Hoffman L. Fuller

Hoffman Lee "Hop" Fuller
6th Mayor of Bossier City, Louisiana, USA
In office 1937–1953
Preceded by	Thomas Hickman
Succeeded by	Burgess McCranie
Personal details
Born	January 5, 1899 Bossier City, Bossier Parish Louisiana, USA
Died	June 20, 1983 (aged 84) Bossier City, Louisiana
Resting place	Hill Crest Memorial Park in Haughton, Louisiana
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Modena P. Fuller
Children	Hoffman Franklin Fuller Two grandchildren
Residence	Bossier City, Louisiana
Occupation	Radio dispatcher
Religion	Southern Baptist
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army American Expeditionary Force
Battles/wars	World War I

This article also contains a biographical sketch of Fuller's successor as mayor, Burgess McCranie. Scroll down.

Hoffman Lee Fuller, also known as Hop Fuller (January 5, 1899 – June 20, 1983), was from 1937 to 1953 the mayor of his native Bossier City, the sister city of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana. A Democrat, Fuller was the sixth mayor of Bossier City since incorporation in 1907.^[1] Thus far, Fuller is tied for longevity in the office with the late George Dement, the mayor from 1989 until 2005.^[2]

Career

Hoffman succeeded Thomas Hickman, whose 12-year tenure as mayor began in 1925.^[3] In 1941, Fuller, with 1,103 votes, handily won reelection to his second term over H. H. Allen, candidate of a self-proclaimed good government group, the Good Citizens League, who polled 333 votes. A third Democrat, J. C. Thompson, held another seventy-four votes.^[4]

In 1948, Fuller ran unsuccessfully for the Louisiana Public Service Commission for a seat formerly held by outgoing Governor Jimmie Davis. In 1949, he won the last of his four terms as mayor. He did not seek a fifth term in 1953 but waged an unsuccessful comeback bid in 1957 against Jake W. Cameron.^[5]

In August 1950, Fuller joined with Mayor Clyde Fant of Shreveport for a send-off ceremony for some 250 members of the United States Marine Corps Reserve of Charlie Company, 10th Special Infantry Battalion, who were sent into the beginning hostilities of the Korean War. The Marines had trained at the Louisiana State Fairgrounds and left downtown Shreveport from the former Texas and Pacific Railway station, which was demolished years later to make way for the Shreveport Convention Center. The event was recalled six decades later by The Shreveport Times.^[6]

Fuller was still mayor on August 9, 1951, when Governor Earl Kemp Long issued a proclamation changing the designation of Bossier City from town to city. He was in his last year in office on October 21, 1952, when voters adopted the city commission government.^[7]

Fuller was a radio dispatcher with the Bossier Water Department. A veteran of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I, he was a member of the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Masonic lodge, the Shriners, and Lions International.^[1]

Personal life

Fuller and his wife, Modena P. Fuller (1900-1982), who preceded him in death by a year,^[8] had one son, Hoffman Franklin Fuller of St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.^[9] The junior Fuller was the 1950 valedictorian at Bossier High School and a 2009 inductee into the BHS Hall of Fame.^[10] He is a retired professor at Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. The Hoffman F. Fuller Associate Professor of Tax Law at Tulane is named in his honor. The junior Hoffman is considered a national authority on tax law.^[11]

Fuller died in Bossier City in 1983 at the age of eighty-four. Services were held at the First Baptist Church of Bossier City, with then pastor Fred L. Lowery officiating. The Fullers are interred at Hill Crest Memorial Park in Haughton east of Bossier City.^[1]

Burgess Edmond McCranie, Sr.
7th Mayor of Bossier City, Louisiana
In office 1953–1957
Preceded by	Hoffman L. Fuller
Succeeded by	Jake W. Cameron
Personal details
Born	September 17, 1905 Plain Dealing, Bossier Parish Louisiana, USA
Died	December 31, 1977 (aged 72) Bossier City, Louisiana
Resting place	Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport
Nationality	American
Political party	Democrat
Spouse(s)	Mary Page Harlow McCranie
Children	Burgess E. McCranie, Jr. James B. McCranie Sarah M. Polton Judy McCranie Hughes Tommie Sue McCranie Walker
Parents	Thomas Kenton and Viola Varina Wise McCranie
Residence	Bossier City, Louisiana
Occupation	Government official
Religion	Southern Baptist

