Jesse L. Boucher

Jesse L. Boucher
Mayor of Springhill, Webster Parish, Louisiana
In office 1958–1962
Preceded by	Charles McConnell
Succeeded by	James Allen
Personal details
Born	January 7, 1912 Bodcau community near Springhill, Louisiana
Died	December 25, 2004 (aged 92) Springhill, Louisiana
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Mary Eloise Herrington Boucher (married 1940–2004, his death)
Children	Janice Elaine Boucher Sherry Boucher Jessica Boucher
Parents	Henry Havis Boucher and Mary Ella Coyle Boucher
Alma mater	Springhill High School Northwestern State University
Occupation	Real estate developer; Insurance agent
Religion	Christian
Military service
Service/branch	United States Army Air Forces captain (pre-World War II) United States Navy stateside service during World War II in Pensacola, Florida

Jesse L. Boucher (January 7, 1912 – December 25, 2004)^[1] was a north Louisiana insurance agency owner and large-scale real estate developer who also served from 1958 to 1962 as the mayor of his native Springhill in northern Webster Parish.

Early years, education, military

Boucher was born to Henry Havis Boucher and the former Mary "Dixie" Coyle, a Cox descendant in the Bodcau community near Springhill, which had been founded in the late 1800s by his father and grandfather. He attended Shiloh School and graduated in 1931 from Springhill High School, as did all members of his immediate family. On September 11, 1940, he married Mary E. Herrington (born 1923), born in Crossett Arkansas in Ashley, Arkansas. His mother Dixie took her own life, 30 days after the death of her son Eli, age 16. She was suffering from depression over the loss of a child. Henry Boucher donated the "Boucher Cemetery" now known as the "Springhill Cemetery" to the city in her honor. The entire family is buried in the "Boucher Cemetery." This loss catapulted Boucher into building homes and developing land for the community and a sense and love of family and church.

As an outstanding football player at the end position for the Springhill Lumberjacks, young Boucher received an athletic scholarship to Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, then known as "Louisiana Normal". There he played foo tball, ran track and was a Golden Gloves Boxer, including participation in a conference-winning mile relay race. He was president of both his senior class and the NSU student body.^[1]

After he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1935, he taught and coached in Webster Parish for three years: first in the Evergreen Community south of Shongaloo, then at Doyline High School in the village of Doyline, and, finally, at Minden High School in Minden, the parish seat of government. He was also briefly employed in 1938 by Warner Brothers Pictures as a "ticket counter" before he joined his friend Wilburn Slack in the organization of the Boucher and Slack Insurance Agency in Springhill. The agency owned by his cousins Drayton Boucher and Allene Boucher, was transferred over for his then real estate corporation for a mere $333. Prior to World War II, he served for a few months as a captain in the United States Army Air Corps at Clovis, New Mexico. He resigned as captain and returned to the insurance agency. After the war began, however, he served from 1940 to 1944 as an officer in the United States Navy in Pensacola, Florida.^[1][2] 02:05, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

Business, political, and civic activities

Boucher returned to Springhill to resume his insurance business but soon branched into developing subdivisions and constructing apartments, shopping centers, industrial buildings, schools, and hotels, in both Louisiana and Pine Bluff, Hot Springs and Fordyce Arkansas. Upon returning to Springhill he realized there were no houses to rent and therefore he built one. Then he built another as asked by those in the community and he became a home builder and developer by "accident." In 1946, he opened an electric supply company in Springhill, known as B & S Supply, Inc., a fortune 500 company by 1975. His development projects were in Springhill, Bossier City, Vivian, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and Natchitoches as well as Little Rock, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas.^[1][2]

He was elected mayor in 1958 to succeed the late Charles Emmett McConnell, a lawyer who subsequently made losing races in 1967 and 1971 for the Louisiana House of Representatives. Boucher did not seek reelection as mayor in 1962 and was succeeded by James Allen.

Active in civic matters, Boucher was the chairman of the Springhill American Legion post and as president of the Springhill Lions Club, and the Springhill High School Alumni Association, which he formed with his friend Woodrow Turner. He also organized and developed the Lumberjack Festival in Springhill, named for the high school athletic teams.^[1] In 1957, he was named head of the Webster Parish United Way charity drive.^[3]

Boucher was honored repeatedly by his peers in the real estate business by having been selected for the "Who’s Who" and the "National Register" of Real Estate Developers and "Builder of the Year" in 1995–1996. He was also inducted into the "Long Purple Line" at Northwestern State University.^[1]

Boucher's siblings were Eli Augustus Boucher, who died at the age of 16 of an appendicitis attack, Henry Creel Boucher (1913–1992), David G. Boucher (step-brother), Lynn Boucher (Step-sister), youngest sister; Katie Boucher Nelson, and Estelle "Sally" Boucher Slack. He had two grandchildren, Nathan Kyle Rogers and Chessa Lytle.^[2]

Jesse Boucher military gravestone at Springhill Cemetery

Boucher died at 6:30 A.M. Christmas Day 2004 after a three-year struggle with cancer. Services were held on December 28, 2004, at the First United Methodist Church in Springhill. Honorary pallbearers include well-known figures: Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, Louisiana State Senator Robert R. Adley, former State Senator John W. "Jack" Montgomery, State Representative, Jean Doerge, Bossier City Mayor George Dement, former Heisman Trophy winner from Springhill John David Crow, and former U.S. Representative Joe Waggoner.^[1] Boucher was a first cousin of Drayton Boucher, who held the Bossier/Webster Parish state senate seat from 1940 to 1952.^[4]

01:49, 14 August 2015 (UTC)

References

1. "Jesse L. Boucher". Minden Press-Herald. December 27, 2004. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
2. "The Boucher Company, Inc.: Profile of Jesse L. Boucher". boucherco.com. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
3. "Jesse Boucher heads United Fund", Minden Herald, June 13, 1957, p. 1
4. "Wiley Family of Shongaloo" genealogy: Rootsweb.ancestry.com