B.G. Dyess | |
---|---|
Louisiana State Senator from District 29 (Rapides Parish) | |
In office 1996–2000 |
|
Preceded by | Joe McPherson |
Succeeded by | Joe McPherson |
Personal details | |
Born |
Valentine Creek Gardner Community Rapides Parish Louisiana, USA |
August 16, 1922
Died | February 18, 2013 Naomi Heights Nursing Home Alexandria, Louisiana |
(aged 90)
Resting place | Calvary Baptist Church Cemetery in Gardner |
Political party | Democratic/ much later Republican |
Spouse(s) |
(1) Ava Brister Dyess (married 1941-2005, her death) (2) Billie Whittington Dyess (married 2005-2013, his death) |
Children |
Madeline Faye Dyess (deceased) |
Residence | Alexandria, Louisiana |
Alma mater |
Oak Hill High School |
Occupation | Minister; Civil servant |
Religion | Southern Baptist |
(1) Ava Brister Dyess (married 1941-2005, her death)
Madeline Faye Dyess (deceased)
Mac Dyess
Marc C. Dyess
Loretta Dyess Cooley
Linda Dyess Stewart
Deborah Dyess Giles
Louise Dyess Fontaine
Thirteen grandchildren
Oak Hill High School
Bernice G. Dyess, known as B. G. Dyess (August 16, 1922 – February 18, 2013), was for seventy-three years a Southern Baptist minister from Alexandria, Louisiana, who served as a conservative Democratic member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1996 to 2000, in which capacity he was known for his opposition to gambling.
From 1964 to 1988, Dyess was the Rapides Parish Registrar of Voters, a position to which he was appointed by the parish police jury (akin to the county commission in other states). The registrar's position brought Dyess ex officio membership on the Louisiana State Board of Election Supervisors. He was succeeded as registrar by Joanell Luke Wilson. Ms. Wilson retired in 2015 and was succeeded by Linda "Lin" Dyess Stewart, daughter of B. G. Dyess.
Dyess was born in the Valentine Creek/Gardner community of western Rapides Parish to Josie B. Dyess (1876-1965), subsequently a Ward 5 constable, and the former Sarah Matilda Smith (1888–1978). His paternal grandparents were Edmond D. Dyess and the former Margaret Mathis. He graduated from Oak Hill High School in the Oak Hill community of western Rapides Parish and later attended Louisiana College, a Baptist-affiliated institution in Pineville. He was ordained to preach at the age of seventeen and had by the time of his death at the age of ninety officiated or assisted in more than 1,500 funerals in central Louisiana, including close family members.
On his nineteenth birthday, Dyess married his former Oak Hill classmate, Ava Brister (August 12, 1923–January 7, 2005), a native of Winn Parish, born near Sikes in the Brister community. Ava was the third child of Wiley E. Brister, a farmer, and the former Nancy Ada Hudson (died 1933). Ava Brister and B.G. Dyess married on August 16, 1941, four days after her eighteenth birthday. Because both of her parents had died by the time that Ava was only ten years of age, she was reared thereafter by her older siblings, including, her brother, Houston Brister, and his wife, Era.