Nat G. Kiefer

Ignatz Gerard Kiefer, known as Nat G. Kiefer (February 26, 1939^[1] – July 10, 1985) was an attorney from his native New Orleans, Louisiana, who served in both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature. He was a state representative from 1968 to 1970, and thereafter until his death in office fifteen years later a state senator.

Biography

Political career

Kiefer carried a brash style into the state senate as one of Governor Edwin Edwards' floor leaders. A Democrat, Kiefer was instrumental in the construction of the Lakefront Arena.

In 1979, Kiefer was an active campaigner for Louis Lambert, a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from Ascension Parish, who ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Edwards. When a dispute developed for the second-place runoff berth, Kiefer headed a task force of accountants and lawyers present at the warehouses while the voting machines were opened on October 30, three days after the primary election. Lambert narrowly edged out Jimmy Fitzmorris, the departing lieutenant governor, for the right to face the Republican David C. Treen, then a U.S. representative from Louisiana's 3rd congressional district, which included suburban Jefferson Parish.^[2] Ultimately, Treen narrowly defeated Lambert to become the states' first Republican governor since Reconstruction.ref

Family

Kiefer married Carol Ann Hazard (born June 18, 1940); the couple had four children, Nat G. Kiefer Jr., Kent Kiefer, Karen Ann Kiefer, and Kris Patrick Kiefer.

Death

Kiefer died of a liver ailment at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.^[3] He was 46 years old.

In 1987, the UNO Lakefront Arena was officially renamed the "Senator Nat G. Kiefer University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena."

References

1. ↑ "Nat G. Kiefer". search.ancestry.com. Retrieved January 23, 2015. 
2. ↑ Shreveport Journal, October 30, 1979, p.1
3. ↑ The New York Times, July 10, 1985 issue