Difference between revisions of "Michael Wahlder"
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| − | '''Michael Moyse Wahlder''', known as '''Mike Wahlder''' (December 26, 1934 – August 23, | + | '''Michael Moyse Wahlder''', known as '''Mike Wahlder''' (December 26, 1934 – August 23, 2020), was an [[attorney]], [[judge]], and [[business]]man from [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] and Grant Parish, [[Louisiana]]. |
==Background== | ==Background== | ||
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==Career== | ==Career== | ||
| − | Until his father's death, the two practiced law together in downtown Alexandria. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], Wahlder was appointed by [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] as United States Magistrate, a position that the filled from c. 1970 to 1987. He was later a judge of the [[Social Security Administration]].<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=michael-moyse-wahlder&pid=196694822|title=Michael Walder obituary|publisher=''Alexandria Town Talk''|date=August 24, 2020|accessdate=August 27, 2020}}</ref> | + | Until his father's death, the two practiced law together in downtown Alexandria. A [[Republican Party|Republican]], Wahlder was appointed by [[U.S. President]] [[Richard M. Nixon]] as United States Magistrate, a position that the filled from c. 1970 to 1987. He was later a judge of the [[Social Security Administration]].<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=michael-moyse-wahlder&pid=196694822|title=Michael Walder obituary|publisher=''Alexandria Town Talk''|date=August 24, 2020|accessdate=August 27, 2020}}[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-town-talk-obituary-for-michael-moyse/105150123/ Obituary for Michael Moyse Wahlder]. The Town Talk. Aug 26, 2020.</ref> |
Wahlder married the former Nurit Pilzer (1939-1995). After seeing her picture on an [[Israel]]i travel brochure, he decided that he would find her whereabouts. Their marriage in 1959 was performed in a [[Jewish]] ceremony in Israel. Pictures of the couple appeared in ''[[Life Magazine|Life]],'' ''Redbook,'' and ''Good Housekeeping'' [[magazine]]s. They were also invited to appear on [[NBC]]'s ''The Jack Paar Show,'' the forerunner of ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.'' The couple had three children, Alexandria attorney Thomas Benjamin Wahlder (born 1960) and wife Laurie, Michele Marina Wahlder-Kerber (husband Michael), and the licensed professional counselor Ilana Wahlder Smith (husband Cary) of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]].<ref name=obit/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0gEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=Michael+Wahlder&source=bl&ots=y_gfg_CxMq&sig=ACfU3U3j2cHBTzEu2thRXcL1OzhBhTlA4g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwje28_Li9brAhUDB50JHZW0AI04ChDoATADegQIChAB#v=onepage&q=Michael%20Wahlder&f=false|title=Israel Loss, U.S. Gain|publisher=Life-Google Books|date=February 23, 1959|accessdate=September 7, 2020}}</ref> | Wahlder married the former Nurit Pilzer (1939-1995). After seeing her picture on an [[Israel]]i travel brochure, he decided that he would find her whereabouts. Their marriage in 1959 was performed in a [[Jewish]] ceremony in Israel. Pictures of the couple appeared in ''[[Life Magazine|Life]],'' ''Redbook,'' and ''Good Housekeeping'' [[magazine]]s. They were also invited to appear on [[NBC]]'s ''The Jack Paar Show,'' the forerunner of ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.'' The couple had three children, Alexandria attorney Thomas Benjamin Wahlder (born 1960) and wife Laurie, Michele Marina Wahlder-Kerber (husband Michael), and the licensed professional counselor Ilana Wahlder Smith (husband Cary) of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]].<ref name=obit/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0gEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=Michael+Wahlder&source=bl&ots=y_gfg_CxMq&sig=ACfU3U3j2cHBTzEu2thRXcL1OzhBhTlA4g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwje28_Li9brAhUDB50JHZW0AI04ChDoATADegQIChAB#v=onepage&q=Michael%20Wahlder&f=false|title=Israel Loss, U.S. Gain|publisher=Life-Google Books|date=February 23, 1959|accessdate=September 7, 2020}}</ref> | ||
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Wahlder was a strong supporter of the [[African-American]] community in Alexandria and a personal friend of the city's first black attorney, Louis Berry (1914-1998). He was a member of the B'nai Israel Synagogue in Alexandria.<ref name=obit/> | Wahlder was a strong supporter of the [[African-American]] community in Alexandria and a personal friend of the city's first black attorney, Louis Berry (1914-1998). He was a member of the B'nai Israel Synagogue in Alexandria.<ref name=obit/> | ||
| − | Some three months before his death while listed as a resident of Rapides Parish, Wahlder filed suit in the 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria against Baker Hughes, Inc., the successor of Dresser Industries, Inc., after trichoroethylene contamination from the old Dresser plant near [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] turned up in nearby neighborhoods. Wahlder claimed that TCE contamination on his property was “182 times above the detection limit.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kalb.com/content/news/Rapides-resident-fi8, 2020|author=Steven Maxwell|title= | + | Some three months before his death while listed as a resident of Rapides Parish, Wahlder filed suit in the 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria against Baker Hughes, Inc., the successor of Dresser Industries, Inc., after trichoroethylene contamination from the old Dresser plant near [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] turned up in nearby neighborhoods. Wahlder claimed that TCE contamination on his property was “182 times above the detection limit.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kalb.com/content/news/Rapides-resident-fi8, 2020|author=Steven Maxwell|title=Rapides resident files lawsuit against Dresser facility after contamination found |
|publisher=KALB-TV|date=May 8, 2020|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref> | |publisher=KALB-TV|date=May 8, 2020|accessdate=August 31, 2020}}</ref> | ||
Latest revision as of 23:12, July 21, 2025
| Michael Moyse "Mike" Wahlder
(Louisiana attorney, judge, | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Born | December 26, 1934 Alexandria, Louisiana, USA Resided in later years in | ||
| Died | August 23, 2020 (aged 85) Alexandria, Louisiana | ||
| Political Party | Republican | ||
| Spouse | Nurit Pilzer Wahlder (died 1995) Children: | ||
| Religion | Jewish
Resting place: | ||
Michael Moyse Wahlder, known as Mike Wahlder (December 26, 1934 – August 23, 2020), was an attorney, judge, and businessman from Alexandria and Grant Parish, Louisiana.
