Obituary from the Shreveport Times newspaper, Dec. 8, 2000, Friday, p. 4-B:
SHREVEPORT, LA – Mr. William Clinton Rasberry, Sr., one of Shreveport's most influential and colorful citizens, died December 7, 2000 at the age of 94. A private graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, December 9, 2000. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport with Dr. Robert R. Laha, Jr. officiating, under the direction of Rose-Neath on Marshall Street, where Mr. Rasberry will lie in state from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, December 8th. Burial will be at Forest Park Cemetery, which Mr. Rasberry developed and owned for many years.
Known universally as "Razz," Mr. Rasberry was born in Lee County, Miss., near Tupelo, on Aug. 31, 1906, and began his business career there at age 10 selling bananas by the stalk to earn enough to buy a bicycle. For a while, he also caught frogs and shipped them to a Chicago hotel's restaurant. These were the beginnings of a principle that served him throughout his life. "Hard work, and take a chance on an opportunity."
After attending Mississippi A & M, now Mississippi State University, he graduated from Southwestern College (now Rhodes College) in Memphis, TN in 1929. He continued his studies at the YMCA Graduate School at Vanderbilt University/Peabody College in Nashville, TN. He then returned to Memphis to work as the physical education director and coach at Southwestern College.
He became involved in the coffee business as an assistant purchasing agent and research chemist, during which time he developed the first mayonnaise product that was practical to ship, and helped create the first packaged biscuits for retail distribution. They were known as "Rapido Biscuits." He worked in South America purchasing coffee, and moved to Shreveport in 1931 as manager of the Monogram Coffee Co., while renting living space in the gatehouse of the Smitherman Estate.
After marrying Helen Barney Robinson on January 9, 1936, in Centerville, MS, he returned to Shreveport with 8 mules and started the Shreveport Horse and Mule Barn on Texas Avenue. He was active in that business until the growing use of tractors made the business unprofitable. Working with the late J. E. Smitherman and W. C. Wolfe, he began development of Forest Park Cemetery – an endeavor he returned to after service with the U.S. Navy during World War II.
"Razz" became president, then chairman of Forest Park and its associated companies, then expanded into real estate development. He participated in several partnerships that developed and operated hotels in Florida, North and South Carolina, as well as the Chateau Suite Hotel and the Best Western Richmond Suites in Shreveport, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. As a partner in Westport Development Co., he helped promote and guide modern development of parts of Southern Hills and the Huntington Park area. He held significant banking and timber interests in Florida, and had numerous and widespread other business involvement.
He served on the board of Commercial National Bank, the Louisiana State Fair Association, the Red River Valley Association, the American Rose Society – for which he chaired the American Rose Center's development drive in 1980 – and was a life member of the founding board of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. He was the president of the National Cemetery Association and was on the board of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
He firmly believed that "Of those to whom much is given, much is expected." His devotion to Shreveport's Presbyterian Church and was a matter of dedication and loyalty for more than 69 years, including generous support of the church's Evergreen Vocational School in Minden, where Rasberry Hall stands. Even in his early days when he was less financially secure, he believed in philanthropy and set examples with his donations to countless community projects.
He served on the Caddo Parish School Board for 12 years and was elected president, president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce (which named him Business Leader of the Year), and president of the Norwela Council of the Boy Scouts of America – an organization for which he chaired many efforts, and which gave him its Distinguished Citizen Award in 1992. Mr. Rasberry served as commander of the Lowe-McFarlane Post [14] of the American Legion.
He also served as a lifetime director of the board of Rhodes College, his alma mater, and held life directorships in a number of local organizations. He helped form the Strand Partners, whose financial support made it possible to complete restoration of the historic Strand Theatre.
For fun, he reigned as king of the Holiday in Dixie Cotillion in its third year of existence, was a member of the Shreveport Club, and spent much time at his beloved farm, Qua Paw, west of town, where he raised the vegetables he loved to eat and walked the grounds with Helen, his wife for six decades, listening to birds and asking her to identify the calls.
