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

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Corine Paulk knows Eugis Lirette's wife, Penny, from church. Penny was born in 1964 while Eugis was born in 1932. They are expecting a child in late November of 2001. Eugis is very hard of hearing, which made the interview a little difficult as I had to yell most of the time and he misunderstood a lot of what I said the first time around. Penny sat in and helped clarify some of the questions she knew he couldn't understand very well. Eugis was willing to answer my questions but did not give extraneous information.

Eugis is from southern Louisiana and graduated from high school in 1950. He worked for a towing company until he went into the service in 1953. After leaving the Army in 1955, Eugis Lirette started on a crew boat for Superior Oil. The next year, his brother got him a job as roustabout on a drilling rig. He worked his way up from roughneck to tool pusher, sustaining a serious injury to his hand in the process. He worked for several smaller companies such as Pool, Bateman Drilling Co, and Southern Louisiana Drilling Co. He worked for Pool just over 17 years and retired in 1995.