Ladonia will honor its long-time former mayor Leon Hurse this Saturday, May 30, with a celebration on the town square. Congressman Ralph Hall will headline the list of guests scheduled to speak. Mayor Hurse retired earlier this month following 17 years of successive terms as Ladonia’s mayor, a career dating back to 1992.
New Ladonia Mayor Jan Cooper, who succeeded the retiring Mayor Hurse, is heading up the event that is to begin at 5:30pm and run until 8pm. She said the west side of the square would be reserved for a podium and bandstand and is asking people to bring their lawn chairs to stay and enjoy the activities.
Barbeque sandwiches, chips, and drinks will be served beginning at 5:30pm. In place of a charge, folks will be asked to make a donation to defray costs of the food. Mayor Cooper said the serving line would enter from the east door of the City Hall and file through picking up food and drinks and exit the west City Hall door.
In event of rain or other events that would preclude use of the townsquare, the celebration will be moved to Fannindel Mill Street Gymnasium.
Leon Hurse was raised on a farm in the South Sulphur Community west of Commerce. He graduated from Commerce High School and from East Texas State Teachers College, now Texas A&M University-Commerce with a degree in agriculture. He received his real estate and appraisal training at SMU School of Business.
He retired as an appraiser for the City of Dallas a number of years ago. The projects he worked on during that time included Fair Park Expansion, DFW Airport Construction, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, and Woodall Rogers Freeway. As an independent appraiser, he have worked projects that include Muenster City Lake, Lake Ray Roberts, and Richland Chambers Lake.
Mayor Hurse was a full-time mayor for Ladonia. He worked almost daily on implementing his favorite projects: Lake Ralph Hall, Ladonia Parks Projects, a Planning and Zoning Board, and local street improvements. He supported projects to strengthen the town’s volunteer fire department, the SNAP program, and town clean up and beautification efforts.
He was a regular attendee at many meetings every month to represent the City of Ladonia. They included the Texoma Council of Governments (TCOG) where he was past president, the TCOG Grant Screening Committee where he was one of seven members appointed by the governor to screen grants by area entities. And he also attend meetings of Fannin County Commissioner’s Court when the agenda included items that would affect Ladonia.
