AquilaMMXI/sandbox | |
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?st Mayor of Spokane Washington | |
Preceded by | Henry Thomas Rainey |
Succeeded by | William B. Bankhead |
Personal details | |
Born | Joseph Wellington Byrns July 20, 1869 Cedar Hill, Tennessee, U.S. |
Died | June 4, 1936 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 66)
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Julia Elizabeth Woodward |
Children | Joseph W. Byrns Jr. |
Alma mater | Vanderbilt University |
Profession | Law |
Neal R. Fosseen (November 27, 1908 – July 21, 2004) was a United States businessman, military officer, and politician. He served as mayor of Spokane, Washington from 1960–1967.
Fosseen was born in Yakima in 1908. His family moved to Spokane when he was 8 years old. There he was active in scouting, and became the youngest Eagle Scout in the country at the age of 12. He graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in 1925. He enrolled in the University of Washington, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
After graduating college in 1929, Fosseen began working at his family's brick company and enlisted in the United State Marine Corps reserves. He became president of the company in 1938. In 1942, during World War II, he was activated and sent to the Pacific Theater. He served as an active duty officer until 1945.
Returning to civilian life after the war, he remained head of his family company until it was sold in 1958, after which he embarked on a second career as a banking executive.
In 1960 Fosseen was approached by a group of Spokane business leaders to run for mayor, which had only recently been created as a city-wide elected office. He agreed and went on to win the election. In his administration he focused on civic re-development. He led a bond initiative to finance a new terminal at Spokane International Airport, and began a sister-city program with Nishinomiya, Japan. He and his wife traveled to Japan at their own expense to help inaugurate the program.
Fosseen stepped down from the mayor's post in 1967, but he continued his role as a civic leader, and the city bestowed him with the honorary title of mayor emeritus in 1968.
Byrns was a Freemason and member of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee. He served as the Worshipful Master of West Nashville Phoenix Lodge #131 in 1906 and 1907.[1]
Jo Byrns High School, in his hometown, Cedar Hill, Tennessee, is named in his honor. The local elementary school is also called "Jo Byrns Elementary School".