Background
Wahlder was the son of Isaac Wahlder (1901-1983) and the former Bernice Mansberg (1908-1998).[2] He graduated from Bolton High School in Alexandria, and Tulane University in New Orleans, from which he received his law degree in 1958.
Career
Until his father's death, the two practiced law together in downtown Alexandria. A Republican, Wahlder was appointed by U.S. President Richard M. Nixon as United States Magistrate, a position that the filled from c. 1970 to 1987. He was later a judge of the Social Security Administration.[3]
Wahlder married the former Nurit Pilzer (1939-1995). After seeing her picture on an Israeli travel brochure, he decided that he would find her whereabouts. Their marriage in 1959 was performed in a Jewish ceremony in Israel. Pictures of the couple appeared in Life, Redbook, and Good Housekeeping magazines. They were also invited to appear on NBC's The Jack Paar Show, the forerunner of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. The couple had three children, Alexandria attorney Thomas Benjamin Wahlder (born 1960) and wife Laurie, Michele Marina Wahlder-Kerber (husband Michael), and the licensed professional counselor Ilana Wahlder Smith (husband Cary) of Monroe.[3][4]
In addition to his law practice, Wahlder at various times owned truck stops, bingo parlors, cattle, oil wells, trailer parks, car washes, convenience stores, and hunting camps. He established the village of Creola in Grant Parish to avoid a local ban on the sale of alcohol. He donated land to the Jena Choctaw Indian tribe, which built a casino. He owned the weekly newspaper, The Colfax Chronicle, in the parish seat of Colfax.[3]
According to his obituary, Wahlder ran for the United States Senate in opposition to former Ku Klux Klan figure David Duke . The obituary said that Wahlder participated in a debate covered in newspapers nationally. However, the office of Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry does not list Wahlder as a Senate candidate in 1990, 1996, or 2016, the three times that Duke ran for the Senate, when he lost, respectively, to Democrats J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., and Mary Landrieu and the Republican John Neely Kennedy.[5] In 1989, Wahlder contributed $1,000 to the reelection of three-term conservative Republican U.S. Representative Clyde Holloway. Wahlder's mother gave $500 to the Holloway campaign.
Wahlder was a world traveler, particularly New York City, Colorado, Florida, Europe, Israel, and Australia. He held a strong interest in history, particularly World War II and the American Civil War. He visited numerous Civil War battlefields and attempted to unearth two Civil War ships from his land. The story was reported in The New York Times. He was also a hunter, fisherman, swimmer, and tennis player. He was known for his social gathering, including parties and Thanksgiving Day dinners. He had a jovial demeanor, curiosity, and eccentricities.[3]
Wahlder was a strong supporter of the African-American community in Alexandria and a personal friend of the city's first black attorney, Louis Berry (1914-1998). He was a member of the B'nai Israel Synagogue in Alexandria.[3]
Some three months before his death while listed as a resident of Rapides Parish, Wahlder filed suit in the 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria against Baker Hughes, Inc., the successor of Dresser Industries, Inc., after trichoroethylene contamination from the old Dresser plant near Pineville turned up in nearby neighborhoods. Wahlder claimed that TCE contamination on his property was “182 times above the detection limit.”[6]
Wahlder died in Alexandria at the age of eight-five. Along with his wife and parents, he is interred at the Jewish Cemetery in Pineville.[3]
References
- ↑ Michele Marina Wahlder-Kerber obituary. Alexandria Town Talk (July 18, 2025). Retrieved on July 21, 2025.
- ↑ Isaac Wahlder. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on August 27, 2020.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Michael Walder obituary. Alexandria Town Talk (August 24, 2020). Retrieved on August 27, 2020.Obituary for Michael Moyse Wahlder. The Town Talk. Aug 26, 2020.
- ↑ Israel Loss, U.S. Gain. Life-Google Books (February 23, 1959). Retrieved on September 7, 2020.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, Primary election Returns, 1990, 1996, and 2016.
- ↑ Steven Maxwell (May 8, 2020). 2020 Rapides resident files lawsuit against Dresser facility after contamination found. KALB-TV. Retrieved on August 31, 2020.
