Interviewer: Jacob Campbell

Affiliation: University of Arizona

Mrs. Fondren contacted me after seeing the project description in the Courier, saying that she wished to contribute to the study by sharing her story. We met at her house, where she served me pie and coffee. She continues to work as an accountant, and maintains relationships with many people in town by doing their taxes, and through the church. Her husband Jim is a Texaco retiree, but they did not socialize with other Texaco families to a great extent, other than at the country club. This said, she said that Houma was a good place to raise children, and she feels that people are generally nice.

Mrs. Fondren was born in 1929 in New York City. Her father died when she was five years old, and her mother raised their family by working in garment factories. She met her future husband in New York after he returned from WWII, the day of the victory parade – he was in the 101st Airborne. In 1946 they were married, and moved to Jackson, MS, where Jim got a job with the Burris Corp. servicing business machines. The company moved them to Houma in 1951, and several years later he started working for Texaco. At first she struggled with being alone his seven days out, but got used to it. She was in charge of the family’s finances, and filling the freezer with food. The year before Jim retired in 1981, she started an accounting firm, and developed a large clientele for tax preparation, which she continues to run.