George B Mowad

Background

Of Lebanese descent, Mowad was born in Oakdale to Joe S. Mowad (1899–1984) and Mary Mowad (1902–1993). He graduated from Oakdale High School and attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He obtained his medical degree in 1955 from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans.

From 1957 to 1958, he was a member of the Medical Corps of the United States Air Force. Upon his discharge from the military at the rank of major, he began his residency in family practice at Charity Hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana, which he completed in 1959. In January 1960, Mowad launched his practice in Oakdale.

Mayoral service

From 1962 to 1972, Mowad developed three subdivisions and three business centers in Oakdale. After he became mayor, he developed six more subdivisions and business centers. He worked to secure the location in Oakdale of the federal correctional center of the United States Department of Justice, which required the need for more housing in the community. At the time the facility was completed in 1985, it was the largest federal institution of its kind in the United States. Among its well-known inmates were former Governor Edwin Washington Edwards and former Louisiana Secretary of State James H. "Jim" Brown.

In April 1981, Mowad ordered a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. in Oakdale after a white police officer and two African American men were wounded by shotgun pellets. Riot-equipped officers from the Louisiana State Police provided assistance to quell potential further disorder. The junior high school and Oakdale High School were closed for a day.

During his long tenure as mayor, Dr. Mowad was instrumental in procuring more than $30 million in federal and state grants to construct sixteen new public facilities, including a new City Hall, city court, four parks, two community centers, four industrial buildings, a library, a wellness center, and two fire stations.

Associations and awards

Mowad was a president of the Louisiana Municipal Association. He also organized and served as past president of the Oakdale High School Alumni Association, and was past president of the Oakdale Lions International, Oakdale Athletic Association, and the Oakdale chapter of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's service organization. As chief of the medical staff at Oakdale Community Hospital, he was a member of the Allen Parish Medical Society, the Louisiana State Medical Society, the Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Medical Association.

During his career, Mowad received the Oakdale Civic Service Award and was named Louisiana's Family Doctor of the Year. He garnered the Humanity Award from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Death and legacy

Mowad died in an automobile accident in Rapides Parish on U.S. Route 165 between Forest Hill and Woodworth. He was headed south between Woodworth and Forest Hill when his car crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a pickup truck driven by Teri R. Slaughter (1979–2000) of Glenmora in south Rapides Parish, who died thereafter of her wounds in a hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana.

At the time of his death, Mowad, a Democrat, was campaigning to regain the mayor's office after an eight-year absence. He was a candidate in the October 7, 2000, nonpartisan blanket primary against two-term incumbent Mayor Bobby Abrusley and Wilburn "J. R." Coker, both also Democrats. Because of Mowad's death, the election was postponed to coincide with the regular general election on November 7, in which Abrusley defeated Coker, 77-23 percent. In his last reelection in 1988, Mowad had been unopposed.

Mowad was married to the former Dolores Jean Massad, and the couple had six children: sons, Mark Joseph Mowad of Baton Rouge and Thomas Anthony Mowad (1973–2011) of Wichita, Kansas; daughters, Ann Mowad Montanio of Woodworth, Judy Mowad Mahtook of Lafayette, Mary Denise Mowad Guiteau (formerly Mary Howell) of Amite, Louisiana, and Karen Mowad Steven of Wichita, Kansas. Mowad was also survived by two sisters, Moonlee M. Karam and Rosaliee M. Karam, both of Oakdale; and nine grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, Anthony P. Mowad (1926–1985).

A rosary was recited in the Mowad Civic Center in Oakdale, named for the former mayor. Services were held on September 21, 2000, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Mowad had donated the five-acre site where his church building stands. Interment was at the church cemetery in Oakdale.

In 2005, the Louisiana State Legislature named a portion of Highway 10 as the "George B. Mowad Memorial Highway." Numerous businesses of all kinds are located on the Mowad Highway.