SCIA founder dies at 71

Logue memorialized for civic-mindedness

By SOPHIA RUFFIN

Houma was shocked to learn of the death Saturday of local businessman, father and former government official Otis T. Logue, 71, who suffered an acute heart attack.

Logue, a native of Vicksburg, Miss., was a self-made businessman, who loved football and golf. He planted roots in Louisiana in 1963. He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Kim Logue; three children, Teri Williford, Tanis Sewell and Lynda Shaw; and 12 grandchildren. He is preceded in death by two sons, Mike and Tim Logue.

His youngest daughter Tanis Sewell said, “My dad was my best friend. He was an inspiration to everyone who knew him, especially me.”

Logue’s brother, Tom, also survives him.

“He called my uncle the ‘doctor and general.’ He loved his brother and he admired him for being his mentor when their parents passed away when they were younger,” Sewell said.

Logue was memorialized with a Masonic ceremony yesterday led by lodge member and longtime friend Dale Charpentier, who met and befriended Logue in the 1980s at the Terrebonne Fellowship Lodge No. 481 on Bayou Gardens Boulevard in Houma.

“There’s really no need to say anything about Otis because he walked the walk,” Charpentier said.

Charpentier said as a local businessman, Logue took some shots from the community, but he bore it in stride and never held any grudges.

“But then again, that is what a Mason is supposed to do,” he said. “He always treated people with respect. He is a real testament to mankind.”

The Masonic Lodge is a fraternity of men whose sole purpose is to “take a good man and make him better,” according to Charpentier. Masonry’s chief tenets are brotherhood of men, fatherhood of God and immorality of the soul.

“I know that’s kind of stiff for us weak mortals to live up to, but Otis did it. He was dedicated to the lodge and the fraternity,” he said.

In fact, the Terrebonne Fellowship Lodge No. 481 was on the brink of extinction in 1990. But Logue became the Master of the Lodge in 2003 and turned everything around.

“He had a finessing way to drum up support for the lodge and to get people to work together,” Charpentier said. “He showed us how to restore our faith in God and act like men.”

Logue is best known for creating the South Central Industrial Association (SCIA).

“Mr. Logue was a dedicated and loyal servant to SCIA. He was passionate about the progress it was making in the community, and he was very instrumental in making it what it is today,” said SCIA executive director Jane Arnette.

SCIA was Logue’s brainchild. He had experience working with a similar program in New Orleans, the Harvey Canal Industrial Association (HCIA) on the West Bank.

Charpentier believes that Logue wanted to bring the same industrial support system New Orleans had to the Tri-parishes. The businessman came up with the concept and organized the association.

Loque teamed up with several other community businessmen to run the organization.

From 1997-99, Logue served as the association’s president. After his tenure on the board of directors, he remained as the managing director.

“If you are going to remember him for anything, his contributions to SCIA and the community would be the perfect thing. He got this organization up and running and it has been a vital piece of Houma’s heartbeat every since,” said current SCIA president Don Hingle II.

Hingle, who knew Logue for the past 15 years, can remember when they first worked together with the HCIA.

When Hingle moved to Houma in 1999, he was pleased to discover that a similar association existed thanks to Logue.

“It was kind of neat for me to move from one place with one organization and come to another place that has a similar organization,” he said.

As president of SCIA, Hingle is trying to live up to his predecessor. Hingle believes that Logue’s guidance and mentoring has kept everyone focused on SCIA’s mission. Plus, “he really was a fun guy who always had something positive to say,” Hingle said.

“He always wanted us to focus on the mission. He wanted SCIA to be a voice in the industrial community,” he said.

SCIA has more than 200 members, representing 44,000 employees locally.

“That’s a large part of the population for this area. The industrial community is an important part of our economy, and SCIA’s mission is to serve and help industries anyway it can,” Hingle said.

Logue was also involved with the Louisiana State I-49 Task Force, the Louisiana State Project Task Force, the Shriners and South Louisiana Industrial Coalition.

He was a corrosion engineer and vice president of administration for Energy Service International. He was also a former chief administrator for the Terrebonne Parish government during Barry Bonvillain’s administration.

When running for the District 5 seat of the Terrebonne Parish Council during last year’s election, Logue said, “I have seen the need, and I’m called to serve the community. Leadership is a gift and I am ready to serve you.”

He lost the election to John Pizzolatto.

In lieu of flowers and deepest sympathy cards, the family requested that donations be made to SCIA’s Otis T. Logue Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 2143, Houma 70361.

The scholarship has been in existence for the past seven years. It is granted to graduating seniors who have a parent or family member in the SCIA organization or one of its partner industries.