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Created page with "{{Infobox person |name=David Ransdell Voelker |image=David Voelker of LA.jpg |birth_date=May 13, 1953 |birth_place=Lake Providence<br>East Carroll Parish<br>Louisiana |dea..."
{{Infobox person
|name=David Ransdell Voelker
|image=David Voelker of LA.jpg
|birth_date=May 13, 1953
|birth_place=Lake Providence<br>East Carroll Parish<br>[[Louisiana]]
|death_date=May 21, 2013 (aged 60)
|death_place=[[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]<br>
'''Death cause''':<br>
Pulmonary disease<br>
Failed lung transplant surgery<br>
'''Residence''':<br>
[[New Orleans]], Louisiana<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
[[Frank Voelker, Jr.]]<br>Virginia Lee "Gin" Wilson Voelker<br>
'''Relatives''':<br>
[[Frank Voelker, Sr.]] (grandfather)<br>
[[Francis Xavier Ransdell]] (great-grandfather)<br>
[[U.S. Senator]] [[Joseph E. Ransdell]] (great-great-uncle)
|spouse=(1) Divorced from Ann Donnelly, later Ann Steuart<br>
(2) Richelle Beaugh Crow Voelker (surviving wife)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
From first marriage:<br>
Mullady, Audrey, and Kitty Voelker<br>
'''Stepchildren''':<br>
Stephen and Lisa Crow
|party [[Republican Party|Republican]]<br> (donor to [[Barack H. Obama]])
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]}}
'''David Ransdell Voelker''' (May 13, 1953 – May 21, 2013) was an entrepreneur and community leader in his adopted city of [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]].
==Background==
Voelker was born in Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish in far northeastern Louisiana, to the attorney [[Frank Voelker, Jr.]], and the former Virginia Lee "Gin" Wilson (1921-2011), a native of Weston, [[West Virginia]].<ref name=drvobit>{{cite web|url=http://obits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?n=david-randsdell-voelker&pid=164946967#fbLoggedOut|title=David Ransdell Voelker|publisher=''[[New Orleans Times-Picayune]]'', May 23, 2013|accessdate=June 8, 2013}}</ref> His middle name comes from the surname of his great-great-uncle, [[U.S. Senator]] [[Joseph E. Ransdell]] of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana, and later Lake Providence, whose political career was ended in 1931 in electoral defeat by then [[Governor]] [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], who was seeking the Senate seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000059|title=Joseph E. Ransdell|publisher=bioguide.congress.gov|accessdate=May 31, 2013}}</ref>
David Voelker's great-grandfather, [[Francis Xavier Ransdell]], was Joseph Ransdell's younger brother; Francis Ransdell and [[Frank Voelker, Sr.]], David Voelker's paternal grandfather, served consecutively as judge of the 6th Judicial District. Frank Voelker, Sr., was married to Isabel, a daughter of Francis X. and Katie D. Ransdell. David's father, Frank Voelker, Jr., was the former city attorney in Lake Providence and the chairman of the since defunct Louisiana Sovereignty Commission under Governor [[Jimmie Davis]]. Frank Voelker, Jr., ran for governor in the 1963 [[Democratic Party |Democratic]] [[primary]] election but withdrew and victory went to [[JohnJ. McKeithen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eastcarrollparishlouisianagenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/s-t-u-v-surnames.html|title=East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, Genealogy, August 24, 2010|publisher=eastcarrollparishlouisianagenealogy.blogspot.com|accessdate=March 21, 2022}}</ref>
==Career==
David Voelker was a partner and chief executive officer at Voelker and Conway Investments. In 1993, he had co-founded the former Frantzen-Voelker Investments. Following [[Hurricane Katrina]], Democratic Governor [[Kathleen Blanco]] named him to the Louisiana Recovery Authority. Blanco's successor and past opponent, [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Bobby Jindal]], elevated Voelkerto the chairmanship of the authority.<ref name=drvo>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/david_voelker_lra_chairman_and.h|title=David Voelker, 'one of the great saints of the recovery,' dies at 60|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|accessdate=June 2, 2013}}</ref> In 2008, though he had been identified previously as a "longtime, diehard Republican," David Voelker was the largest donor in Louisiana to Democrat [[Barack Hussein Obama]] of [[Illinois]], having given the then neophyte presidential candidate $80,000, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lanewslink.com/archives.php?id=8421|title=Story Archives: Obama's Louisiana Donors' Reasons Varied|publisher=lanewslink.com|accessdate=June 2, 2013}}</ref>
