Claude Kirkpatrick

Claude Kirkpatrick (June 17, 1917 – January 14, 1997) was a diversified businessman who served two terms in the Louisiana House of Representatives (1952 to 1960), worked to establish Toledo Bend Reservoir through his directorship of the state Department of Public Works (1960 to 1964), and was the administrator and then president of Baton Rouge General Medical Center (1967 to 1982). Kirkpatrick ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 1963 Democratic gubernatorial primary election. In his later years, he built three shopping centers in Baton Rouge. He was also active in various state and national organizations of the Southern Baptist Convention.