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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name =Ralph Joseph Falsetta | office=Louisiana State Senator for District 18 (parts of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. James, and St...."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name =Ralph Joseph Falsetta
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator for District 18 (parts of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes)]
| term_start=1975
| term_end=1976
| preceded=[[Louis Lambert]]
| succeeded=[[Joe Sevario]]
| birth_date=August 25, 1914}
| birth_place=Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish
| death_date=May 13, 1999 (aged 84)
| death_place=<br>
| resting_place= Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church Cemetery in Donaldsonville
| residence=Donaldsonville, Louisiana
| spouse=Solange Simoneaux Falsetta
| children=Raphael Joseph "Rip" Falsetta<br>
Rosalyn F. Griffin<br>
Marilyn F. Diez<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Anthony "Tony" and Rosa Regira Falsetta
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| occupation=[[Business]]man
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
}}
'''Ralph Joseph Falsetta''', known as '''Big Ralph Falsetta''' (April 25, 1914 – May 13, 1999),<ref name=searchancestry>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=allgs&gss=sfs28_ms_r_f-2_s&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Ralph%20Anthony&gsln=Falsetta&mswpn__ftp=Donaldsonville%2C%20Ascension%2C%20Louisiana%2C%20USA&mswpn=33984&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7C0%7C1652393%7C0%7C2%7C3246%7C21%7C0%7C189%7C33984%7C0%7C&MSAV=1&msbdy=1914&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=upc|title=Ralph Joseph Falsetta|publisher=searchancestry.com|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref> was a [[business]]man from his nativeDonaldsonville in Ascension Parish near the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]], who from 1975 to 1976 represented District 18 as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the state Senate..<ref name=senate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana State Senate since 1880:Ascension Parish|publisher=senate.la.gov|accessdate=June 23, 2022}}</ref>
==Background==
Falsetta was the son of Anthony "Tony" Falsetta (1885-1963)<ref name=findagrave/> and the former Rosa Regira (1890-1966), both natives of [[Italy]].<ref name=searchancestry/> Tony Falsetta founded the Town and Country Club in Donaldsonville, where [[Fats Domino]], Little Richard, and Irma Thoma] often played during the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/news/acadiana/12784157-123/smiley-losing-the-race|title=Smiley: Losing the Race (Music Makers section)|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=July 4, 2015|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
Ralph Falsetta and his wife, the former Solange Simoneaux (1911-1996), had three children, Raphael Anthony "Rip" Falsetta (1943-2009); Rosalyn F. Griffin, the widow of Charles Griffin; and Marilyn F. Diez and husband, Ronald. Until his death, Raphael Falsetta managed the family business, Falsetta Amusements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Raphael-Falsetta&lc=7197&pid=139041869&mid=4080679|title=Raphael Falsetta|date=November 22, 2009|publisher=obits.dignitymemorial.com|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref>
Falsetta was involved in two automobile accidents twelve years apart, both of which were the subjects of [[civil suit]]s and appeals in the Louisiana 23rd Judicial District Court and the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the First Circuit. In the first accident, on May 17, 1961, Falsetta rear-ended the vehicle ahead of him driven by Morgan City restaurateur John Joseph Bogasky, who was passing through Donaldsonville while returning home from an out-of-state trip. Bogasky unsuccessfully sought damages for personal injury and property loss. The district court held that both Bogasky and Falsetta were partially negligent in the accident. The court ruled that Bogasky as the [[plaintiff]] held the legal burden of proof to show that Falsetta, the [[defendant]], alone caused the crash by following too closely and failed to provide a proper lookout. Yet, the court found that "at the very least" Bogasky was "guilty of [[contributory negligence]] in stopping suddenly immediately in front of the defendant." Falsetta admitted to having drunk three or four [cocktails at Bob Seeds Lounge<ref>It is unclear if this Bob Seeds Lounge was owned by the professional [[baseball]] player Bob Seeds, who did not seem to have any Louisiana connection. Apparently, the lounge no longer exists.</ref> within an hour of the accident. Falsetta said that he then went to his family-owned Town and Country Club for a short time but drank nothing there. The court did not address whether Falsetta was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Falsetta did not answer the appeal filed by Bogasky before the appeals court, which denied damages to the plaintiff.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/bogasky-v-falsetta|title=Bogasky v. Falsetta|date=July 8, 1966|publisher=casetext.com|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