Voelker was the founder and president of Legacy Donor Foundation at 1440 Canal Street, which assists patients in need of organ transplants,<ref name=drvobit/> and the Greater New Orleans Miracle League, which organizes disabled children who wish to play baseball. Voelker got the idea for the Miracle League after he viewed a television report about the organization as founded in Conyers, [[Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/family/index.ssf/2012/05/miracle_league_gives_kids_with.html|title=Sheila Stroup, "Miracle League gives kids with special needs a turn at bat," May 15, 2012|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|accessdate=June 8, 2013}}</ref> He was a contributor and fundraiser for the [[Roman Catholic]] Academy of the Sacred Hear, the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Children's Hospital, Xavier University, and [[Tulane University]] Health Sciences Center, the foundation of the University of New Orleans, and the [[National World War II Museum]], all located in New Orleans.<ref name=drvobit/> He was also a donor to the Good Shepherd Early Childhood Development Center, an early elementary Montessori school established by his mother in Lake Providence.<ref name=vwvobit/>
==Death at 60==
Stricken with pulmonary disease, Voelker died at the age of sixty in [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], from complications of lung transplant surgery. He was survived by his second wife, Richelle Beaugh Crow Voelker, formerly of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana; three daughters from the first marriage to Ann Donnelly Steuart, Mullady, Audrey, and Kitty Voelker; two stepchildren, and five siblings.<ref name=drvobit/> Daughters Mullady and Kitty Voelker are named for their paternal aunts, Mullady Voelker Crigler of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], and Kitty V. Mattesky of New Orleans. David Voelker's three other siblings are Dr. Frank Voelker, III, of Covington in St. Tammany Parish and Mary V. Clauss and George W. Voelker, both of New Orleans.<ref name=vwvobit>{{cite web|url=http://obit.funeralnet.com/obitdisplay.html?task=Print&id=1007914&clientid=coxfuneral|title=Virginia Wilson Voelker|publisher=obit.funeralnet.com|accessdate=March 21, 2022}}</ref>
Services were held on May 25, 2013, at the Academy of the Sacred Heart at 4521 St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. His obituary mentions a private burial but does not name a cemetery.<ref name=drvobit/> His parents are interred t Lake Providence Cemetery.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voelker, David}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
|name=David Ransdell Voelker
|image=David Voelker of LA.jpg
|birth_date=May 13, 1953
|birth_place=Lake Providence<br>East Carroll Parish<br>[[Louisiana]]
|death_date=May 21, 2013 (aged 60)
|death_place=[[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]<br>
'''Death cause''':<br>
Pulmonary disease<br>
Failed lung transplant surgery<br>
'''Residence''':<br>
[[New Orleans]], Louisiana<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
[[Frank Voelker, Jr.]]<br>Virginia Lee "Gin" Wilson Voelker<br>
'''Relatives''':<br>
[[Frank Voelker, Sr.]] (grandfather)<br>
[[Francis Xavier Ransdell]] (great-grandfather)<br>
[[U.S. Senator]] [[Joseph E. Ransdell]] (great-great-uncle)
|spouse=(1) Divorced from Ann Donnelly, later Ann Steuart<br>
(2) Richelle Beaugh Crow Voelker (surviving wife)<br>
'''Children''':<br>
From first marriage:<br>
Mullady, Audrey, and Kitty Voelker<br>
'''Stepchildren''':<br>
Stephen and Lisa Crow
|party [[Republican Party|Republican]]<br> (donor to [[Barack H. Obama]])
|religion=[[Roman Catholic]]}}
'''David Ransdell Voelker''' (May 13, 1953 – May 21, 2013) was an entrepreneur and community leader in his adopted city of [[New Orleans]], [[Louisiana]].
