Perry Elmo Futrell, Jr. (1916-1993)

Perry Elmo Futrell, Jr.
Mayor of Pineville Rapides Parish, Louisiana, USA
In office July 1962 – 1966
Preceded by	George B. Hoffman
Succeeded by	Floyd W. Smith, Jr.
Born	October 7, 1916(1916-10-07) Pollock, Grant Parish Louisiana
Died	December 4, 1993 (age 77) University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mildred Russell Futrell (married 1940-1993, his death)
Relations	Claude and Edith Kirkpatrick (daughter's in-laws)
Children	Ronnie Elmo Futrell Russell W. Futrell Sandra F. Kirkpatrick
Alma mater	Northwestern State University
Occupation	Real estate broker
Religion	Southern Baptist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army Air Corps
Battles/wars	World War II

Perry Elmo Futrell, Jr. (October 7, 1916 – December 4, 1993), was a real estate broker and appraiser who served from 1962 to 1966 as the Democratic mayor of Pineville, a city located east of the Red River across from Alexandria in Rapides Parish in Central Louisiana.

Background

Futrell was born in Pollock in Grant Parish north of Pineville to Perry, Sr. (1891–1986), and the former Amanda N. "Mandy" Willett (1890–1977). On July 1, 1942, he enlisted at Camp Beauregard in Pineville into the United States Army Air Corps, forerunner to the Air Force.

Term as mayor

As mayor, Futrell succeeded George B. Hoffman (May 16, 1910 – January 14, 2000).

In 1963, after less than a year in office, Futrell and the city council faced a recall attempt after Pineville police began the shooting on sight of stray dogs, and the city launched a street improvement campaign which charged residents directly for paving costs. Johnnie A. Mounce, who owned seven dogs and operated an outboard motor business, launched a petition to remove the officials. "It's awful the way they’ve been running down and shooting dogs in streets and in yards. They’ve already hit one child. And then, they're forcing people to pay for paving their streets. People who can't pay can lose their homes. I just don’t think it's right. So I’m trying to call for another election," Mounce said. Futrell said that the law calling for the shooting of stray dogs has been on the books for years but rarely previously enforced. Futrell ordered the crackdown but stressed only dogs whose owners could not be located or those animals which could not be caught were being shot.

In 1964, his third year in office, Futrell was named "Mayor of the Year" by the Louisiana Municipal Association. Despite weathering the recall attempt and "Mayor of the Year" honors, Futrell was narrowly unseated in the Democratic primary election in the spring of 1966 by his fellow Democrat, Floyd W. Smith, Jr., a native of Winnfield. After a single term as mayor, Smith was succeeded in 1970 by Fred Baden, who held the post for twenty-eight consecutive years.

Family life

Futrell, who was of German descent, was married to the former Mildred Russell (1921-2011), a native of Jena in La Salle Parish, whom he met at Northwestern State University. After his death, she left Pineville to live in Baton Rouge. The couple had two sons, Ronnie Elmo Futrell (1949-2015), a Louisiana College graduate and a corrections officer from Pineville, and his wife, the former Elizabeth Gay Sontag; and Russell W. Futrell (born 1953) of Baton Rouge, who was in Saudi Arabia at the time of his father's death. Their daughter, Sandra Futrell Kirkpatrick (born 1945) of Baton Rouge, is the widow of Thomas Killgore Kirkpatrick (1944–2009), a son of political figures Claude and Edith Killgore Kirkpatrick. Futrell had two surviving sisters, Pauline F. Cain and Gladys F. Morrison, both of Pineville, and five grandchildren. Grandson William Marshall "Bill" Futrell (1972-2009), one of two sons of Ronnie and Elizabeth Futrell, a veteran of the Louisiana National Guard, and a law enforcement officer, died in Pineville at the age of thirty-seven.

Futrell was a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Pineville, often considered the home church for Louisiana College. He died in Dallas, Texas, at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, then known as Zale Lipshy University Hospital. The Futrells are interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Ball north of Pineville.

References

Preceded by George B. Hoffman

Mayor of Pineville, Louisiana Perry Elmo Futrell, Jr. 1962–1966

Succeeded by Floyd W. Smith, Jr.