Changes

From 1953 until his death in Rapides General Hospital in Alexandria,<ref name=deathofware/> Ware was married the former Barbara Fritchie (born November 1929).<ref name=whoswho/> The couple lived in the Alexandria Garden District.

From 1953 until his death in Rapides General Hospital in Alexandria,<ref name=deathofware/> Ware was married the former Barbara Fritchie (born November 1929).<ref name=whoswho/> The couple lived in the Alexandria Garden District.

==-Legal and political life==

==Legal and political life==

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Ware obtained his legal credentials in 1951 from the LSU Center]] in Baton Rouge. He  was affiliated with Lambda Chi Alpha.<ref name=whoswho>"Louisiana: Edwin O. Ware, III", ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007-2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2007), pp. 674-675.</ref> His law school classmates included other later Alexandria political figures [[U.S. Representative]] Gillis William Long (1923-1985) of Louisiana's 8th congressional district, since disbanded; 9th Judicial District Judge Guy Humphries, Jr. state Representative Lloyd George Teekell,<ref name=yearbook/> and Ware's law partner and assistant DA, [[Gus Voltz|Gus Voltz, Jr.]].<ref name=voltz>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20080829/OBITUARIES/80828035/Gus-Voltz-Jr-|title=Gus Voltz, Jr.|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=August 28, 2008|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Also in the class were later state Representatives George B. Holstead]of [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] and Risley C. Triche of Napoleonville, in Assumption Parish.<ref name=yearbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/lsu/1951/Page_127.html|title=Louisiana State University ''Gumbo'' yearbook, 1951|publisher=E-yearbook.com|accessdate=July 3, 2013}}</ref>​

Ware obtained his legal credentials in 1951 from the LSU Center]] in Baton Rouge. He  was affiliated with Lambda Chi Alpha.<ref name=whoswho>"Louisiana: Edwin O. Ware, III", ''Who's Who in American Politics, 2007-2008'' (Marquis Who's Who: New Providence, [[New Jersey]], 2007), pp. 674-675.</ref> His law school classmates included other later Alexandria political figures [[U.S. Representative]] Gillis William Long (1923-1985) of Louisiana's 8th congressional district, since disbanded; 9th Judicial District Judge Guy Humphries, Jr. state Representative Lloyd George Teekell,<ref name=yearbook/> and Ware's law partner and assistant DA, [[Gus Voltz|Gus Voltz, Jr.]].<ref name=voltz>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20080829/OBITUARIES/80828035/Gus-Voltz-Jr-|title=Gus Voltz, Jr.|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=August 28, 2008|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Also in the class were later state Representatives George B. Holstead of [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]] and Risley C. Triche of Napoleonville, in Assumption Parish.<ref name=yearbook>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/lsu/1951/Page_127.html|title=Louisiana State University ''Gumbo'' yearbook, 1951|publisher=E-yearbook.com|accessdate=July 3, 2013}}</ref>​

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Ware and Voltz established their long-term practice, Voltz and Ware, in downtown Alexandria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.martindale.com/Edwin-O-Ware-III/587820-lawyer.htm|title=Edwin O. Ware, III|publisher=martindale.com|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref> From 1955 to 1957, he was an assistant district attorney for Rapides Parish. He was elected three times as DA in 1966, 1972, and 1978.<ref name=whoswho/> Voltz was his first assistant DA during all of those years. In his capacity as DA, Ware was frequently involved in high-profile legal cases. In 1969, he was the [[defendant]] in ''Snyder v. Ware, et al.'', in which later Alexandria [[Mayor]] [[John K. Snyder]] sued regarding a criminal [[defamation]] charge brought against him.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://leagle.com/decision/1970649314FSupp335_1584.xml/SNYDER%20v.%20WARE|title=John K. Snyder v. Edwin O. Ware, III|publisher=leagle.com|date=October 13, 1970|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref> In the spring of 1977, Ware felt compelled to deny a charge by Mayor Snyder, who was then seeking reelection in his failed campaign against Carroll Edwin Lanier, that Ware was for all practical purposes "running" the city police department and undercutting the mayor's position.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20120418/OPINION/204180319/From-past|title=From the Past|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=April 18, 1977|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=deathofware/>​

Ware and Voltz established their long-term practice, Voltz and Ware, in downtown Alexandria.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.martindale.com/Edwin-O-Ware-III/587820-lawyer.htm|title=Edwin O. Ware, III|publisher=martindale.com|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref> From 1955 to 1957, he was an assistant district attorney for Rapides Parish. He was elected three times as DA in 1966, 1972, and 1978.<ref name=whoswho/> Voltz was his first assistant DA during all of those years. In his capacity as DA, Ware was frequently involved in high-profile legal cases. In 1969, he was the [[defendant]] in ''Snyder v. Ware, et al.'', in which later Alexandria [[Mayor]] [[John K. Snyder]] sued regarding a criminal [[defamation]] charge brought against him.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://leagle.com/decision/1970649314FSupp335_1584.xml/SNYDER%20v.%20WARE|title=John K. Snyder v. Edwin O. Ware, III|publisher=leagle.com|date=October 13, 1970|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref> In the spring of 1977, Ware felt compelled to deny a charge by Mayor Snyder, who was then seeking reelection in his failed campaign against Carroll Edwin Lanier, that Ware was for all practical purposes "running" the city police department and undercutting the mayor's position.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20120418/OPINION/204180319/From-past|title=From the Past|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=April 18, 1977|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name=deathofware/>​

 