"Razz" received numerous awards from local, state and national groups including the Brotherhood Citation from the National Conference of Christians & Jews. It surprised few when, in 1969, he was named "Mr. Shreveport."
Mr. Rasberry was predeceased by his wife, Helen Robinson Rasberry; parents, William Dixon and Gertrude Bass Rasberry; a sister, Doris Rasberry; brother, Murray Otis Rasberry; son-law, Walk C. Jones, III.
He is survived by a family he adored, a son, William Clinton "Bubba" Rasberry, Jr., his wife, Kathy and their son, William Clinton Rasberry III; a daughter, Gayden R. "Sissy" Rasberry Jones and her children, Anne Marie Caskey of Memphis, TN; Julie Caskey of San Francisco, CA, the Rev. Dr. Walk Jones IV and his wife, Nancy and their three children of Oxford, MS; Mark Jones of Memphis, TN and the Reverend Will Jones and his wife, Susan and daughter of Brownsville, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport, the Norwela Council of Boy Scouts Trust, Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.
SHREVEPORT, LA – Mr. William Clinton Rasberry, Sr., one of Shreveport's most influential and colorful citizens, died December 7, 2000 at the age of 94. A private graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, December 9, 2000. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport with Dr. Robert R. Laha, Jr. officiating, under the direction of Rose-Neath on Marshall Street, where Mr. Rasberry will lie in state from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, December 8th. Burial will be at Forest Park Cemetery, which Mr. Rasberry developed and owned for many years.
Known universally as "Razz," Mr. Rasberry was born in Lee County, Miss., near Tupelo, on Aug. 31, 1906, and began his business career there at age 10 selling bananas by the stalk to earn enough to buy a bicycle. For a while, he also caught frogs and shipped them to a Chicago hotel's restaurant. These were the beginnings of a principle that served him throughout his life. "Hard work, and take a chance on an opportunity."
After attending Mississippi A & M, now Mississippi State University, he graduated from Southwestern College (now Rhodes College) in Memphis, TN in 1929. He continued his studies at the YMCA Graduate School at Vanderbilt University/Peabody College in Nashville, TN. He then returned to Memphis to work as the physical education director and coach at Southwestern College.
He became involved in the coffee business as an assistant purchasing agent and research chemist, during which time he developed the first mayonnaise product that was practical to ship, and helped create the first packaged biscuits for retail distribution. They were known as "Rapido Biscuits." He worked in South America purchasing coffee, and moved to Shreveport in 1931 as manager of the Monogram Coffee Co., while renting living space in the gatehouse of the Smitherman Estate.
After marrying Helen Barney Robinson on January 9, 1936, in Centerville, MS, he returned to Shreveport with 8 mules and started the Shreveport Horse and Mule Barn on Texas Avenue. He was active in that business until the growing use of tractors made the business unprofitable. Working with the late J. E. Smitherman and W. C. Wolfe, he began development of Forest Park Cemetery – an endeavor he returned to after service with the U.S. Navy during World War II.
"Razz" became president, then chairman of Forest Park and its associated companies, then expanded into real estate development. He participated in several partnerships that developed and operated hotels in Florida, North and South Carolina, as well as the Chateau Suite Hotel and the Best Western Richmond Suites in Shreveport, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. As a partner in Westport Development Co., he helped promote and guide modern development of parts of Southern Hills and the Huntington Park area. He held significant banking and timber interests in Florida, and had numerous and widespread other business involvement.
He served on the board of Commercial National Bank, the Louisiana State Fair Association, the Red River Valley Association, the American Rose Society – for which he chaired the American Rose Center's development drive in 1980 – and was a life member of the founding board of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. He was the president of the National Cemetery Association and was on the board of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
He firmly believed that "Of those to whom much is given, much is expected." His devotion to Shreveport's Presbyterian Church and was a matter of dedication and loyalty for more than 69 years, including generous support of the church's Evergreen Vocational School in Minden, where Rasberry Hall stands. Even in his early days when he was less financially secure, he believed in philanthropy and set examples with his donations to countless community projects.
