John B. Hussey

John Brennan Hussey, Jr.
Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana
In office December 31, 1982 – December 27, 1990
Preceded by	Bill Hanna
Succeeded by	Hazel Fain Tilley Beard
Born	May 29, 1934 Shreveport, Louisiana
Died	June 15, 2026 (aged 92)
Political party	Democrat
Spouse(s)	Emily Ann "Mimi" Wile Hussey (1937-2015)
Children	David Brennan Hussey John E. Hussey Five grandchildren Parents: John, Sr., and Mary Inez Daniels Hussey
Residence	Shreveport, Louisiana
Alma mater	Southfield School (since renamed St. Andrew's-Sewanee School) Sewanee Military Academy in Tennessee University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Louisiana State University Law Center
Occupation	Attorney
Religion	Roman Catholic
Military Service
Service/branch	Judge Advocate General's Corps, United States Army United States Army Reserve

John Brennan Hussey, Jr. (May 29, 1934 – June 15, 2026), was a partner specializing in contracts for the Smitherman, Lunn, Hussey & Chastain law firm, best known for his two terms from 1982 to 1990 as the Democrat mayor of his native Shreveport, Louisiana. Previously he was a one-term member of the Shreveport City Council and in 1980 presided as the council chairman.

Background

Hussey graduated from the private elementary and junior high institution, the Southfield School in the South Highlands neighborhood of Shreveport and was inducted in 2008 into the Southfield Hall of Fame. He thereafter graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and in 1958 the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center in the capital city of Baton Rouge, at which he was managing editor of the LSU Law Review. Hussey was a captain of the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Army and the Army Reserve. He is affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, the Council on Alcoholism, the Legal Aid Society, and the Shreveport Association for Children with Learning Disabilities.

Political life

In 1978, Hussey was elected to the Shreveport City Council under the new mayor-council single-member district plan. In a runoff election, he defeated a fellow Democrat, businessman William Hardy "Bill" Bush (1943-2014), with whom he later became friends.

Bush held the council seat that Hussey vacated for the two terms that Hussey was mayor. When Hussey was term-limited in 1990, Bush himself ran for mayor and finished in a relatively weak third place in a 12-candidate field.

In both 1982 and 1986, Hussey defeated then Democrat Don Williamson, a former member of both houses of the state legislature for Caddo Parish, in two races for mayor. Thereafter, Williamson, in political retirement, joined the Republican Party. Williamson was considered a better campaigner than Hussey, but the former lawmaker and businessman was mostly identified with northern Caddo Parish, rather than Shreveport, where he had relocated only several years earlier.

In 1994, Hussey sought a comeback as mayor but finished third in the nonpartisan blanket primary with 11,833 votes (22 percent). In the ensuing general election, the Republican Robert "Bo" Williams defeated the African-American Democrat Roy Cary. Williams served one term as mayor until his defeat in 1998 by the Keith Hightower, the last white Democrat to head the city government.

While on the city council, Hussey drafted the rules to govern city council proceedings. He developed good working relationships with the council's then three black members as well as the council's first president, former Mayor James C. Gardner, and Charles B. Peatross, who went on to become a judge of the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal for the Second Circuit in Shreveport. In his memoirs] Gardner said that Hussey "had read everything available on politics and government."

Mayor Hussey initiated one of the largest construction programs in the city's history despite a lagging area economy. Major street construction included the Fant Parkway North and South, Pines Road, and Kingston Road. Extensive drainage improvements were constructed during his administration, and park improvements were made including Betty Virginia Park, Southern Hills Park, David Raines Park, C.C. Antoine Park, East Kings Highway Park, and the Bickham Dickson Park. He constructed water and sewer facilities, including the expansion of the Amiss Water Treatment Plant and the Lucas and M.L. King Wastewater treatment plants, as well as the Woolworth Landfill and Fair Grounds Field. He began the 911 Emergency telephone system and initiated the city's Emergency Ambulance System. He instituted the economic development program known as the Mount Auburn Study, which led to creation of the Biomedical Research Foundation and the Government Procurement Program, which assists small businesses.

Under Mayor Hussey's direction, the city hosted its 1985 Sesquicentennial Celebration. On July 1, 2025, he was the grand honoree at the Celebrate Downtown Legacy at the Chamber of Commerce, hosted by his friend and later Mayor Cedric B. Glover. Hussey served as President of the Louisiana Council of Mayors and was a member of the Governor's Task Force on Economic Development, the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry, and the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Municipal Association.

Though a Democrat, Hussey appointed a Republican, Harriet Belchic, to the Shreveport Women's Commission. He sat on the board of directors of the Louisiana Municipal Association and was a vice president of the Louisiana Conference of Mayors.

Family and legacy

Hussey, who is Roman Catholic, was married to the former Emily Ann "Mimi" Wile (c. 1937-2015), who was Jewish. There are two Hussey sons, David Brennan Hussey and wife Ellen Duncan Hussey of Shreveport and John E. Hussey of El Dorado Hills, California, previously a resident of Placerville.

Mrs. Hussey was a daughter of Isidor Wile, the founder of the Big Chain grocery stores. She was a patron of the arts and partner with her sister, Siesel Wile Maibach, in the art consulting business firm known as Wile Women. She was an amateur dancer and actress. Mrs. Hussey graduated from Clifton Ellis Byrd High School in Shreveport and Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. She was the first woman president of Holiday in Dixie and the Ark-La-Tex Ambassadors. She was also president of Crime Stoppers in Shreveport, the Shreveport Jewish Federation, and the Council of Jewish Women. She sat on the boards of the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra and the Junior League of Shreveport.

Current Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux, a Republican who served on the Shreveport City Council during Mayor Hussey's two terms in office said that Hussey's "time in office stands as a testament to the importance of civic leadership grounded in compassion, vision, and a genuine desire to improve the lives of citizens. He leaves behind a legacy of service and lasting reminder that public office is a calling to serve others and strengthen the community we call home."