In 1970, Ware as DA defended the Rapides Parish School Board from a challenge that public schools were still largely segregated despite federal court orders to the contrary. The suit noted that half of the schools in Wards 1 and 8 were still predominantly [[African-American]]. The plaintiffs sought a greater degree of racial integration than then required by federal courts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/19701555423F2d1132_11256.xml/VALLEY%20v.%20RAPIDES%20PARISH%20SCHOOL%20BOARD|title=Virgie Lee Valley, et al. v. Rapides Parish School Board, et al.|date=March 6, 1970|publisher=leagle.com|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref> The suit continued to be litigated after Ware left the DA's office. In 2006, [[Judge]] Dee D. Drell of the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana declared Rapides schools racially unitary and closed the long-term litigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20060928/NEWS01/60928010/School-milestone-called-great-day-Rapides-Parish-|title=School milestone called "great day" for Rapides Parish|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=September 28, 2006|author=Mandy M. Goodnight|accessdate=May 26, 2015; no longer on-line.}}</ref>​

In 1970, Ware as DA defended the Rapides Parish School Board from a challenge that public schools were still largely segregated despite federal court orders to the contrary. The suit noted that half of the schools in Wards 1 and 8 were still predominantly [[African-American]]. The plaintiffs sought a greater degree of racial integration than then required by federal courts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/19701555423F2d1132_11256.xml/VALLEY%20v.%20RAPIDES%20PARISH%20SCHOOL%20BOARD|title=Virgie Lee Valley, et al. v. Rapides Parish School Board, et al.|date=March 6, 1970|publisher=leagle.com|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref> The suit continued to be litigated after Ware left the DA's office. In 2006, [[Judge]] Dee D. Drell of the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana declared Rapides schools racially unitary and closed the long-term litigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.thetowntalk.com/article/20060928/NEWS01/60928010/School-milestone-called-great-day-Rapides-Parish-|title=School milestone called "great day" for Rapides Parish|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|date=September 28, 2006|author=Mandy M. Goodnight|accessdate=May 26, 2015; no longer on-line.}}</ref>​

 

In the early 1970s, during a showing of the film, ''The Last Picture Show'', Ware and his wife, Barbara, walked out of the theater during a nude bathing scene. The DA received many telephone calls and letters from people offended by the film. The theater sued successfully to return the film to the screen. Ware also tried unsuccessfully to stop sexually-explicit [[magazine]]s, including ''Playboy,'' from being sold in Rapides Parish. Ware never wavered in the positions he took. In a 2001 interview, he said, "I think our failure [to stop pornography] is reflected in the life-style of the country today. Community standards have changed since then and none of them for the better."<ref name=deathofware/>​

In the early 1970s, during a showing of the film, ''The Last Picture Show'', Ware and his wife, Barbara, walked out of the theater during a nude bathing scene. The DA received many telephone calls and letters from people offended by the film. The theater sued successfully to return the film to the screen. Ware also tried unsuccessfully to stop sexually-explicit [[magazine]]s, including ''Playboy,'' from being sold in Rapides Parish. Ware never wavered in the positions he took. In a 2001 interview, he said, "I think our failure [to stop pornography] is reflected in the life-style of the country today. Community standards have changed since then and none of them for the better."<ref name=deathofware/>​

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Ware was president of the Louisiana District Attorney's Association from 1974 to 1975. From 1975 to 1983, he was a board member of the National District Attorneys Association. He also served as chairman of the Louisiana District Attorney's Retirement Board. Ware was a member from 1964 to 1968 of the Rapides Parish Democratic Executive Committee and from 1968 to 1980 of the Louisiana State Democratic Central Committe].<ref name=whoswho/> Ware is a former member of the Louisiana Board of Ethics, which acts as the supervisory committee for campaign finance disclosure.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://domino.ethics.state.la.us/CampOpn.nsf/999d109733135c25862567f8006847bf/1a568b535d5b78e786256fa5005bfa7e|title=Ethics Board Docket|date=February 10, 2005|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref>

Ware was president of the Louisiana District Attorney's Association from 1974 to 1975. From 1975 to 1983, he was a board member of the National District Attorneys Association. He also served as chairman of the Louisiana District Attorney's Retirement Board. Ware was a member from 1964 to 1968 of the Rapides Parish Democratic Executive Committee and from 1968 to 1980 of the Louisiana State Democratic Central Committe].<ref name=whoswho/> Ware is a former member of the Louisiana Board of Ethics, which acts as the supervisory committee for campaign finance disclosure.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://domino.ethics.state.la.us/CampOpn.nsf/999d109733135c25862567f8006847bf/1a568b535d5b78e786256fa5005bfa7e|title=Ethics Board Docket|date=February 10, 2005|accessdate=May 26, 2015}}</ref>

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Active in civic affairs too, Ware in 1955 was named the "Outstanding State Vice-President" by the Jaycees. In 1976, the DA was named "Outstanding Lawman" by the Alexandria Exchange Club. In 1979, he received a "Distinguished Service Award" from the National District Attorney's Association. He was a member of the Louisiana Bar Association, the American Legion, and Kiwanis International.<ref name=whoswho/>​

Active in civic affairs too, Ware in 1955 was named the "Outstanding State Vice-President" by the Jaycees. In 1976, the DA was named "Outstanding Lawman" by the Alexandria Exchange Club. In 1979, he received a "Distinguished Service Award" from the National District Attorney's Association. He was a member of the Louisiana Bar Association, the American Legion, and Kiwanis International.<ref name=whoswho/>​

 

Ware is interred at Alexandria Memorial Gardens.<ref name=deathofware/>​

Ware died a month before his 89th birthday and is interred at Alexandria Memorial Gardens.<ref name=deathofware/>​

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==References==​

==References==​