A lifelong resident of Acadia Parish, he was a 1943 graduate of St. Michael High School.  He served with the army during WW II as a paratrooper with the Airbourne Division in the European Theater of operation.  He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds in Germany.  He was also awarded 3 Battle Stars for the Battle of the Bulge, the Ruhr and Central Germany.  He graduated from barber school in Houston, TX and operated the Crysyal Barber Shop for 50 years.