Robert "Bo" Williams

Robert Warren Williams, Sr. known as Bo Williams (July 21, 1938 – September 29, 2022), was only the second Republican since Reconstruction to have served as the mayor of the heavily Democrat city of Shreveport, Louisiana. His single term extended from 1994 to 1998; for the preceding term from 1990 to 1994, he was a member of the city council. He won the mayoral election against an African-American Democrat candidate, Roy Carey. In the primary, former Mayor on after the former Democrat Mayor John B. Hussey was eliminated after a third-placed finish.

Williams was born in Greenwood in southwestern Caddo Parish near Shreveport to James Chambers Williams, Jr. and the former Mary Thelma Robertson. In 1956, he graduated in 1956 from Greenwood High School and thereafter received a master's degree in Agriculture Economics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He then served in the United States Army in at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

In 1959, he wed the former Melba Clark (born 1939). With their two children, Robert, Jr., and Linda, later Linda Williams Fair, the family moved to Shreveport in 1965, where Williams began his career as a credit manager at Ralston Purina and began raising cattle. After a sever accident in June 1972 left him handicapped, he began working in real estate as a developer of residential subdivisions. Later, he became a licensed residential contractor.

He was a deacon at Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport. His obituary refers to him as an inspiration to many for his determination to work and provide for his family as well as live an active lifestyle despite his physical limitations.

He is interred at Centuries Memorial Park in Shreveport.