Interviewer(s): D. Austin. Houma, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Joe Sanford referred me to Tom Angel. Tom was one of the first employees hired by Sanford Brothers in Morgan City. I met Tom at his office at Submar in Houma. He had an hour and a half for the first interview. During the interview he told me about scrapbooks his wife had put together from his early days in diving, and we agreed to get together again to look through his books.

Tom first moved to South Louisiana from Pittsburgh in 1961. He began working with Sanford Brothers in 1962 and retired from diving in 1988. He stayed with Sanford Brothers, which was renamed Sanford Marine, when it was bought by Westinghouse, then by Fleur, and then by Santa Fe Engineering. Among his contributions to oilfield diving, Tom helped develop underwater photography and was a founding member of the Association for Diving Contractors. After leaving diving, he became president of Submar, an oilfield service company.