- George A. Burton
Infobox Officeholder
name=George Aubrey Burton, Jr.
nationality=American
office= Finance Commissioner of Shreveport,Caddo Parish ,Louisiana , USA
party=Republican Party
term_start=December 1971
term_end=December 1978
preceded= Dwight E. Saur
succeeded= Position abolished by change in city charter
date of birth=birth date and age|1926|06|21
place of birth=Texarkana, Arkansas , USA
occupation=Certified Public Accountant
spouse= (1) Joan Cunningham Burton (deceased)(2) Gloria Brantley Burton
children=George A. Burton, III (born 1948); Sandra Burton Batten (born 1949)
religion=Methodist
footnotes=CPA Burton was the first Republican since Reconstruction to holdmunicipal office in the traditionally Democratic city ofShreveport, Louisiana .George Aubrey Burton, Jr. (born
June 21 ,1926 ), is aCertified Public Accountant who was the last elected finance commissioner in Shreveport, the seat ofCaddo Parish ,Louisiana . Burton was also the first Republican since Reconstruction to have been elected to municipal office in Shreveport, having served as finance commissioner from 1971-1978. He is currently the president of the Caddo Parish Board of Election Supervisors.Early years, education, military
Burton was born in Texarkana, the seat of Miller County in southwestern
Arkansas , to George A. Burton, Sr. (1903-1980), and the former Theo Simmons (1908-1983). The Burtons resided in Alexandria, the seat ofRapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana, until they relocated to Shreveport in 1936, when George was a ten-year-old boy. Burton's grandfather was arailroad employee. Burton's father worked in finance, including a long period as the secretary-treasurer of CahnElectric Company in Shreveport.In 1941, Burton graduated at the age of fifteen from
C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport. He then enlisted in theUnited States Navy and obtained entry into the exclusiveSeabees . He served in the Central Pacific theater ofWorld War II from 1943-1946. After the war, he obtained abachelor of science degree inaccounting from theMethodist -affiliated Centenary College of Shreveport. He passed the C.P.A. examination in 1952.Burton runs for office
On
November 8 ,1966 , Burton andGeorge Despot were unsuccessful candidates for the Caddo ParishSchool Board . Despot, an oilman, later worked for Burton's election as city finance commissioner and was the state Republican chairman from 1978 to 1985. When Despot died in 1991, Burton was an honorarypallbearer at the funeral.In September 1971, Shreveport Finance Commissioner Dwight E. Saur (born 1910), a Democrat, died after serving less than a year of his elected term, having first been elected in 1966. Burton then won a
special election to fill out the remaining three years of the term. Despite his overt Republicanism, Burton carved his niche with his Democratic colleagues. In 1974, a heavily Democratic year, Burton was reelected finance commissioner by a large margin. He polled 17,488 votes (68.8 percent) to Democrat David R. Carroll's 7,938 ballots (31.2 percent). That year, Burton had the tacit support of Democratic Mayor Littleberry Calhoun Allen, Jr., who won a second term. Under the commission form of government then in effect, the mayor was technically the "commissioner of administration."Running with Burton in 1974 was another Republican, Billy James Guin, Sr., who was waging his second campaign against the late Public Utilities Commissioner William "Bill" Collins. Guin drew 43 percent of the vote. Collins thereafter resigned near the end of his second term, and Guin won the seat in a special election in 1977. Guin was in effect only the second Republican in modern times to hold municipal office in Shreveport.
Family and civic commitments
Burton married the former Joan (pronouned JO ANN) Cunningham (
July 13 ,1928 -October 5 ,2002 ), who grew up inAmory, Mississippi , and thenMemphis, Tennessee , before her family moved to Shreveport. After Joan's death, Burton married the former Gloria Brantley (born 1930), the widow of Bernard Garvin (1927-1997) of Shreveport. Burton has two children from his marriage to Joan: George A. Burton, III (born 1948), of Shreveport, and Sandra Burton Batten (born 1949) of Maumelle in Pulaski County, Arkansas, nearLittle Rock .Burton was a charter member of the Shreveport Sertoma Club and was active in the
Jaycees (JuniorChamber of Commerce ). He was president of the Shreveport Jaycees, state vice president of the group, and a national director. Burton is Methodist.ee also
John McW. Ford References
http://national.citysearch.com/profile/4539608/?brand=smx_yp-nc
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi?lastname=BURTON&firstname=George&start=341
http://www.ag.state.la.us/opinions/op_053104.htm
http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/elections/MISC/CoC_RoV_List_Web.pdf
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