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Ladonia honors retiring mayor Leon Hurse
By Krista Goerte
Published May 29, 2009
LADONIA — Residents here are celebrating long-time Ladonia mayor Leon Hurse’s years of service to the community in a Saturday celebration.
Known for his community participation and on projects such as Lake Ralph Hall, Hurse has announced his resignation after 17 years as mayor.
The celebration is to take place on the Ladonia Square from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Barbecue, chips and drinks will be served, and attendees are asked to make a donation to defray the food costs.
Congressmen Ralph Hall and others will speak at the event in honor of Hurse.
Newly appointed mayor Jan Cooper, who is heading up the event, said she has some big shoes to fill.
“He is looked up to and most respected around town,” she said. “There hasn’t been anything he hasn’t been involved in.
“I’m looking forward to serving Ladonia like he did.”
Doug Franklin, with the City of Ladonia, said that although Hurse is perhaps the most well-known for his work on Lake Ralph Hall, he has done much for Ladonia and for the surrounding area.
“There’s just a lot of good things he’s done over the past 17 years,” Franklin said.
In his letter of resignation to the council, which he said was due to his health condition, Hurse spoke about his time as mayor.
“I have enjoyed my tenure as mayor and I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with the city council and the wonderful citizens of Ladonia,” he stated. “Thank you for the support, guidance and encouragement you have provided me. The hard work and dedication of the community has made our town a better place to live. Many successful endeavors have been accomplished to create a better quality of life for all of our citizens.
“I am proud to call Ladonia my home and look forward to the continued success of the community,” he said.
Hurse was raised on a farm in the South Sulphur community west of Commerce. He graduated from Commerce High School and East Texas State Teacher’s College, now Texas A&M University — Commerce. He received real estate and appraisal training at SMU School of Business.
A retired appraiser for the City of Dallas, he worked on projects including the Fair Park expansion, DFW Airport construction, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and Woodall Rogers Freeway. Working as an independent appraiser, his projects included Muenster City Lake, Lake Ray Roberts and Richland Chambers Lake.
Hurse worked full-time in the mayor’s position, implementing his favorite projects, Franklin said, which included Lake Ralph Hall, Ladonia Parks project, a planning and zoning board and local street improvements. He supported projects to strengthen the town’s volunteer fire department along with city beautification efforts.
Hurse is the father of two sons, Gary Hurse of Lovington, N.M. and Jeff Hurse of Wylie; and a daughter, Myra Wrenn of Greenville. He has five grandchildren.
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