Interviewer(s): J. Sell. Houma, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Lloyd Dagenhardt is the father of Kandy Theriot, who is director of the Chamber of Commerce and one of my early helpers on the project. When I mentioned to her that many oil workers seemed to have children who either went on to work in the oil fields or were able to go to college, she said that was her case, and suggested I talk to her father. Lloyd was very willing to be interviewed. He suffers from emphysema and is confined to a wheelchair, but very alert and with a good memory. While there, we watched a video of his son directing his middle school band. Problems with tape skipping, this tape may be hopeless.

Lloyd Dagenhardt is a second generation Texaco worker. His father moved the family from New Orleans to Houma went he started with the Texas Company in 1936. His father was injured in an accident with a pile driver and Lloyd had to drop out of college (he was a music major) to work. At first he tried to make money playing music, but the work wasn't steady and he started with the Texas Company in 1951. His first job was laying timber for a road. He joined the military from 1951-53, and was married during that time. Upon returning, he started as a roustabout at Caillou Island and worked up to pumper by 1957. Family needs led him to move to clerking at the Texaco Shipyard in 1957. In 1965 Texaco shut down the shipyard and he transferred to the warehouse in Houma (on Van St.). He left the company in 1965, working as a plumber in the Houma area. He continued in this work until 1972, when a back disability forced him to retire.