Landry Family – December 1947

Hello, people!  It’s time for a post about my dad’s side of the family.  Of course, you probably know that already because you’ve been paying attention and know that last week I wrote about my mom’s family.  I’m just joking, because I have to refer back to my post from the past few weeks to see what I need to write about.  I’ve written so many posts through the years.  

I found a few photos that I thought of using, but when I came to this photo, my mind was made up right away.  It’s just happenstance in regard to which file folder I might look into when I start my searches.  This photo came from the file called The Secret Collection.  (Shhh!  Don’t tell anyone!)  It is curated by my cousin Daphne, and it was passed down by her mother Germaine Landry Winn.  Aunt Germaine was my dad’s (Robert Joseph “Bob” Landry, Jr.) older sister who was closest in age to him.

There are several older photos like this of the family that were taken through the years in the back of the family home in Lake Charles.  It’s a photo taken around December 27, 1947.  That is the date that was printed on the back of the photo by the place that processed the film – Mac’s Camera Shop.  The photo was probably taken at Christmastime or maybe even at Thanksgiving.  It depends on how many photos they were taking back then.

I like the photo because it has my dad in it when he was just 18 years old.  It also has both of his parents (Robert Joseph “Bob” Landry, Sr. and Germaine Erie Patureau), a few of his siblings, and one brother-in-law.  You can probably tell that I don’t know the occasion for this photo from what I’ve said earlier.  But I am able to identify everyone in the photo.  The names of everyone were written on the back of the photo by some family member.  It could have been an aunt or a cousin.  My dad is identified as Bobbie, which is how he was known by the family.  My grandfather is identified as Pee Paw, which is what us grandkids called him.  He is also identified as Bob Landry.  Sometimes he is referred to as Bob in photos, while other times he is called Rob.  Since my dad is Bob and my brother is Rob, I usually stick with using Pee Paw to identify him, especially in a group family photo such as this.

The two Bob Landrys are on either end of this grouping of family.  On the left is 18-year-old Bob.  He graduated from Landry Memorial in 1946, so he would have been starting his third year in college at McNeese.  He was involved with the band but wouldn’t become involved with barbershop quartets until the next year.  He also hadn’t met my mom yet.  So much more was yet to come.  Next to him is his younger sister Wana.  She was only 15 at the time.  I wonder what she liked to talk about back then.  She was always a talker.  I bet she was a fast talker back then.  Yet she looks rather calm in this photo.

Next to her in the back row is older brother A. J. (Alcide Joseph).  He wasn’t married at the time.  He had spent some time in the military during World War II but had come back home at this point.  A. J. was the second of the eight kids.  Older sister Marie had gotten married in 1945 to Malloy Reeves.  He is the other guy in the back row of this photo, but Marie is nowhere to be found!  Why is Malloy there, but not Marie?  But Uncle Hubert wasn’t there either.  He was third of eight.  He had married Mildred Sutherlin in 1946.  Maybe they were at home taking care of the First.  My godmother – and cousin – Shirley was just an infant at the time, so Mee Maw and Pee Paw had just become grandparents.  I guess that is a sufficient reason to take a photo.

I still need to identify the youngest three of the eight siblings.  In the middle of the photo is Frances Mae, sometimes known as Framay.  She looks very happy in this photo.  For some reason this photo of her reminds me of Daphne.  But Daphne is the daughter of Aunt Germaine (who is also not present in this photo).  But still, it’s what I see.  Standing in the front of the photo with his mother’s hands on his shoulder is little Johnny.  He was only 11 years old at the time.  I’m sure he was a handful.  He was mischievous even as an old man!  I enjoyed having him as my godfather.

So there it is.  A sweet little family photo from 1947.  It might have been Christmas.  It might have been earlier.  It’s likely to be the earliest photo of my grandparents when they became grandparents.  I like it.