George A. Burton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

George Aubrey Burton, Jr.

Finance Commissioner of Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA
In office December 1971 – December 1978
Preceded by	Dwight E. Saur
Succeeded by	Position abolished by change in city charter

Born	June 21, 1926 (1926-06-21) (age 81) Texarkana, Arkansas, USA
Nationality	American
Political party	Republican
Spouse	(1) Joan Cunningham Burton (deceased) (2) Gloria Brantley Burton
Children	George A. Burton, III (born 1948); Sandra Burton Batten (born 1949)
Occupation	Certified Public Accountant
Religion	Methodist
CPA Burton was the first Republican since Reconstruction to hold municipal office in the traditionally Democratic city of Shreveport, Louisiana.

George Aubrey Burton, Jr. (born June 21, 1926), is a Certified Public Accountant who was the last elected finance commissioner in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo 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.

1 Early years, education, military
2 Burton runs for office
3 Family and civic commitments
4 See also
5 References

[edit] 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 of Rapides 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 a railroad employee. Burton's father worked in finance, including a long period as the secretary-treasurer of Cahn Electric Company in Shreveport.

In 1941, Burton graduated at the age of fifteen from C.E. Byrd High School in Shreveport. He then enlisted in the United States Navy and obtained entry into the exclusive Seabees. He served in the Central Pacific theater of World War II from 1943-1946. After the war, he obtained a bachelor of science degree in accounting from the Methodist-affiliated Centenary College of Shreveport. He passed the C.P.A. examination in 1952.

[edit] Burton runs for office

On November 8, 1966, Burton and George Despot were unsuccessful candidates for the Caddo Parish School 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 honorary pallbearer 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.

[edit] Family and civic commitments

Burton married the former Joan (pronouned JO ANN) Cunningham (July 13, 1928 - October 5, 2002), who grew up in Amory, Mississippi, and then Memphis, 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, near Little Rock.

Burton was a charter member of the Shreveport Sertoma Club and was active in the Jaycees (Junior Chamber of Commerce). He was president of the Shreveport Jaycees, state vice president of the group, and a national director. Burton is Methodist.