Benjamin Franklin "Ben" O'Neal Jr. | |
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Louisiana State Representative from District 5 (Caddo Parish) | |
In office 1972–1988 |
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Preceded by |
Seven at-larkhggkjge members: |
Succeeded by | Roy Louis Brun |
Personal details | |
Born |
Shreveport, Caddo Parish Louisiana, USA |
June 23, 1922
Died | April 29, 2004 Shreveport, Louisiana |
(aged 81)
Resting place | Forest Park East Cemetery in Shreveport |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse(s) | Nancy Johns O'Neal |
Children |
Jane O'Neal de Bessonet |
Alma mater | Baylor University |
Occupation | Real estate broker |
Religion | Southern Baptist |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Army Air Corps pilot |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Seven at-larkhggkjge members:
Lonnie O. Aulds
Algie D. Brown
Frank Fulco
P. J. Mills
Jimmy Strain
Dayton H. Waller Jr.
Jane O'Neal de Bessonet
Dr. Barron Johns O'Neal
Lisa O'Neal Childs
Benjamin Franklin O'Neal Jr. (June 23, 1922 – April 29, 2004), known as B. F. O'Neal Jr., was a Shreveport businessman and a pioneer in the development of the modern Republican Party in the U.S. state of Louisiana. O'Neal was a member of the Caddo Parish Police Jury (now the Caddo Parish Commission) from 1964 to 1968 and the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1972 to 1988.
O'Neal was born in Shreveport to Benjamin F. O'Neal Sr. (1889–1968) and the former Abbie Hendrick. O'Neal's grandfather, also Benjamin Franklin O'Neal of Benton, was the sheriff of Bossier Parish from 1871 to 1877, and thereafter the U.S. marshal for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The grandfather was a delegate to the 1900 Republican National Convention, which renominated President William McKinley and then New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt for vice president. The grandfather died in New Orleans in 1910, while he was visiting a son. Hence, unlike most Louisiana Republicans, who were former Democrats, O'Neal came from an old Republican family. B. F. O'Neal Sr. was involved in real estate and property development and from 1910 to had been the advertising manager of The Shreveport Times. O'Neal Jr. had two older sisters, Mary Steele Cooper and Jane Hendrick Kleine, both of whom died in 1999.