Omer L. Hirst
| Omer L. Hirst | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the Fairfax district |
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In office January 8, 1964 – January 8, 1980 |
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| Preceded by | John A. K. Donovan |
| Succeeded by | Richard L. Saslaw |
| Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from the Falls Church and Fairfax, Virginia district |
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In office January 13, 1954 – January 12, 1960 |
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| Preceded by | Edwin Lynch |
| Succeeded by | Dorothy S. McDiarmid |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 30, 1913 Annandale, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | July 29, 2003 (aged 89) Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Ann Palmer Nancy Hand |
| Alma mater | Washington and Lee University |
| Religion | Methodist |
Omer Lee Hirst (July 13, 1915 – July 29, 2003) was an American real estate broker, investor and Democratic politician who represented Falls Church and Fairfax, Virginia part-time in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954 to 1959. He later represented Annandale and Fairfax in the Virginia Senate, from 1964-1979.
Omer Hirst was born in Annandale, Virginia to Thomson Mason Hirst III and Edna Mae Bennett. His father farmed chickens, long before the area became a suburb of nearby Washington, D.C. He graduated in 1930 from Lee-Jackson High School in Alexandria, and received an B.S. degree in commerce in 1936 from Washington and Lee University, and was invited to join the Phi Beta Kappa society. He married Ann Palmer, and they had three children but later divorced. He married Nancy Hand in 1972, and she survived him.
He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marines during World War II, and upon returning to Virginia was active in his Methodist Church, as well as the Lions, American Legion, Marine Corps League, Fairfax Historical Society, Boy Scouts, Fairfax High School Parent Teacher Association and various business and community associations in his native Annandale.
After graduating from college, Hirst reluctantly joined his father's real estate business, and later came to live in McLean, Virginia. In 1938, the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce put him on a committee to develop a county mapping system and update land records. As a smart and reserved real estate investor in residential, industrial and commercial property, Hirst became rich. His companies, Omer L. Hirst Inc., and O.C. Builders Inc. developed Landmark Shopping Center, the first three department store shopping mall in the area. First American Bank, a local bank he founded in Herndon (and on whose board of directors he served for two decades) later merged with the Arlington Trust Company, and then into Wachovia Bank.
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