Carl B. Close
| Carl Buell Close, Sr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Louisiana State Representative for Rapides Parish | |
|
In office 1944–1947 |
|
| Mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana | |
|
In office 1947–1953 |
|
| Preceded by | J. A. Blackman |
| Succeeded by | W. George Bowdon, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
October 17, 1907 Robertsville, Conway County, Arkansas, US |
| Died | December 28, 1980 (aged 73) Alexandria, Louisiana |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Pineville, Louisiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 1 |
| Residence | Alexandria, Louisiana |
Carl Buell Close, Sr. (October 17, 1907 – December 28, 1980), was a Democratic politician from Alexandria, Louisiana, who served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1944 to 1947, when he stepped down to become the mayor of his adopted city of Alexandria, a post he held until 1953.
Close was one of six children of a country physician, Edgar Close (1871-1948), originally from Carbondale in southern Illinois, and the former Mary Louvenia Patton (1873-1948), a native of Harrison in Boone County in northwestern Arkansas. Close was born in rural Robertsville near Morrilton in Conway County in north central Arkansas. Edgar and Mary Close married in 1891 and died in 1948 some eight months apart. In 1935, Carl Close married Sarah Ella Jordan (1907-1959) of Atkins in Pope County, Arkansas. Their son and only child, Carl Close, Jr., was born in 1936 in New Orleans. The junior Close graduated from Bolton High School in Alexandria and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, was an officer in the United States Air Force, and worked as data processing specialist in Alexandria, where he died in 2000 at the age of sixty-three. Close, Sr., subsequently married the former Ilie Jewel Willis (1907-1995).
Close served in the House during the administration of Governor Jimmie Davis alongside the two other at-large representatives from Rapides Parish, John R. Hunter, Jr., and C. H. "Sammy" Downs, later a state senator and a gubernatorial aide under John J. McKeithen. Close became mayor halfway into an unexpired term. He served with Commissioners Ben F. Bradford and W. H. Smith, who like Close was a former state representative. In 1948, Close attracted attention by discounting the debilitating effects of a drought in Central Louisiana. Two weeks later, W. W. Thomas at the municipal airport seeded a cloud with forty pounds of dry ice. Soon .85 of an inch of rainfall followed. In 1949, Close won a full term as the mayor.
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