T. C. Brister

T. C. Wilson Brister (April 11, 1906^[1] – November 26, 1976) was a businessman from Pineville, Louisiana, who served as a Democrat for three non-consecutive terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives during the administrations of Governors Sam H. Jones, Earl Kemp Long, and John McKeithen, respectively.^[2]

Career and family

A former woodcutter^[3] and the owner of a hardware and sporting goods store in Pineville,^[4] T. C. (the "T.C." stood for nothing.) Brister represented Rapides Parish from 1940 to 1944 and 1948 to 1952, when he served alongside Lawrence T. Fuglaar and W. George Bowdon, Jr., later the mayor of Alexandria.^[2]

In 1942, Brister, new to the House, was one of only five representatives to vote against Governor Jones's proposal for a volunteer state guard. The bill was introduced by freshman member deLesseps "Chep" Morrison, later the mayor of New Orleans and a three-time unsuccessful candidate for governor, and supported by Bill Dodd of Allen Parish, later the lieutenant governor and state education superintendent. Brister explained that he opposed the measure not because of opposition to the Jones administration but because he believed the Federal Bureau of Investigation was better suited for handling such wartime security issues.^[5]

In his final term from 1968 to 1972, by which time he had retired from his business, Brister represented both Rapides and Grant parishes. He served along with W. K. Brown and R. W. "Buzzy" Graham,^[2] an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Alexandria in 1973 against John K. Snyder.

Brister and his wife, the former Mary Louise Blum, had three daughters, Margaret Brister Allen, Marleen Brister Gough, and Kathleen Brister Martin.

Brister died the day after Thanksgiving Day in 1976.^[6] He is interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.^[6]

References