He served on the Caddo Parish School Board for 12 years and was elected president, president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce (which named him Business Leader of the Year), and president of the Norwela Council of the Boy Scouts of America – an organization for which he chaired many efforts, and which gave him its Distinguished Citizen Award in 1992. Mr. Rasberry served as commander of the Lowe-McFarlane Post [14] of the American Legion.
He also served as a lifetime director of the board of Rhodes College, his alma mater, and held life directorships in a number of local organizations. He helped form the Strand Partners, whose financial support made it possible to complete restoration of the historic Strand Theatre.
For fun, he reigned as king of the Holiday in Dixie Cotillion in its third year of existence, was a member of the Shreveport Club, and spent much time at his beloved farm, Qua Paw, west of town, where he raised the vegetables he loved to eat and walked the grounds with Helen, his wife for six decades, listening to birds and asking her to identify the calls.
"Razz" received numerous awards from local, state and national groups including the Brotherhood Citation from the National Conference of Christians & Jews. It surprised few when, in 1969, he was named "Mr. Shreveport."
Mr. Rasberry was predeceased by his wife, Helen Robinson Rasberry; parents, William Dixon and Gertrude Bass Rasberry; a sister, Doris Rasberry; brother, Murray Otis Rasberry; son-law, Walk C. Jones, III.
He is survived by a family he adored, a son, William Clinton "Bubba" Rasberry, Jr., his wife, Kathy and their son, William Clinton Rasberry III; a daughter, Gayden R. "Sissy" Rasberry Jones and her children, Anne Marie Caskey of Memphis, TN; Julie Caskey of San Francisco, CA, the Rev. Dr. Walk Jones IV and his wife, Nancy and their three children of Oxford, MS; Mark Jones of Memphis, TN and the Reverend Will Jones and his wife, Susan and daughter of Brownsville, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport, the Norwela Council of Boy Scouts Trust, Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.
Obituary from the Shreveport Times newspaper, Dec. 8, 2000, Friday, p. 4-B:
SHREVEPORT, LA – Mr. William Clinton Rasberry, Sr., one of Shreveport's most influential and colorful citizens, died December 7, 2000 at the age of 94. A private graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, December 9, 2000. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport with Dr. Robert R. Laha, Jr. officiating, under the direction of Rose-Neath on Marshall Street, where Mr. Rasberry will lie in state from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, December 8th. Burial will be at Forest Park Cemetery, which Mr. Rasberry developed and owned for many years.
Known universally as "Razz," Mr. Rasberry was born in Lee County, Miss., near Tupelo, on Aug. 31, 1906, and began his business career there at age 10 selling bananas by the stalk to earn enough to buy a bicycle. For a while, he also caught frogs and shipped them to a Chicago hotel's restaurant. These were the beginnings of a principle that served him throughout his life. "Hard work, and take a chance on an opportunity."
After attending Mississippi A & M, now Mississippi State University, he graduated from Southwestern College (now Rhodes College) in Memphis, TN in 1929. He continued his studies at the YMCA Graduate School at Vanderbilt University/Peabody College in Nashville, TN. He then returned to Memphis to work as the physical education director and coach at Southwestern College.
He became involved in the coffee business as an assistant purchasing agent and research chemist, during which time he developed the first mayonnaise product that was practical to ship, and helped create the first packaged biscuits for retail distribution. They were known as "Rapido Biscuits." He worked in South America purchasing coffee, and moved to Shreveport in 1931 as manager of the Monogram Coffee Co., while renting living space in the gatehouse of the Smitherman Estate.
After marrying Helen Barney Robinson on January 9, 1936, in Centerville, MS, he returned to Shreveport with 8 mules and started the Shreveport Horse and Mule Barn on Texas Avenue. He was active in that business until the growing use of tractors made the business unprofitable. Working with the late J. E. Smitherman and W. C. Wolfe, he began development of Forest Park Cemetery – an endeavor he returned to after service with the U.S. Navy during World War II.
