Lantz Womack

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lantz Womack
Louisiana State Representative from Franklin (and Tensas and Madison) parishes
In office 1958 – 1976
Preceded by	Walter A. Chachere
Succeeded by	Neal L. "Lanny" Johnson

Born	January 11, 1914 (1914-01-11) Goodwill in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana, USA
Died	February 19, 1998 (aged 83) Winnsboro, Franklin Parish, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Alice Black Womack (1917-2002, married 1938-his death)
Children	Freida Louise Womack of Longview, Texas
Occupation	Farmer; Businessman; Banker
Religion	Baptist
(1) From 1968-1972, Womack and colleague S. S. DeWitt represented a combined district including Franklin, Madison, and Tensas parishes. (2) In his last term in House District 47, Womack also served as a delegate to the convention which produced the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. (3) Womack and colleague L. D. "Buddy" Napper of Ruston were among Louisiana legislators who had previously played semi-professional baseball.

Lantz Womack (January 11, 1914 -- May 23, 1998) was a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who served mostly Franklin Parish, from 1958, when he won a special election caused by the death of a freshman member, until his retirement in 1976. A banker and farmer from Winnsboro, south of Monroe, he was also a delegate to the 1973 convention which wrote the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. From 1968-1972, Womack and S. S. DeWitt of Tensas Parish were paired in a combined District 47 (Franklin, Tensas, and Madison parishes). For his last term, Womack was placed in single-member District 20, having defeated DeWitt and two other intraparty primary opponents.

[edit] Early years

Womack was born to Henry and Elma Womack in a family of five sons and three daughters. They lived in the small community of Goodwill in West Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana. In the middle 1930s, Womack played right field for the semi-professional Winnsboro Red Sox baseball team. Another future Louisiana state legislator, L.D. Napper, who had played for Louisiana Tech University (then Louisiana Polytechnic Institute) in Ruston, also played for Winnsboro for a time. Napper, a Democrat, represented Lincoln Parish in the legislature from 1952-1964; for six years the terms of Womack and Napper overlapped.

In 1938, Womack married the former Alice Black, who was born on April 14, 1917, in Union County, Illinois. Mrs. Womack was reared in Delhi (pronounced DELL HIGH) in Richland Parish north of Winnsboro. She died in Longview, Texas, on January 9, 2002, from complications of open-heart surgery, nearly four years after her husband's passing.

Womack was a member of the board of directors of Franklin Memorial Hospital and a co-founder and chairman of the board of Progressive State Bank, both in Winnsboro. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Winnsboro.

[edit] The twin elections of 1972

In the 1972 general election, Womack faced his first ever Republican opponent, Terry Clingan (1918-2007), a barber from tiny Mangham in Richland Parish, later from Baskin in Franklin Parish. Womack won the race by a 67-33 percent margin, even though Republican gubernatorial candidate David C. Treen ran particularly well in northeast Louisiana. Clingan was the stepfather of Robert Max Ross (born 1933), Treen's opponent in Louisiana's first and only Republican closed primary for governor, which was held in December 1971. In his own primary, Womack first defeated DeWitt, his colleague from the previous combined district, and then beat Winnsboro businessman James H. "Jimbo" Colvin in the party runoff.

In the summer of 1972, Womack was elected on a nonpartisan ballot to the state constitutional convention that met in 1973. The convention wrote the new Louisiana Constitution, which voters adopted in the spring of 1974. Womack defeated John Henry Baker, a Republican leader in Franklin Parish, for the delegate position. Ironically, in his early years, Womack had worked for Baker's father, John Henry Baker, II. These turned out to have been the last elections in which Womack emerged as a winner.

A popular legislator, Womack stressed constituent service during his legislative years. Mrs. Womack was active in a volunteer service group of legislative wives. A well-known hostess and cook, she entertained friends, family, and her husband's constituents. In his first term as governor, John Julian McKeithen appointed his fellow Democrat Womack to the Louisiana Financial Assistance Commission.

Womack did not seek reelection in the 1975 jungle primary. He was succeeded by fellow Democrat Neal L. "Lanny" Johnson of Tensas Parish, who, decades later, served as the Franklin Parish school superintendent, amid a time of school finance crises.

The Womacks had a daughter, Freida Louise Womack, who resided in Longview as of 2006.

Preceded by Walter A. Chachere (D)	Louisiana State Representative from subsequent District 20 (Franklin and Tensas parishes) Lantz Womack (D) 1958–1976	Succeeded by Neal L. "Lanny" Johnson (D)