We were raised on Bayou Rouge (Hwy 361) six miles from Evergreen and four miles from Goudeau.  All of us graduated Evergreen High/Evergreen Elementary and Bunkie High Schools.  We actually lived on the gravel road across the bayou from Hwy. 361.  Until a car bridge was built in front of our home in 1958, we had to travel about a mile to Adams Crossing to get onto Hwy 361.  Our father graduated from Evergreen High School in 1936, our mother was from Australia.  Our grandparents, Joseph E and Laura R, lived across the bayou a short distance from us.  Our two great aunts, Sue & Teeter, lived less than a half mile from us.   As they were school teachers in Evergreen, we had to call them Miss Sue and Miss Estelle when we were in school.  Sue taught school for almost 50 years and Teeter for over 30 years.  We seldom went anywhere with them that we didn’t meet someone that they had taught.  In fact, we often met families in which they had taught two generations.  Our extended family taught us that hard work never killed anyone and that if we did a job, we had better do it to the best of our ability.  I think that these two principles were main factors in the success that each of us had in our lives

The five children are as follows:

Joseph Wayne (known by middle name).  I graduated Evergreen High/Evergreen Elementary in 1959.  I’m never sure which it was.  I was in seventh grade when the school burned.  I finished the year in the upper back of the Baptist Church and spent the eigth grade in the old Agriculture building.  Graduated Bunkie in 1963 and attended LSU-A/LSU until they gave me my walking papers.  I then joined the Navy to beat the draft and stayed for over 26 years .

I spent time in California, the Philippines, Mississippi, Guam, Hawaii and New Orleans.  I now live in Gretna with my wife, Luz.  My son T lives in California with his wife and my daughter Gwen is a student at LSU (making much better grades than I did).  Gwen was the queen of the Mardi Gras Krewe of Morpheus in 2008.

Shirley Jean – graduated Evergreen in 1961 and Bunkie in 1965.  Shirley now lives in New Orleans where she is the executive vice president of a financial management company.  She oversees 41 companies with millions of dollars of assets and travels throughout the U. S. on business trips.

Laura Regina – now deceased.  Graduated Evergreen 1962 and Bunkie in 1966.  Gina became a nurse and later went back to college to become a nurse anesthetist.  She was active in the New Orleans community and traveled throughout the world.

Susan Mary (Nehring) Graduated Evergreen 1964 and Bunkie 1968.  Susie is a DOD teacher.  She has taught in Guam, Korea, Louisiana, Alabama, North Carolina, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Germany & now resides with her husband Hank, a retired Army officer in Kentucky.

Cecil Edmond, Jr. – graduated Evergreen 1967, Bunkie 1971 & Northwestern State University in 1975.  He has worked for the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections, Division of Probation and Parole for the past thirty years where his current title is Assistant Director.  He and his wife, Sheila, who is a teacher, reside in Denham Springs.  His son, Cecil E III, is a computer operator in Denham Springs, his daughter Nichole is an attorney in Denham Springs and his son Cameron is in the Navy stationed in Corpus Christi, TX.

Submitted by Joseph “Wayne” Goudeau, March 25, 2009