Gary and Norma Sue Byrd were recommended by longtime residents and local leaders because of their family ties to the shipbuilding and lumber industries. The interview took place in the Byrd’s living room, around a trunk full of photos and other memorabilia. These served as prompts for various reflections throughout the short interview.

Mr. Byrd began his career in shipbuilding in 1955 at the age of 17 at Arnold V. Walker Shipyards in Pascagoula. The bulk of his employment was with Ingalls Shipbuilding (later Northrop Grumman). Mrs. Byrd’s father was a longtime employee of Dantzler Boat and Barge and he traveled all over the world. They discuss his career in which he started out as an operations manager and continued to receive pay as a consultant through his illness and until his death in 1976. They talk a little bit about the history of Dantzler and the owner’s family’s L. M. Dantzler Lumber Company. Mrs. Byrd’s grandfather captained a boat that hauled lumber for the latter.