In the second accident on May 1, 1973, Falsetta, his wife, and another couple were involved in a two-vehicle collision as Falsetta entered Louisiana Highway 1 in Donaldsonville. The trial court and the appeals court determined that because of conflicting testimony, the plaintiff, Harry J. Boudreaux, was partially negligent in the crash. He hence failed to collect damages. Falsetta was an uninsured motorist, but his passenger, Harvey Blanchard, affirmed that Falsetta followed traffic rules when he entered the highway. The two vehicles were sideswiped.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/1976859345So2d514_1685|title=Boudreaux v. Falsetta|date=June 30, 1976|publisher=leagle.com|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
==Public career==
Falsetta was the [[mayor]] of historic Donaldsonville,<ref name=findagrave/> which was from 1829 to 1831 was the Louisiana state capital. In 1981, as the newly elected mayor, Falsetta appointed a bond committee and worked to extend the Donaldsonville city limits to accommodate [[Sam Walton]]'s [[Wal-Mart]], which two years later opened a 45,000-square-foot store built outside the corporate limits. Several local merchants, a department store]owner and a mortician-businessman, E. J. Ourso, the benefactor of the Ourso College of Business at [[Louisiana State University]], fought against the bonds for Wal-Mart construction. When Falsetta and Ourso appeared before the Louisiana Bond Commission, the two men nearly came to a physical confrontation until chairman [[Sixty Rayburn|B. B. "Sixty" Rayburn]] of Bogalusa, a member of the state Senate, admonished the two to "wait till you get back to Donaldsonville. The folks down there might enjoy it."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haF1pOaAxNwC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=Ralph+Falsetta&source=bl&ots=lTAZSDr_yM&sig=7Eu4bWZtydtIfh25eN0tp58sgOs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwCGoVChMIh-qomO_uxgIVxaGACh0VngsF#v=onepage&q=Ralph%20Falsetta&f=false|title=In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and How Wal-Mart Is Devouring the World|author=Bob Ortega ([[Wall Street Journal]])|publisher=Times Books|date=1998|pages=168–169|isbn=0-7494-3177-6|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
Falsetta filled the year remaining in the state Senate term of [[Louis Lambert]], a Baton Rouge Democrat who was elected to the state Public Service Commission]<ref name=senate/> Lambert was also the unsuccessful Democratic [[governor|gubernatorial]] candidate in 1979.
The Falsettas, who died three years apart, are interred at the Ascension of Our Lord [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic Church]] Cemetery in Donaldsonville.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7336821|title=Ralph "Big Ralph" Falsetta|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falsetta, Ralph}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:Catholics]]
| name =Ralph Joseph Falsetta
| office=[[Louisiana]] State Senator for District 18 (parts of Ascension, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes)]
| term_start=1975
| term_end=1976
| preceded=[[Louis Lambert]]
| succeeded=[[Joe Sevario]]
| birth_date=August 25, 1914}
| birth_place=Donaldsonville, Ascension Parish
| death_date=May 13, 1999 (aged 84)
| death_place=<br>
| resting_place= Ascension of Our Lord Catholic Church Cemetery in Donaldsonville
| residence=Donaldsonville, Louisiana
| spouse=Solange Simoneaux Falsetta
| children=Raphael Joseph "Rip" Falsetta<br>
Rosalyn F. Griffin<br>
Marilyn F. Diez<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Anthony "Tony" and Rosa Regira Falsetta
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
| occupation=[[Business]]man
| religion=[[Roman Catholic]]
}}
'''Ralph Joseph Falsetta''', known as '''Big Ralph Falsetta''' (April 25, 1914 – May 13, 1999),<ref name=searchancestry>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=allgs&gss=sfs28_ms_r_f-2_s&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Ralph%20Anthony&gsln=Falsetta&mswpn__ftp=Donaldsonville%2C%20Ascension%2C%20Louisiana%2C%20USA&mswpn=33984&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7C0%7C1652393%7C0%7C2%7C3246%7C21%7C0%7C189%7C33984%7C0%7C&MSAV=1&msbdy=1914&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=upc|title=Ralph Joseph Falsetta|publisher=searchancestry.com|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref> was a [[business]]man from his nativeDonaldsonville in Ascension Parish near the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]], [[Louisiana]], who from 1975 to 1976 represented District 18 as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in the state Senate..<ref name=senate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana State Senate since 1880:Ascension Parish|publisher=senate.la.gov|accessdate=June 23, 2022}}</ref>
==Background==
Falsetta was the son of Anthony "Tony" Falsetta (1885-1963)<ref name=findagrave/> and the former Rosa Regira (1890-1966), both natives of [[Italy]].<ref name=searchancestry/> Tony Falsetta founded the Town and Country Club in Donaldsonville, where [[Fats Domino]], Little Richard, and Irma Thoma] often played during the 1950s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/news/acadiana/12784157-123/smiley-losing-the-race|title=Smiley: Losing the Race (Music Makers section)|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=July 4, 2015|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
