
Joseph Baron and Lillian Gerturde Dean Thomasson
| alma_mater=Arkadelphia High School<br>
Henderson State University<br>
[[University of Arkansas]]<br>
William H. Bowen School of Law<br>
in [[Little Rock]]
|battles/wars=[[Korean War]]}}
'''Jerry Kreth Thomasson''' (October 17, 1931 – April 29, 2007) was an [[attorney]] and a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the [[Arkansas]] House of Representatives, who in 1966 switched to the [[Republican Party]]and ran unsuccessfully for state attorney general in 1966 and 1968 on the ticket of [[Winthrop Rockefeller]].<ref name=obit>Jerry Thomasson obituary, ''The Arkadelphia Siftings Herald,'' May 2, 2007.</ref>
==Background==
Thomasson was born in Arkadelphia, the seat of staunchly Democratic Clark County in south central Arkansas, to Joseph Baron Thomasson (1889--1966) and the former Lillian Gertrude Dean (1891-1969). He graduated in 1949 from Arkadelphia High School and attended the then Henderson State Teachers College there. He was a veteran of the [[Korean War]]. In 1959, he received his [[Juris Doctor]]ate degree from the William H. Bowen School of Law in the capital city of [[Little Rock]].<ref name=findagrave>Jerry K Thomasson (1931-2007) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed May 1, 2021.</ref>
In 1960, Thomasson married Dortha Juanita Yates (1937-2010) in Bismarck in Hot Spring County, not to be confused with the nearby [[Hot Springs]], Arkansas. They had a son, Bryan Keith Thomasson (born 1962), and a daughter, Grace Ann Weber. The daughter of El Dad "E.D." Yates (1888-1983) and the former Grace Lee Pierce (1898-1993). Mrs. Thomasson was the director of nurses at Clark County Memorial Hospital and the owner of McNutt Bed and Breakfast in Arkadelphia. She was a member of the First [[Southern Baptist|Baptist]] Church of Arkadelphia.<ref>Juanita Yates Thomasson (1937-2010) - Find A Grave Memorial, accessed May 1, 2021.</ref>
==Career==
Thomasson was in private law practice for eight years with Huie, Huie & Thomasson in Arkadelphia. He was a referee for the Arkansas Workmen’s Compensation Commission from 1960–1961. From 1959–1960, Thomasson was the librarian of the Arkansas Supreme Court when segregationist [[James D. Johnson|James Douglas "Justice Jim" Johnson]] of Conway in Faulkner County was an associate justice. Thomasson was also a past chairman for the Legal Aid Committee of the Arkansas Bar Association.<ref name=findagrave/>
As a Democratic member of the Arkansas House (1963-1966), Thomasson introduced legislation to add white safety lines to the outside edges of Arkansas highways. He introduced the 1967 bill to change Henderson State Teachers College to Henderson State College; the change finally occurred in 1985. He was a lifelong devotee of his alma mater, now known as Henderson State University.<ref name=findagrave/> When Thomasson ran for attorney general in 1966, he expected to face the Democratic incumbent, [[Bruce Bennett (Arkansas politician)|Bruce Bennett]]. However, in the Democratic [[primary]] election, Joe Purcell of Benton in Saline County, unseated the [[Segregation|segregationist]] Bennett, an attorney from El Dorado. During the campaign, both Thomasson and Purcell ran as reformers.<ref> ''Arkansas Outlook,'' August 1966.</ref>
Despite running on the Republican ticket with the successful gubernatorial candidate, Winthrop Rockefeller, Thomasson lost in the general election. Purcell received 287,983 votes (53.9 percent) to Thomasson's 246,133 (46.1 percent). Thomasson carried twelve of the state's seventy-five counties and received more than 60 percent of the ballots in Baxter, Benton, Searcy, Sebastian and Washington counties. He also won in Crawford County near [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]], which Rockefeller lost. His strength was concentrated in the northwestern portion of the state. Indeed he lost his own Calrk County in the race against Purcell.<ref>Billy Hathorn, ''The Republican Party in Arkansas, 1920-1982,'' [[Texas A&M University]] dissertation, pp. 271, 573.</ref>
In 1968, Thomasson again challenged Purcell. He received 240,725 votes (41.4 percent) to Purcell's 341,233 (58.6 percent). Thomasson won nine counties, again all in northwestern Arkansas, three fewer than he had in 1966.<ref>"The Republican Party in Arkansas,'' p. 578.</ref> From 1968 to 1971, he was the director of planning for Region VI under Title XVI of the [[Social Security]] Act.
In 1971, [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] appointed Thomasson as an administrative law judge of the [[Social Security Administration]], a position that he retained until his retirement in 2000.<ref name=obit/>
Despite his party switch in 1966, Thomasson was a friend and supporter of former President [[Bill Clinton]] and is mentioned in Clinton’s autobiography as "a fair-minded Republican."<ref>Bill Clinton, ''My Life,'' p. 231.</ref>.
==Referencs==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomasson, Jerry}}
[[Category:Arkansas]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Representatives]]
[[Category:Former Democrats]]
[[Category:Republicans]]