Houma insurance agency hits century mark

It is shortly after the turn of the century in 1910 – the Boys Scouts of America is founded, the first film is made in Hollywood, President Taft is in the White House and Charles Alphonse Ledet opens the doors of Ledet Insurance Agency in Houma. In July, Ledet Insurance will celebrate its 100th year in business and third generation owner Leo Ledet Jr. says the agency is poised for another century, although he is unsure who will carry on the Ledet legacy.

It would have been hard for his grandfather, Charles A. Ledet, to imagine the fledgling agency would still be a major player in the Houma insurance market 100 years later, especially given the fact that the insurance business was never his primary career.

In his early years, Charles worked as a clerk and bookkeeper for a retail grocery store while attending Soulé Commercial College in New Orleans. He later resigned that position to accept a job with the Southern Pacific Railway Company in Schriever, eventually becoming a self-taught telegraph operator.

However, it was on May 1, 1910 – when Terrebonne Bank opened its doors – that Charles began the career for which he would be identified. He accepted a position at the new bank, working as a teller for 19 years before being appointed bank president in 1929.

“He was a banker and saw that Houma had a need for insurance,” said Leo Jr. “However, the insurance agency wasn’t affiliated with the bank. It was independent.”

Leo Jr.’s father – Leo Charles Ledet, Sr. – was just a teenager when his dad accepted the Terrebonne Bank presidency. Seven years later, the insurance agency would be his.

Charles’ sudden death in 1932 left his wife, Calicia, alone at the agency.

“My dad was just 17 when my grandfather passed away and was attending Notre Dame,” explained Leo Jr. “He finished his semester there and decided he needed to come home and help my grandmother.”

Leo Jr. said his dad tried to finish his education while helping out at the agency, attending one year at LSU and one year at Loyola.

“He never did graduate, but he was short just a few hours,” said Leo Jr., whose grandmother officially handed the business over to his father in 1936.

“As a kid I remember riding in the elevator,” recalled Leo Jr., who joined the agency in 1976. “I really got to know everyone at the office because there were people who were fixtures here. They didn’t move jobs a lot. Miss Parr, who I called mimi, was like an aunt to me.”

Ledet recalled many employees who retired with over 20 years at the company.

The two-story building at 209 Goode St. that houses the Ledet Agency was not its original location. That would be the Houma Bank Building on Main Street in Downtown Houma. The agency later moved into the Thatcher Building, 309 Goode St., and operated there until Leo Charles Ledet purchased a building at the current address around 1960 – next to the bank where his father was president.

The original building was torn down and a new Ledet Building was built on the same location and opened in 1961. The current structure not only houses the Ledet agency but several professional tenants as well.

Through the years, Ledet Insurance has weathered the great depression, the oil collapse of the 1980s and the great recession of 2009.

“Insurance markets are constantly evolving. They come and go through coastal Louisiana,” said Leo Jr., who sees hurricanes, not the economy, as his businesses major threat. “We’ve had a lot of companies we represented leave south Louisiana. We represented Maryland Casualty Company since the ’30s and they left in the ’90s. I recently lost Lafayette Insurance Company – they decided not to continue writing in south Louisiana.”

The third generation business owner feels he has an advantage not being a single company agent, like State Farm or Allstate – what he calls captive agents.

“We’ve felt that being able to write for multiple companies was a better option,” he said.

In the end, it won’t be hurricanes or the economy that could end the family’s history at the Ledet Insurance Agency. That fate may be a result of lineage.

“I have one daughter, Cherie Ledet Rhodes, who has a child and is living in Shreveport,” explained Leo Jr. “Living in Shreveport, I am not saying it’s impossible (for her to come home and take over the business) but it’s a long shot.”

The thought that he could be the last Ledet to roam the halls of the century old agency saddens Leo Jr.

“To bring a business for 100 years, that’s kind of a milestone these days. With mergers and acquisitions, not many businesses can do that. I wish I had a child that could carry forth the effort,” he said. “I really do.”

Ledet Insurance Agency moved into its current 209 Goode St. location in 1961. * Photo courtesy of LEDET INSURANCE AGENCY