Houma broker enters a guilty plea
May 2, 2016
Gerald Long
May 3, 2016
When life was tough, those closest to Houma native “Big” Joe Teuton Jr. say he never got flustered, nor did he give up hope.
“Because he always knew that brighter days would come,” Big Joe’s son Joe Teuton III said. “He found a way to always be positive.”
A longtime local businessman and the founder of Southland Dodge, Big Joe, 75, died last week after a bout with illness.
Those who knew the man remember his warm, loving personality, his love for competition and that rare ability to always stay poised no matter what life dealt to him – good or bad.
Big Joe was a well-known American Legion baseball coach for several years locally – a baseball mind that enjoyed tons of success. When not on the diamond, Big Joe was often on the track in a dragster – a family pastime that he enjoyed.
He is survived by Betty Lou Cedatal – his wife of 52 years. They had two children, Joe III and daughter Jodie.
“My father lived his life to the fullest,” Joe III said. “We didn’t mourn his death at his funeral – we celebrated his life. He had such a great run. He did so many things that he enjoyed doing during his time here. He never got too up, but he also never got too down. He was always happy and always smiling. My dad enjoyed life. He really did. Looking back now, that makes everyone in our family so, so happy.”
Living freely was something that Big Joe earned through hard work – a fundamental value that guided his life.
Joe III said his dad was the hardest working person he knows – the type of person who wouldn’t stop until a job was done right.
In the late 1960s, Big Joe and his brother opened Southland Dodge. Together, they turned it into one of the area’s leading car dealerships.
While building the business, Big Joe would often take his kids to work in an effort to show them how things ought to be done.
“His motto was, ‘If you work hard today, you’re going to succeed later,’” Joe III said. “He taught us the importance of having a strong, committed work ethic. We’re all very grateful for that.”
Big Joe also had a way of being fair.
Metairie native James Scott said he remembers a time when Big Joe took him under his wing and helped him start his own lot.
“I thank God I met Joe as a young man,” Scott said. “Without Joe as a friend and mentor, I would have never owned either Crescent Vans or Crescent City Customs. I will dearly miss him.”
But while Big Joe worked often, it was the things that he did away from the office that made him the happiest.
The first was baseball – the sport he coached starting in the 1980s and only got out of recently because of his failing health.
Big Joe worked at the American Legion level and helped literally hundreds of local children refine their skills on the diamond.
On the field, his teams had success, winning countless titles throughout his run.
Teuton III said what made his dad a good coach was his ability to be forthright with his players. That, he said, built trust, which goes a long way when coaching the game of baseball.
“He was honest,” Teuton III said of his father’s ability. “Sometimes by being fair and honest, people don’t like what you have to say, but he always had his best players on the field.”
When not on the baseball diamond, Big Joe and the family were often on the race track – another passion that guided the man’s life.
Big Joe was a huge fan of drag racing, and he himself raced for several years.
Through the sport, Teuton III said his father made literally thousands of friends from across the country.
When news broke of Big Joe’s passing, Teuton III said the family received letters from people all over the United States who offered their condolences.
One note, from JC Childress in Big Island, Va., showed the impact that Big Joe had.
“(He) is someone I had the utmost respect for,” the note reads. “He was so true to the term, ‘Southern Gentleman,’ as anyone I’ve ever known. Rest in peace, Big Joe.”
“He touched a lot of people,” Teuton III added. “Through his sports, he met people from all over. He had friends everywhere he ever went.”
But while it may seem like the two passions are just a man having fun, Teuton III said there was more to his dad’s love for baseball and racing.
Teuton III said that when Big Joe planned a trip, the whole family would go along. Often times, it would turn into a full-fledged vacation.
As a child, Teuton III said he didn’t realize what his father was doing.
But looking back, he sees the big picture.
His father was living the dream – doing things that he loved with his favorite people all right by his side.
“He and my mom loved to travel,” Teuton III said. “When my mom was happy, he was happy. We’d travel all over for baseball and races. While there, we’d go to Disney World, Six Flags or wherever. Of course, that made us, as kids, happy.
“And when his kids were happy, he was happy. That’s just the man he was. He was always happy when you were happy.” •
