Interviewer(s): E. Bernier. Houma, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

I met Jerry Benton through his sister, Mary Samaha. I had a brief interview with him in January when I stopped by to talk to Mary, and she called Jerry to come over. He is the oldest son of Mary's mother and stepfather, Escoe Benton. Jerry helped to run Benton Casing for many years. Since selling off his father's business due to the recession of the 80's, he has slowly been saving money and has opened another tool company under a different name. Jerry and his brother still run this company.

Jerry, born in 1944, began in the oil industry during summers off from high school. He worked offshore for a contract company and almost died due to the carelessness when a Halliburton truck was unloading some pipe. After he recovered in 1964, he went to work for his father at Benton Casing. He opened his own business in the mid 90's after the loss of Benton Casing in 1992.