"Razz" became president, then chairman of Forest Park and its associated companies, then expanded into real estate development. He participated in several partnerships that developed and operated hotels in Florida, North and South Carolina, as well as the Chateau Suite Hotel and the Best Western Richmond Suites in Shreveport, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. As a partner in Westport Development Co., he helped promote and guide modern development of parts of Southern Hills and the Huntington Park area. He held significant banking and timber interests in Florida, and had numerous and widespread other business involvement.
He served on the board of Commercial National Bank, the Louisiana State Fair Association, the Red River Valley Association, the American Rose Society – for which he chaired the American Rose Center's development drive in 1980 – and was a life member of the founding board of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. He was the president of the National Cemetery Association and was on the board of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
He firmly believed that "Of those to whom much is given, much is expected." His devotion to Shreveport's Presbyterian Church and was a matter of dedication and loyalty for more than 69 years, including generous support of the church's Evergreen Vocational School in Minden, where Rasberry Hall stands. Even in his early days when he was less financially secure, he believed in philanthropy and set examples with his donations to countless community projects.
He served on the Caddo Parish School Board for 12 years and was elected president, president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce (which named him Business Leader of the Year), and president of the Norwela Council of the Boy Scouts of America – an organization for which he chaired many efforts, and which gave him its Distinguished Citizen Award in 1992. Mr. Rasberry served as commander of the Lowe-McFarlane Post [14] of the American Legion.
He also served as a lifetime director of the board of Rhodes College, his alma mater, and held life directorships in a number of local organizations. He helped form the Strand Partners, whose financial support made it possible to complete restoration of the historic Strand Theatre.
For fun, he reigned as king of the Holiday in Dixie Cotillion in its third year of existence, was a member of the Shreveport Club, and spent much time at his beloved farm, Qua Paw, west of town, where he raised the vegetables he loved to eat and walked the grounds with Helen, his wife for six decades, listening to birds and asking her to identify the calls.
"Razz" received numerous awards from local, state and national groups including the Brotherhood Citation from the National Conference of Christians & Jews. It surprised few when, in 1969, he was named "Mr. Shreveport."
Mr. Rasberry was predeceased by his wife, Helen Robinson Rasberry; parents, William Dixon and Gertrude Bass Rasberry; a sister, Doris Rasberry; brother, Murray Otis Rasberry; son-law, Walk C. Jones, III.
He is survived by a family he adored, a son, William Clinton "Bubba" Rasberry, Jr., his wife, Kathy and their son, William Clinton Rasberry III; a daughter, Gayden R. "Sissy" Rasberry Jones and her children, Anne Marie Caskey of Memphis, TN; Julie Caskey of San Francisco, CA, the Rev. Dr. Walk Jones IV and his wife, Nancy and their three children of Oxford, MS; Mark Jones of Memphis, TN and the Reverend Will Jones and his wife, Susan and daughter of Brownsville, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport, the Norwela Council of Boy Scouts Trust, Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.
SHREVEPORT, LA – Mr. William Clinton Rasberry, Sr., one of Shreveport's most influential and colorful citizens, died December 7, 2000 at the age of 94. A private graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, December 9, 2000. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport with Dr. Robert R. Laha, Jr. officiating, under the direction of Rose-Neath on Marshall Street, where Mr. Rasberry will lie in state from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, December 8th. Burial will be at Forest Park Cemetery, which Mr. Rasberry developed and owned for many years.
Known universally as "Razz," Mr. Rasberry was born in Lee County, Miss., near Tupelo, on Aug. 31, 1906, and began his business career there at age 10 selling bananas by the stalk to earn enough to buy a bicycle. For a while, he also caught frogs and shipped them to a Chicago hotel's restaurant. These were the beginnings of a principle that served him throughout his life. "Hard work, and take a chance on an opportunity."
