as y’all can see from yesterday’s half of the interview, my dad is a really interesting guy who embraces new experiences and constantly seeks learning opportunities.
today, you will understand even better why he is an amazing father.
before i let his responses speak for themselves, i’d like to mention a few of my favorite things about my dad. just in the name of full disclosure. like, if i was that “in step” dude that interviews people on the last page of “parade” magazine, this is what i’d put in the sidebar.
1. Friendliest Guy In The Entire Universe
my dad has never, ever met a stranger. everyone he meets suddenly becomes his new friend, whether it be the grocery store cashier, the kerbey lane waiter or the lady working a booth at the street fair. a few months ago, while waiting in line for the shuttle in georgetown, he gave out his sunscreen to every single person in line. the other day, he got so involved in a conversation with a sales guy at the domain that my mom and i had to literally drag him out of the store. it’s actually a quality i have *always* admired about my dad– even in the hair-trigger embarrassment days of adolescence, i was never ashamed of my dad’s ability to reach out to people.
2. Everyone’s Second Dad
my dad (as well as my mom, who, yes, i will be interviewing later!) is basically like a second dad to all of my friends. my parents have always taken an active interest in everyone i care about, which makes me feel even more loved as their daughter. oh, talena needs a coat? dad’s got one. josh needs his bike fixed? mr. al will drive right over! henri’s moving? mr. pitre can help him pack! yesterday’s military photo of my dad sitting at his desk, ready to serve you, really says it all.
me and my super-dad, celebrating my new master’s degree.
3. Mr. Safety Pants
there is NO ONE who cares about safety more than my dad. i have heard MANY a lecture from him about what NOT to do, including our infamous discussion about the dangers of wearing flip flops on a plane. his precautions have been so ingrained in me that i constantly wear sunscreen and never forget my bike helmet, even though it looks incredibly dorky. i just have this fear that i’ll get hit by a car and die and the cops will have to tell my dad, “no sir, she wasn’t wearing a helmet.” that might be harder on my dad than my actual death.
4. The Man Who Reads Everything
both of my parents gave me a passion for reading, but my dad is the Ultimate Fan of the historical marker (and really, educational signs in general). there have been many days where my mom and i have left my dad miles behind us at the museum and then spent an hour in the gift shop, waiting for him to finish reading every single word on every single sign. don’t even get me started on what it was like to drive through Civil War battlefields with him. this may sound like a complaint, but i actually love this about my dad. he stores up everything and then always has a new fact or piece of history to share with me.
5. Engineer Extraordinaire
given his engineering profession, my dad is a v. methodical planner pants, a trait he passed on to me (although he designs platforms and i design winery tours, etc.). when i was small, he built me an AMAZING bed with cabinets and drawers underneath. before i moved into my room at wiess college, he created a blueprint of the space, complete with to-scale paper cut-outs of my furniture, so we could determine the perfect and most efficient layout. i have constantly benefited from his practicality and precision, except for the time he tried to help me with my math homework in elementary school. “sarah, let’s just say that this number equals x…” “DAD, i’m in the fourth grade. i have NO idea what you’re talking about.”
anyway, enough from me. let’s get back to the interview, esp. cos there are some juicy parts coming up!
so dad, after the military, you eventually enrolled at LSU. what made you decide to go there, and what inspired you to pursue civil engineering?
During the final year of my enlistment, my dad retired and moved back to Pineville, Louisiana purchasing the house his mother moved after he went in the Army. LSU had an extension there and since the G.I. bill at the time only provided a monthly stipend $130 I had to find a cheap school. At time I still thought highly of Louisiana. So I filed the necessary paperwork to get an early release from the service to attend the 1968 fall semester at LSUA (one benefit in being an administrative specialist as long as I was, is that you know all the regulations that you can benefit from plus good contacts with other administrative specialist higher up who can help grease the wheels).
Why I became a Civil Engineer… some where I got this idea of working for the Bureau of Reclamation, building dams. Of course later, working for Conoco during summer vacations, I discovered that one could make a lot of money doing some pretty interesting projects in the oil business.
Four of my college buddies. We were attending a wedding of a classmate in Victoria, Texas. Starting on the left is Frank, Dennis, Leon and Me. Frank and Dennis were my roommates. Sad to say we lost contact with each other after we graduated.
how did you and mom meet?!!!! tell me about some of yr early dates!
I met your mom during my senior year at LSU’s main campus in Baton Rouge. We lived in an apartment complex that was between the Mississippi levee and a rail road track. She lived by the rail track and I lived near the levee. On the way to school on my bike I noticed her and her friend Alice walking to school. She was so cute, with big blue eyes. One day, having sinus problems on a cold morning I drove my car. When I saw them I stopped and asked if I could give them a ride, which they accepted. First impressions were not good as she thought I was about 4 years younger and a hippie (long hair and bike) and since she lived in the end where most married couples lived I thought she was married. Fortunately for you, we cleared that up and started dating. Our first date was a Halloween party.