==Background==
Voelker was born in Lake Providence in East Carroll Parish in far northeastern Louisiana, to the attorney [[Frank Voelker, Jr.]], and the former Virginia Lee "Gin" Wilson (1921-2011), a native of Weston, [[West Virginia]].<ref name=drvobit>{{cite web|url=http://obits.nola.com/obituaries/nola/obituary.aspx?n=david-randsdell-voelker&pid=164946967#fbLoggedOut|title=David Ransdell Voelker|publisher=''[[New Orleans Times-Picayune]]'', May 23, 2013|accessdate=June 8, 2013}}</ref> His middle name comes from the surname of his great-great-uncle, [[U.S. Senator]] [[Joseph E. Ransdell]] of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana, and later Lake Providence, whose political career was ended in 1931 in electoral defeat by then [[Governor]] [[Huey Long|Huey Pierce Long, Jr.]], who was seeking the Senate seat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000059|title=Joseph E. Ransdell|publisher=bioguide.congress.gov|accessdate=May 31, 2013}}</ref>
David Voelker's great-grandfather, [[Francis Xavier Ransdell]], was Joseph Ransdell's younger brother; Francis Ransdell and [[Frank Voelker, Sr.]], David Voelker's paternal grandfather, served consecutively as judge of the 6th Judicial District. Frank Voelker, Sr., was married to Isabel, a daughter of Francis X. and Katie D. Ransdell. David's father, Frank Voelker, Jr., was the former city attorney in Lake Providence and the chairman of the since defunct Louisiana Sovereignty Commission under Governor [[Jimmie Davis]]. Frank Voelker, Jr., ran for governor in the 1963 [[Democratic Party |Democratic]] [[primary]] election but withdrew and victory went to [[JohnJ. McKeithen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eastcarrollparishlouisianagenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/s-t-u-v-surnames.html|title=East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, Genealogy, August 24, 2010|publisher=eastcarrollparishlouisianagenealogy.blogspot.com|accessdate=March 21, 2022}}</ref>
==Career==
David Voelker was a partner and chief executive officer at Voelker and Conway Investments. In 1993, he had co-founded the former Frantzen-Voelker Investments. Following [[Hurricane Katrina]], Democratic Governor [[Kathleen Blanco]] named him to the Louisiana Recovery Authority. Blanco's successor and past opponent, [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[Bobby Jindal]], elevated Voelkerto the chairmanship of the authority.<ref name=drvo>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/05/david_voelker_lra_chairman_and.h|title=David Voelker, 'one of the great saints of the recovery,' dies at 60|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|accessdate=June 2, 2013}}</ref> In 2008, though he had been identified previously as a "longtime, diehard Republican," David Voelker was the largest donor in Louisiana to Democrat [[Barack Hussein Obama]] of [[Illinois]], having given the then neophyte presidential candidate $80,000, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lanewslink.com/archives.php?id=8421|title=Story Archives: Obama's Louisiana Donors' Reasons Varied|publisher=lanewslink.com|accessdate=June 2, 2013}}</ref>
Voelker was the founder and president of Legacy Donor Foundation at 1440 Canal Street, which assists patients in need of organ transplants,<ref name=drvobit/> and the Greater New Orleans Miracle League, which organizes disabled children who wish to play baseball. Voelker got the idea for the Miracle League after he viewed a television report about the organization as founded in Conyers, [[Georgia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nola.com/family/index.ssf/2012/05/miracle_league_gives_kids_with.html|title=Sheila Stroup, "Miracle League gives kids with special needs a turn at bat," May 15, 2012|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|accessdate=June 8, 2013}}</ref> He was a contributor and fundraiser for the [[Roman Catholic]] Academy of the Sacred Hear, the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Children's Hospital, Xavier University, and [[Tulane University]] Health Sciences Center, the foundation of the University of New Orleans, and the [[National World War II Museum]], all located in New Orleans.<ref name=drvobit/> He was also a donor to the Good Shepherd Early Childhood Development Center, an early elementary Montessori school established by his mother in Lake Providence.<ref name=vwvobit/>
==Death at 60==
Stricken with pulmonary disease, Voelker died at the age of sixty in [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], from complications of lung transplant surgery. He was survived by his second wife, Richelle Beaugh Crow Voelker, formerly of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana; three daughters from the first marriage to Ann Donnelly Steuart, Mullady, Audrey, and Kitty Voelker; two stepchildren, and five siblings.<ref name=drvobit/> Daughters Mullady and Kitty Voelker are named for their paternal aunts, Mullady Voelker Crigler of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]], and Kitty V. Mattesky of New Orleans. David Voelker's three other siblings are Dr. Frank Voelker, III, of Covington in St. Tammany Parish and Mary V. Clauss and George W. Voelker, both of New Orleans.<ref name=vwvobit>{{cite web|url=http://obit.funeralnet.com/obitdisplay.html?task=Print&id=1007914&clientid=coxfuneral|title=Virginia Wilson Voelker|publisher=obit.funeralnet.com|accessdate=March 21, 2022}}</ref>
Services were held on May 25, 2013, at the Academy of the Sacred Heart at 4521 St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. His obituary mentions a private burial but does not name a cemetery.<ref name=drvobit/> His parents are interred t Lake Providence Cemetery.
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voelker, David}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Moderate Republicans]]
[[Category:Catholics]]