After attending Mississippi A & M, now Mississippi State University, he graduated from Southwestern College (now Rhodes College) in Memphis, TN in 1929. He continued his studies at the YMCA Graduate School at Vanderbilt University/Peabody College in Nashville, TN. He then returned to Memphis to work as the physical education director and coach at Southwestern College.
He became involved in the coffee business as an assistant purchasing agent and research chemist, during which time he developed the first mayonnaise product that was practical to ship, and helped create the first packaged biscuits for retail distribution. They were known as "Rapido Biscuits." He worked in South America purchasing coffee, and moved to Shreveport in 1931 as manager of the Monogram Coffee Co., while renting living space in the gatehouse of the Smitherman Estate.
After marrying Helen Barney Robinson on January 9, 1936, in Centerville, MS, he returned to Shreveport with 8 mules and started the Shreveport Horse and Mule Barn on Texas Avenue. He was active in that business until the growing use of tractors made the business unprofitable. Working with the late J. E. Smitherman and W. C. Wolfe, he began development of Forest Park Cemetery – an endeavor he returned to after service with the U.S. Navy during World War II.
"Razz" became president, then chairman of Forest Park and its associated companies, then expanded into real estate development. He participated in several partnerships that developed and operated hotels in Florida, North and South Carolina, as well as the Chateau Suite Hotel and the Best Western Richmond Suites in Shreveport, Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. As a partner in Westport Development Co., he helped promote and guide modern development of parts of Southern Hills and the Huntington Park area. He held significant banking and timber interests in Florida, and had numerous and widespread other business involvement.
He served on the board of Commercial National Bank, the Louisiana State Fair Association, the Red River Valley Association, the American Rose Society – for which he chaired the American Rose Center's development drive in 1980 – and was a life member of the founding board of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana. He was the president of the National Cemetery Association and was on the board of the United States Chamber of Commerce.
He firmly believed that "Of those to whom much is given, much is expected." His devotion to Shreveport's Presbyterian Church and was a matter of dedication and loyalty for more than 69 years, including generous support of the church's Evergreen Vocational School in Minden, where Rasberry Hall stands. Even in his early days when he was less financially secure, he believed in philanthropy and set examples with his donations to countless community projects.
He served on the Caddo Parish School Board for 12 years and was elected president, president of the Shreveport Chamber of Commerce (which named him Business Leader of the Year), and president of the Norwela Council of the Boy Scouts of America – an organization for which he chaired many efforts, and which gave him its Distinguished Citizen Award in 1992. Mr. Rasberry served as commander of the Lowe-McFarlane Post [14] of the American Legion.
He also served as a lifetime director of the board of Rhodes College, his alma mater, and held life directorships in a number of local organizations. He helped form the Strand Partners, whose financial support made it possible to complete restoration of the historic Strand Theatre.
For fun, he reigned as king of the Holiday in Dixie Cotillion in its third year of existence, was a member of the Shreveport Club, and spent much time at his beloved farm, Qua Paw, west of town, where he raised the vegetables he loved to eat and walked the grounds with Helen, his wife for six decades, listening to birds and asking her to identify the calls.
"Razz" received numerous awards from local, state and national groups including the Brotherhood Citation from the National Conference of Christians & Jews. It surprised few when, in 1969, he was named "Mr. Shreveport."
Mr. Rasberry was predeceased by his wife, Helen Robinson Rasberry; parents, William Dixon and Gertrude Bass Rasberry; a sister, Doris Rasberry; brother, Murray Otis Rasberry; son-law, Walk C. Jones, III.
He is survived by a family he adored, a son, William Clinton "Bubba" Rasberry, Jr., his wife, Kathy and their son, William Clinton Rasberry III; a daughter, Gayden R. "Sissy" Rasberry Jones and her children, Anne Marie Caskey of Memphis, TN; Julie Caskey of San Francisco, CA, the Rev. Dr. Walk Jones IV and his wife, Nancy and their three children of Oxford, MS; Mark Jones of Memphis, TN and the Reverend Will Jones and his wife, Susan and daughter of Brownsville, TN.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport, the Norwela Council of Boy Scouts Trust, Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.
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