Billy Boles

Infobox_State Senator
name= William Russell "Billy" Boles, Sr.
caption= Billy Boles
office= Louisiana State Senator from Richland, Franklin, and Catahoula parishes
term_start=1952
term_end=1956
preceded=Ralph E. King, Sr., M.D.
succeeded=Ralph E. King, Sr.
birth_date= 1927
birth_place= Rayville in Richland Parish, Louisiana, USA
death_date=August 16, 2008 (aged 81)
death_place=Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana
spouse= Catherine Furlow Boles
children= Linda Boles Campbell
Diane Boles Kirtland
Janet Boles Crawford
William R. Boles, Jr.
party= Democratic
occupation= Attorney and banker in Monroe
religion=Baptist
footnotes=Boles and Jamar Adcock, both of whom served in the Louisiana State Senate, were cofounders of what is now Regions Bank and First Fidelity Mortgage Company (now Chase) in Louisiana.

William Russell "Billy" Boles, Sr. (1927 - August 16, 2008), was a Monroe attorney and banker who, at twenty-four, served a single term in the Louisiana State Senate. He represented his native Richland as well as neighboring Franklin and Catahoula parishes in northeastern Louisiana from 1952-1956, during the administration of Governor Robert F. Kennon, his fellow Democrat. Boles succeeded and preceded the pro-Long state senator, Ralph E. King, Sr., a physician from Winnsboro, the seat of Franklin Parish. [http://www.legis.state.la.us/members/s1880-2004.pdf#search='c.c.%20taddy%20aycock']

Boles was born to Vernon and Ruth Boles in Rayville, the seat of Richland Parish, located east of Monroe. He attended the University of Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeast Junior College) on a basketball scholarship and then served eighteen months in the United States Navy. Thereafter, he procured his bachelor of arts degree from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, the seat of Lincoln Parish. He was student body president of his law class at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.>http://www.legacy.com/theadvocate/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=115868378]

Boles and a close friend, the late State Senator Jamar Adcock of Monroe (service: 1960-1972), co-founded what is now Regions Bank of North Louisiana, originally the American Bank in Monroe. Adcock and Boles also started Fidelity Bank in Slidell, the Colonial Bank in New Orleans, and Progressive Bank in Metairie in Jefferson Parish. They bought into the former Bossier Bank and Trust Company in Bossier City and the Jena Bank in Jena in La Salle Parish. Boles met Adcock when they were LSU students. Their First Fidelity Mortgage Company was later part of Chase. [Jamar Adcock obituary, "Monroe News-Star", December 24, 1991]

Known for his close ties to important Louisiana politicians, including Governors John J. McKeithen and Edwin Washington Edwards, Boles was in 2004 inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield. [ [http://www.cityofwinnfield.com/museum.html Winnfield, La - Old L&A Depot, LA Political Museum ] ] At the time of his death, Boles was semi-retired in Monroe in the practice of law with his son, William Boles, Jr. (born 1956).

Boles and his wife, the former Catherine Furlow, are honored for their philanthropy through the Catherine and William R. "Billy" Boles Terrace on the seventh floor of the library at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. [ [http://www.ulm.edu/publicaffairs/november01/four.html Untitled Document ] ]

In addition to his wife, Catherine, Boles left behind three daughters and a son: Linda Boles Campbell (born 1949) and husband George M. Campbell, Sr. (1948) of Monroe, Diane Boles Kirtland (born 1951) and husband Walter Kirtland (born 1946) of Baton Rouge, attorney Janet Boles Crawford (born 1954) and husband, Baton Rouge attorney-lobbyist Scott Holland Crawford (born 1953), originally from Minden in Webster Parish, and attorney William R. Boles, Jr. (born 1956) and wife Christine R. Boles of Monroe. [Net Detective, People Search] Boles had eleven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Services were to be held on August 19 in the First Baptist Church of West Monroe, with entombment in Monroe Memorial Park Mausoleum.

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