Ralph Falsetta and his wife, the former Solange Simoneaux (1911-1996), had three children, Raphael Anthony "Rip" Falsetta (1943-2009); Rosalyn F. Griffin, the widow of Charles Griffin; and Marilyn F. Diez and husband, Ronald. Until his death, Raphael Falsetta managed the family business, Falsetta Amusements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Raphael-Falsetta&lc=7197&pid=139041869&mid=4080679|title=Raphael Falsetta|date=November 22, 2009|publisher=obits.dignitymemorial.com|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref>
Falsetta was involved in two automobile accidents twelve years apart, both of which were the subjects of [[civil suit]]s and appeals in the Louisiana 23rd Judicial District Court and the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the First Circuit. In the first accident, on May 17, 1961, Falsetta rear-ended the vehicle ahead of him driven by Morgan City restaurateur John Joseph Bogasky, who was passing through Donaldsonville while returning home from an out-of-state trip. Bogasky unsuccessfully sought damages for personal injury and property loss. The district court held that both Bogasky and Falsetta were partially negligent in the accident. The court ruled that Bogasky as the [[plaintiff]] held the legal burden of proof to show that Falsetta, the [[defendant]], alone caused the crash by following too closely and failed to provide a proper lookout. Yet, the court found that "at the very least" Bogasky was "guilty of [[contributory negligence]] in stopping suddenly immediately in front of the defendant." Falsetta admitted to having drunk three or four [cocktails at Bob Seeds Lounge<ref>It is unclear if this Bob Seeds Lounge was owned by the professional [[baseball]] player Bob Seeds, who did not seem to have any Louisiana connection. Apparently, the lounge no longer exists.</ref> within an hour of the accident. Falsetta said that he then went to his family-owned Town and Country Club for a short time but drank nothing there. The court did not address whether Falsetta was intoxicated at the time of the crash. Falsetta did not answer the appeal filed by Bogasky before the appeals court, which denied damages to the plaintiff.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/bogasky-v-falsetta|title=Bogasky v. Falsetta|date=July 8, 1966|publisher=casetext.com|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
In the second accident on May 1, 1973, Falsetta, his wife, and another couple were involved in a two-vehicle collision as Falsetta entered Louisiana Highway 1 in Donaldsonville. The trial court and the appeals court determined that because of conflicting testimony, the plaintiff, Harry J. Boudreaux, was partially negligent in the crash. He hence failed to collect damages. Falsetta was an uninsured motorist, but his passenger, Harvey Blanchard, affirmed that Falsetta followed traffic rules when he entered the highway. The two vehicles were sideswiped.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/1976859345So2d514_1685|title=Boudreaux v. Falsetta|date=June 30, 1976|publisher=leagle.com|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
==Public career==
Falsetta was the [[mayor]] of historic Donaldsonville,<ref name=findagrave/> which was from 1829 to 1831 was the Louisiana state capital. In 1981, as the newly elected mayor, Falsetta appointed a bond committee and worked to extend the Donaldsonville city limits to accommodate [[Sam Walton]]'s [[Wal-Mart]], which two years later opened a 45,000-square-foot store built outside the corporate limits. Several local merchants, a department store]owner and a mortician-businessman, E. J. Ourso, the benefactor of the Ourso College of Business at [[Louisiana State University]], fought against the bonds for Wal-Mart construction. When Falsetta and Ourso appeared before the Louisiana Bond Commission, the two men nearly came to a physical confrontation until chairman [[Sixty Rayburn|B. B. "Sixty" Rayburn]] of Bogalusa, a member of the state Senate, admonished the two to "wait till you get back to Donaldsonville. The folks down there might enjoy it."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haF1pOaAxNwC&pg=PA168&lpg=PA168&dq=Ralph+Falsetta&source=bl&ots=lTAZSDr_yM&sig=7Eu4bWZtydtIfh25eN0tp58sgOs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDsQ6AEwCGoVChMIh-qomO_uxgIVxaGACh0VngsF#v=onepage&q=Ralph%20Falsetta&f=false|title=In Sam We Trust: The Untold Story of Sam Walton and How Wal-Mart Is Devouring the World|author=Bob Ortega ([[Wall Street Journal]])|publisher=Times Books|date=1998|pages=168–169|isbn=0-7494-3177-6|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref>
Falsetta filled the year remaining in the state Senate term of [[Louis Lambert]], a Baton Rouge Democrat who was elected to the state Public Service Commission]<ref name=senate/> Lambert was also the unsuccessful Democratic [[governor|gubernatorial]] candidate in 1979.
The Falsettas, who died three years apart, are interred at the Ascension of Our Lord [[Roman Catholicism|Catholic Church]] Cemetery in Donaldsonville.<ref name=findagrave>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7336821|title=Ralph "Big Ralph" Falsetta|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falsetta, Ralph}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:Catholics]]