Mayor Burgess McCranie

Burgess Edmond McCranie, Sr. (September 17, 1905 – December 31, 1977), was a government official who, among other positions, served from 1953 to 1957 as the seventh mayor of Bossier City, the ninth largest city in the state, as of the 2010 U.S. census.

A Democrat as have been all but one mayor of Bossier City, McCranie was the first mayor under the city commission government, which was disbanded after twenty-four years, effective in 1977,^[12] in favor of the mayor-council format.

McCranie was the fourth of five children born in Plain Dealing in northern Bossier Parish to Thomas Kenton McCranie (1847-1914) and the former Viola Varina Wise (1861-1927).^[1] Prior to 1949, McCranie was the Bossier City marshal. That same year the police department was created, with headquarters first in the old city hall building downtown on Barksdale Boulevard. McCranie resigned as marshal to accept appointment as the first police chief. The department then had twelve officers but only one patrol car. He remained police chief until his election as mayor in the spring of 1953.^[13][14]

In 1956, Mayor McCranie was elected by his colleagues as vice-president of the Louisiana Municipal Association for the 4th congressional district.^[15] In 1961, four years after his single term as mayor had ended, McCranie became the executive director of the Federal Housing Commission in Bossier Parish. He also served as a Bossier Parish deputy under Sheriff Willie Waggonner. He was elected to the Bossier Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body, akin to the county commission in most other states.^[12]

McCranie was a member of the First Baptist Church of Bossier City, the Masonic lodge, and the Shriners.^[1] He and his wife, the former Mary Page Harlow (1915-1978), a native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas,^[16] had two sons, Burgess E. McCranie, Jr. (born February 1940), an attorney in New Orleans who resides in Jefferson Parish, and James Broussard McCranie (born 1952) of Bossier City, and three daughters, Sarah M. Polton (born 1943), wife of Richard Polton of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Judy McCranie (born 1947), formerly Judy Hughes, and Mrs. Tommie Sue Walker (born 1941), wife of Thomas Walker, both of Bossier City.^[17] The McCranies died eight months apart; they are interred at Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport.^[12][16]

References

1. "Hoffman Lee Fuller". The Shreveport Times. June 21, 1983. p. 7-A. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
2. "Bossier City loses a legend". Bossier Press-Tribune. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
3. Louise Stinson. "Bossier City History". Retrieved January 3, 2015.
4. "Mayor Reelected in Bossier City". The Monroe News-Star. April 9, 1941. p. 12. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
5. "Bossier People and Places (F)". sites.google.com. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
6. John Andrew Prime (August 21, 2010). "60th anniversary of Korean War send-off approaches". The Shreveport Times. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
7. Rita Fife, Bossier Press-Tribune, Commemorative issue, August 9, 1981, p. 3
8. "Modena P. Fuller". findagrave.com. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
9. "Hoffman Fuller, February 1932". Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
10. "Hall of Fame: Bossier High School honors alumni". The Forum Newsweekly magazine. October 21, 2009. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
11. "Shu-Yi Oei named first Hoffman F. Fuller Associate Professor of Tax Law". law.tulane.edudate=April 14, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
12. "Burgess Edmond McCranie". The Shreveport Times. January 1, 1978. p. 10-A. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
13. Shane McWilliams. "Bossier City Police Department History". bossiercity.org. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
14. The Bossier City Police Department website has a picture of Mayor Burgess McCranie with the twelve police officers then employed c. 1950.
15. "LMA Reverses Stand on Voting Machines". Lake Charles American-Press. March 18, 1956. p. 1. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
16. "Mary Page Harlow McCranie". findagrave.com. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
17. "Bagby Genealogy". bagby.org. Retrieved January 20, 2015.

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