Spring Hill

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Eugene S. Eason (May 28, 1928 - March 25, 2007) was a businessman from Springhill who ran as a Republican in four elections for the Louisiana House of Representatives in calendar year 1991. Eason won the special election runoff on March 23 for a 9-month unexpired term from District 10 encompassing all of Webster Parish, including the parish seat of Minden, in northwestern Louisiana. Then he lost the regular general election on November 16 by seventy-one votes to the Democratic candidate, Everett Doerge (pronounced DURR GHEE), a retired educator and supervisor of secondary education from Minden. Eason was the only Republican to have ever held this particular legislative seat since Reconstruction. He was particularly known for his efforts to promote economic development.

Prior to his legislative service, Eason was a Springhill City Council member. Elected as a Democrat in 1966, he served until 1970. He returned to the council in 1987 but resigned in 1991 to become state representative. Eason also served on the Webster Parish Library Board from 1975-2006.

Eason was born in Clarks, a lumbering village in Caldwell Parish in northeastern Louisiana, to Fulton Fillmore Eason and the former Jewell Parker. He lived most of his life in Springhill. For nearly four decades, he was the manager of Stauffer Chemical Company. His other civic activities including nearly a decade of service on the North Webster Parish Industrial Board. He was a past president of the North Webster Area Regional Commission and worked in recycling efforts through the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body. An advocate of expanded highways, Eason was a member of the Louisiana Highway 7 Corridor Commission.

A former Jaycee, he was a member of Rotary International. He formerly coached Dixie Youth baseball and Pee Wee football. In June 2002, he was named "Volunteer of the Year in Economic Development".

Eason ran in the special election on February 23, 1991, to fill the remaining months of the term of State Representative Bruce M. Bolin, who had been elected in 1990 to a judgeship, following in the footsteps of his father, Judge James E. Bolin, Jr. Eason ran second in the first round of balloting with 1,450 votes (23 percent) and went into a runoff with Pattie Lou Cook Odom (born 1952), who received 1,630 (26 percent). Odom had been elected in 1987 to the Democratic State Central Committee. She is the wife of Webster Parish Police Juror Charles D. Odom (born 1951) and the daughter of the late H. Boe Cook, the former owner of the radio station in Minden. A third candidate, Democratic educator Faye Newson, trailed with 1,364 votes (22 percent). She hence missed the runoff berth with Eason by eighty-seven votes. Also running was the former public school administrator and perennial legislative candidate Ralph Lamar Rentz of Minden, then a Democrat, who polled 431 votes (7 percent). Two other Democratic candidates divided the remaining 15 percent.

Odom seemed to have the advantage in the general election, for the Democratic candidates collectively had polled 77 percent of total ballots. Nevertheless, Eason received sufficient Democratic support to prevail. He finished with 3,659 (53 percent) to Odom's 3,309 (47 percent). Eason's brief term in the House was overshadowed by his having to seek a full term just seven months after taking office.

In the October 19 jungle primary, three opponents challenged Eason: Democrats Everett Doerge and Michael Dale Lee, and Republican Ralph Rentz, who had switched parties after the March 23 special election runoff. (Rentz later changed to "No Party" under Louisiana law and ran for the Louisiana State Senate in 1995 but died at the time of the election.) Eason led in the primary with 6,374 votes (43 percent), and Doerge finished second with 5,809 ballots (40 percent). Lee and Rentz divided the remaining 17 percent of the vote. In the showdown in November, Doerge emerged victorious, 8,389 (50 percent) to 8,318 (50 percent) for Eason. The close defeat hence ended Eason's career in elective politics.

Eason died in Shreveport. He was preceded in death by his wife of fifty-four years, the former Frances Smith (September 29, 1928 - January 8, 2006). His surviving children are John Wesley Eason and wife, Juana, of Victoria, Texas, Joy Kathleen Langston of Magnolia, Arkansas, David Eugene Eason of Houston, and Barbara Jean Dees and husband, Ronnie, of Springhill. There were also six grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, three sisters, and one brother.

Eason was a member of the Central Baptist Church of Springhill. The Easons are interred in Springhill Cemetery.

Preceded by Bruce Bolin (D)	Louisiana State Representative from District 10 (Webster Parish) Eugene S. Eason (R) 1991–1992	Succeeded by Everett Gail Doerge (D)

[edit] References

http://www.legacy.com/shreveporttimes/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=86970379

http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi

http://www.i69arkla.com/documents/Scoping%20Report%20Distribution%20List%20-%20Louisiana.pdf

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:Y6YSe01c5AoJ:www.entergy-louisiana.com/content/economic_development/docs/Winter_2001.pdf+eugene+eason+of+springhill,+louisiana&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

http://www.nwlanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=922&Itemid=26

http://www.state.lib.la.us/la_dyn_templ.cfm?doc_id=245

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=02239160

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=03239160

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10199160

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11169160

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=10219560

http://www.sos.louisiana.gov:8090/cgibin/?rqstyp=elcpr&rqsdta=11218760[[Category:Webster Parish, Louisiana|Eason, Eugene S.

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Browning Elementary School (pK-2)
505 Herrington Dr.
Springhill, LA
Browning Elementary is probably the northernmost school in Louisiana. As you drive north on LA 371, you turn left on Herrington Dr. As you turn, you will see Browning on your left. If you were to continue on LA 371, you would be in Arkansas in about 2 minutes.

Howell Elementary School (3-4)
1301 4th St. SE
Springhill, LA
As you enter the city limits of Springhill, look to your right, past the railroad tracks, for the Pentecostal Church. Turn right, cross the railroad tracks, keep driving beside the church until you see the school on your right.

Brown Middle front Brown sign

Brown Middle School (5-6)
804 4th St. SW
Springhill, LA
Although the address may lead you to believe Brown Middle is to the left of Howell Elementary. NOT SO! To get to Brown Middle, you must continue driving north on LA 371 until you see the Sonic Drive In on your left. Turn left (immediately) beside Sonic. You will see Brown directly in front of you (the street makes a 90 degree left turn).

Springhill Jr/Sr High
507 W Church St., Springhill. La. Springhill High School left

As you continue north on LA 371, you will see the football stadium on your right. The road actually curves around the stadium. As soon as you pass the stadium, Springhill Jr/Sr High School is on your left. You turn at the light onto Church Street to get to the office entrance of the school. The school has several wings and is on several levels. I told a teacher I was reminded of Stephen King's "Rose Red." Every time I walked out of a room, the halls were headed different directions. For a visitor, the school is a giant maze! Springhill Jr High WAS located beside the stadium on the right side of LA371. It has been torn down. The NEW Springhill Jr/Sr High school will be built on the site of the old junior high. The building now housing the jr/sr high school will be demolished and the land sold.

Memories of thine ivy walls,
Live in us forever.
For we're bound by loyalty,
Nothing else can sever.
For the friendships we have known
In these halls we call our own,
We will love thee 'til we die
Alma Mater Springhill High

In 1937, Springhill was selected as the site for a huge International Paper Mill. This plant would become the major economic power in North Webster for more than 40 years and even thought its presence has been reduced in recent years, it still employs many workers in the Springhill and Cullen area. (From Images of America Webster Parish written by John Agan).

Looking Northwest of woodyard of International Paper Co. across the hwy. from Cullen.