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Regular Session, 2014
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 206
BY REPRESENTATIVES HOFFMANN, ABRAMSON, ADAMS, ANDERS, ARMES,
ARNOLD, BADON, BARRAS, BARROW, BERTHELOT, BILLIOT, STUART
BISHOP, WESLEY BISHOP, BROADWATER, BROWN, BURFORD, HENRY
BURNS, TIM BURNS, BURRELL, CARMODY, CARTER, CHAMPAGNE,
CHANEY, CONNICK, COX, CROMER, DANAHAY, DIXON, DOVE,
EDWARDS, FANNIN, FOIL, FRANKLIN, GAINES, GAROFALO, GEYMANN,
GISCLAIR, GREENE, GUILLORY, GUINN, HARRIS, HARRISON, HAVARD,
HAZEL, HENRY, HENSGENS, HILL, HODGES, HOLLIS, HONORE, HOWARD,
HUNTER, HUVAL, IVEY, KATRINA JACKSON, JAMES, JEFFERSON,
JOHNSON, JONES, KLECKLEY, LAMBERT, NANCY L ANDRY, TERRY
LANDRY, LEBAS, LEGER, LEOPOLD, LOPI NTO, LORUSSO, MACK,
MILLER, MONTOUCET, MORENO, JAY MORRIS, JIM MORRIS, NORTON,
ORTEGO, PEARSON, PIERRE, PONTI, POPE, PRICE, PUGH, PYLANT,
REYNOLDS, RICHARD, RI TCHIE, ROBIDEAUX, SCHEXNAYDER,
SCHRODER, SEABAUGH, SHADOIN, SIMON, SMITH, ST. GERMAIN,
STOKES, TALBOT, THIBAUT, THIERRY, THOMPSON, WHITNEY, ALFRED
WILLIAMS, PATRICK WILLIAMS, WILLMOTT, AND WOODRUFF AND
SENATORS ADLEY, ALARIO, ALLAIN, AMEDEE, APPEL, BROOME,
BROWN, BUFFINGTON, CHABERT, CLAI TOR, CORTEZ, CROWE,
DONAHUE, DORSEY-COLOMB, ERDEY, GALLOT, GUI LLORY, HEITMEIER,
JOHNS, KOSTELKA, LAFLEUR, LONG, MARTINY, MILLS, MORRELL,
MORRISH, MURRAY, NEVERS, PEACOCK, PERRY, PETERSON, RISER,
GARY SMITH, JOHN SMITH, TARVER, THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, WARD,
AND WHITE
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To express the condolences of the Legislature of Louisiana upon the death of former State
Representative Evelyn Kinnison Blackmon of West Monroe.
WHEREAS, with the death of former State Representative Evelyn Blackmon of West
Monroe on Wednesday, May 21, 2014, Louisiana has lost a notable figure in the history of
the Louisiana Legislature; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn Blackmon was born in Standard, Louisiana, on November 2,
1924, to Robert Samuel and Emma Horne Kinnison and attended public schools, including
Olla-Standard and Crosley Elementary in West Monroe and Ouachita Parish High School,
from which she graduated in 1942; and
WHEREAS, on August 8, 1942, Evelyn married Dr. Edward S. Blackmon, Jr., an
optometrist; they were married for sixty-eight years, until his death, and were the parents of
two children, Dr. Larry Blackmon and Jan Blackmon Mattingly; and ENROLLEDHCR NO. 206
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WHEREAS, when she was thirty-nine years old, Evelyn entered college at Northeast
Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe) and earned a degree in
business administration, and after graduation she established her own real estate agency,
Evelyn Blackmon, Inc., which she operated for decades; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn Blackmon was elected to the Louisiana House of
Representatives in 1983 and served as State Representative for District 15 in Ouachita Parish
from 1984 until 1988, having decided to run for the office while attending a legislative
reception hosted by the Chamber of Commerce, at which then incumbent Shady Wall
announced he was not going to run for reelection; and
WHEREAS, as a legislator Evelyn Blackmon served on the House Committee on
Ways and Means, the House Committee on Health and Welfare, the House Committee on
Commerce, and the Joint Legislative Committee on Capital Outlay, and she was instrumental
in legislation concerning the Agent Orange registry, licensing of daycare centers, care
attendants, economic development, and in securing the I-20 Camp Road interchange; and
WHEREAS, this unassuming woman achieved so many firsts that she may readily
be characterized as a pioneer woman; she was the first woman graduate of the University of
Louisiana at Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana University) College of Business
Administration in Industrial Management (1967); the first woman in Louisiana to earn the
prestigious Certified Commercial Investment Member Realtor designation (1974); the first
woman to serve on the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry (1976); the first woman
president in the sixty-year history of Louisiana Realtors Association (1978); the first woman
elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives from Ouachita Parish District 15 (1984);
and one of only five women elected to serve in the House when she was elected; and
WHEREAS, as a realtor for over fifty years, Evelyn Blackmon's notable
accomplishments included helping to secure the property that is the current site of the West
Monroe Post Office and being instrumental in the acquisition of the Glenwood Mall to be
innovatively used as a Medical Mall, and she took justified pride in helping families realize
"The American Dream of Home Ownership"; and
WHEREAS, before and after her legislative service, Evelyn Blackmon was very
active in her community as evidenced by her being awarded the Northeast Louisiana
University Golden Arrow Award in 1988, the Quota Woman of the Year in 1995, and the ENROLLEDHCR NO. 206
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West Monroe/West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce A.O. Evans Award in 1996; she also
served as a director of the Citizens' Advisory Board of the West Ouachita Industrial District,
as president of the university alumni association and chair of the university's alumni fund;
and she was a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church of West Monroe; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn Blackmon was preceded in death by her parents, her husband,
and her sister Dorothy Kinnison of West Monroe, and she is survived by her two children
and by grandchildren and great grandchildren and a large extended family; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn Kinnison Blackmon represented all that is good about
Louisiana, for as her accomplishments attest, she was dedicated to her state, her community,
her family, and her church.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
express sincere condolences to the family and friends of former State Representative Evelyn
Kinnison Blackmon upon her death and does record in the annals of Louisiana history, not
only the effective service of Evelyn Blackmon to the people of her district and to the state
of Louisiana, but also the special place this remarkable woman, who achieved so many firsts
as a woman in business and government, will always have in the celebrated history of the
Louisiana Legislature.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
family of former State Representative Evelyn K. Blackmon.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATI VES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE