A statesman and a dear friend

“The shadows are lengthening for me. The twilight is here. My days of old have vanished, watered by the tears and caressed by the smiles of yesterday”

Beautiful! It’s me, but the words are not mine. They’re from General Douglas MacArthur’s farewell speech at West Point.

“But in the deep recesses of my mind my memories of old reside; of friends and foes, worries and woes, faces and places, tears and cheers , happiness and joys, a wife, a girl and two boys. All still vivid and clear and loving and dear especially the ability to share them with you.” Those words are mine. Corny? Maybe. I won’t confirm nor deny.

Today’s column is about a departed friend whose leadership has meant a lot to our corner of Cajun Land.

In the South Lafourche branch of the Parish library stand three glass exhibits with mementoes hightlighting three careers, your humble columnist, the legendary Vin Bruce and former State Representative Richard “Dick” Guidry. By coincidence, Vin and Dick were my two best friends. Should Vin and I deserve to be there might be arguable but there is no doubt about Dick. I admit that I might show bias towards him, but this is the opinion section of the “Times” and those are my opinions. They are shared by many, especially those of us in South Lafourche who are lucky to keep our feet dry during wet times.

“Dick” was born September 22, 1929 and died March 26, 2014. He served as State Representative of Lafourche Parish from 1952 to 1956 and from 1964 to 1976. He was less than one month younger than me and that short time delegated him by school board rules to enter school in 1936 instead of 1935 therefore graduating in 1947, one year after me.

Dick, like us all, had human flaws and virtues, business sucesses and failures and political ups and downs. He was the youngest state representive ever elected at 23 and he was voted into the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame two months before his death. He built watercrafts in Spain, drilled oil wells in Kentucky, co-owned movie theaters and an insurance firm. He always overcame his setbacks and like the phoenix rose back to the top.

Dick was a sucessful family man, and he and his wife Phyllis (also a Guidry) were the parents of six children. Their first born, Paul, just five years old, died in a car accident while in pre-school. Their other children were David, Dennis, Lisa, Phyllis (Fee Fee) and Lilly. His wife Phyllis died in 2015. I was best man at their wedding.

We became friends as teen agers because his father co-owned a theater, the “Star” in Galliano, which ran a bus route every night to bring people to the picture show. Dick and I rode the bus both ways with a small group of friends. Our bus rides was mostly teenage talk, which is pretty much what teenagers talk about today. The world hasn’t changed that much.

Dick’s father, John L. Guidry, owned a bar, ice cream parlor, furniture store, a theater and rent houses. During the depression years they boarded some of the oil men who founded oil empires and became multi millionairs. John was a civic leader and the Nicholls State Stadium honors his name. His wife Lillian was a driving force behind their sucesses. Their children besides Dick were Rosie, Lloyd and Robert, all of whom are gone.

I was often a guest at their Grand Isle camp, sometimes for days, and I became like a member of the family. When his brother Bobby was at LSU, Dick and I often rode to football games with Dick’s parents, crampted in the back seat of their Cheverlet Coupe. Dick tried college, did not like it and went into the insurance business with David Barker, son of a former Lafourche Parish Coroner and Sheriff, and R.J. Soignet, later his running mate for State representative. They were both elected in 1952 and defeated in 1956. Dick came back in 1964 and served until 1976.

Next week: A story about a levee, a car wreck and a tragic death. BYE NOW! •

Leroy MartinLeroy Martin column