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'''Donald Wayne Williamson''', known as '''Don Williamson''' (October 5, 1927 – November 10, 2019),<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=194426244|title=Donald Wayne Williamson|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=November 11, 2019|accessdate=November 13, 2019}}</ref> was a retired [[United States|American]] [[business]]man in [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who served in both houses of the state legislature between 1968 and 1980. A former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served in the state House from 1968 to 1972 and then in the state Senate from 1972 to 1980.
'''Donald Wayne Williamson''', known as '''Don Williamson''' (October 5, 1927 – November 10, 2019),<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?pid=194426244|title=Donald Wayne Williamson|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=November 11, 2019|accessdate=November 13, 2019}}</ref> was a retired [[United States|American]] [[business]]man in [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], who served in both houses of the state legislature between 1968 and 1980. A former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], he served in the state House from 1968 to 1972 and then in the state Senate from 1972 to 1980.
Earlier, from 1958 to 1968, he was a member and later the president of the Caddo Parish School Board. Williamson ran a strong but unsuccessful race for state insurance commissioner in 1979 and failed twice in bids for [[mayor]] of Shreveport against [[John Brennan Hussey]] in 1982 and again in 1986. After his political retirement, he shifted his registration in the early 1990s to the [[Republican Party]] to voice his opposition to the administration of then [[U.S. President]] [[Bill Clinton]] [1]
Earlier, from 1958 to 1968, he was a member and later the president of the Caddo Parish School Board. Williamson ran a strong but unsuccessful race for state insurance commissioner in 1979 and failed twice in bids for [[mayor]] of Shreveport against [[John B. Hussey]] in 1982 and again in 1986. After his political retirement, he shifted his registration in the early 1990s to the [[Republican Party]] to voice his opposition to the administration of then [[U.S. President]] [[Bill Clinton]] [1]
==Background==
==Background==
Williamson was born in Vivian in northern Caddo Parish to [[Earl Williamson]] and the former Mamie Greer (1904–1948). He attended public schools and graduated in 1946 from Vivian High School, later North Caddo High School. He attended the Methodist-affiliated Centenary Collge in Shreveport for a year. In 1945, while still in high school, he married his childhood sweetheart, the former Norma Herring of Vivian. They were wed for nearly fifty-seven years until her death of a sudden [[stroke]] in 2002. In 2003, when he retired from business, Williamson married the former Rachel Nelson Dunn (1928-2022),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/obituaries/spt082938|title=Rachel Dunn Williamson obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=November 10, 2022}}</ref> and educator and the former wife of [[Forrest Dunn]], who like Williamson was a former Shreveport furniture store owner and a former Democratic member of the Caddo Parish School Board and the Louisiana House of Representatives (1976–1984). Dunn was later the administrator of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport.[2]
Williamson was born in Vivian in northern Caddo Parish to [[Earl Williamson]] and the former Mamie Greer (1904–1948). He attended public schools and graduated in 1946 from Vivian High School, later North Caddo High School. He attended the Methodist-affiliated Centenary College in Shreveport for a year. In 1945, while still in high school, he married his childhood sweetheart, the former Norma Herring of Vivian. They were wed for nearly fifty-seven years until her death of a sudden [[stroke]] in 2002. In 2003, when he retired from business, Williamson married the former Rachel Nelson Dunn (1928-2022),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/obituaries/spt082938|title=Rachel Dunn Williamson obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=November 10, 2022}}</ref> and educator and the former wife of [[Forrest Dunn]], who like Williamson was a former Shreveport furniture store owner and a former Democratic member of the Caddo Parish School Board and the Louisiana House of Representatives (1976–1984). Dunn was later the administrator of the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum in Shreveport.[2]
From 1949 to 1951, Williamson worked for General Electric in the building of the [[United States Navy]]'s atomic fusion plant in Schenectady, [[New York]]. This work made possible the nuclear-powered submarine advanced by Admiral [[Hyman G. Rickover]]. As he was engaged in essential civilian employment, he was deferred from the draft during the [[Korean War]].
From 1949 to 1951, Williamson worked for General Electric in the building of the [[United States Navy]]'s atomic fusion plant in Schenectady, [[New York]]. This work made possible the nuclear-powered submarine advanced by Admiral [[Hyman G. Rickover]]. As he was engaged in essential civilian employment, he was deferred from the draft during the [[Korean War]].