Interviewer: Jacob Campbell

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Billy Ray was first interviewed in 2001 for the History II study, as AA011. We met at his home in Houma, which he recently moved into from the much larger house he built and lived in for 35 years – saying he and his wife needed fewer stairs. After a long career working in the oil industry, he dabbled with real estate briefly before retiring and traveling widely in his RV. He continues to meet with his friends from Otis and Halliburton over coffee several times a month.

Mister Bundy was born March 28, 1930 in Bossier Parish. His father had transferred from east Texas as a driller for Texaco, moving the family in 1932 to Golden Meadow, and later to Houma in 1937. Billy Ray struggled as a young Texan in the predominately French speaking town of Golden Meadow; his family had to be careful “not to get run out” by the Cajuns. He started working for Halliburton in 1948, then roughnecked for Texaco for six years before setting into a service industry career mainly with Otis Engineering.