Not having much money (some things don’t change in college life), our dates consisted of LSU foot ball games (students got in free), movies, parties in our apartments, during warmer weather pool parties, eating in cheap places (some just had white butcher paper for tablecloths), hang outs in the student union and once a trip to New Orleans for Mari Gras. We used to write each other letters and cards (we had P.O. boxes at the student union). Like you, your mom was involved an organization similar to Big Brothers and Sisters.
ha ha, that is awesome that mom thought you were a hippie, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Sue not long after we were married. Isn’t she cute?
give me the sequence of events between when you and mom got married and when i was born. where did you guys live? what did you do as wild twentysomethings?
Upon graduation, we found out that Conoco had reassigned me from the New Orleans office to Lake Charles. We were disappointed as we were looking forward to life in the “Big Easy.” You mother got a job as a high school library in a mostly African American high school (Louisiana was still resisting the changing times). Since we had to start work in Lake Charles a month or so before our wedding, your mother moved in to the apartment and I moved in to a room house (an experience). After the wedding we befriended the two other newlyweds in the apartments on either side. Lake Charles wasn’t much, but there were parties, theater, fishing and sailing (I had a sail boat at the time). There were many trips to Houston (Astro World), New Orleans for fun with classmates, weddings of classmates, and an occasion return to LSU for football games. We got tired of the long absences that my job required and I was able to get transferred to Houston. After a few months I decided to leave the industry and work for Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam, a Civil Engineering firm.
Sue and I in front of our first apartment (actually we had the unit upstairs)
Your mom and I lived in a two story townhome in the San Felipe area where all the young married and singles lived. She initially worked for the Harris Country Public Library system followed by a position with the Houston Public Library. We were justly classified as “DINKS” (Dual Income, No Kids). Most complexes had a party room where they held a function during week. One favorite was in a complex called Woodway Square called “75 cent spaghetti dinner night” where for 75 cents you got a spaghetti dinner plus drinks (extra cost) and you could party afterwards. They had a great New Year’s party. Not long after moving to Houston, we went to England, Scotland and Holland for two weeks. Then there were the skiing trips to New Mexico and Colorado. Vacation to California (we went twice).
i am totally starting a 75 cent spaghetti night, cos that sounds awesome.
On vacation in California.
dude. dad. you guys were TOTAL HIPSTERS.
We also participated in many activities with my co-workers at the civil engineering firm such as weekend camping in New Braunfels, to canoe and tube the river, Star Trek conventions (where we saw Gene Roddenberry present his proposal for the next Star Trek series), clubbing (House of Pies was a favorite late night stop afterwards) and movies. Houston is where we purchased our first home. During this time I brought a yellow MGB sport car for your mom and we both enjoyed it. Deciding to return the oil industry, I accepted a position with Marathon Oil Company, which after a short time in Houston was transferred to Lafayette, Louisiana where you entered our lives.
star trek conventions = why i was born a nerd.
Sue and I during our “DINK” period.
ok, now let’s put me, yr fabulous only child, in the picture. how did it feel to become a dad?! at the risk of sounding narcissistic, what was it like to raise me as yr daughter?
I remember clearly the night of your birth. I couldn’t be with your mother during the delivery but as the doctor was bringing you to the nursery he stopped by with you and slowly uncovered you to, I guess, ensure me that you had arrived healthy with all your parts. A little baby girl with red hair, that took my heart away. In the nursery, you really stood out with that red hair among all those Cajun babies. When my dad was looking at you through the glass he turned and said, “Now you will worry about her all your life”. It was the beginning of “Mr. Safety Pants”. You were and are a wonderful daughter and we had so much fun raising you. Being your dad has been and still is the most wonderful joy of my life.
tell me about some of yr favorite “dad” activities and memories.
I have many favorite “Dad” activities and memories. Reading to you at night, teaching you corny jokes (How do you fix a broken tomato? With tomato paste!), you riding on my back, swinging, watching you and your friends play.
When you started to school, dinner time became very special as your mom and I would listen to your adventures of the day. It was a high point of the day until you left for college.
In your younger years there were the brownie camp outs, family reunions where we played for hours in the pool or rode horse, school plays and activities, Halloween, camping trips with our church friends, trips to the Schlitterbahn, playing with our dog Biscuit and of course the many birthday parties, Christmas and the numerous sleepovers.
Dad and Sarah, ready to trick or treat!
Going to Disneyworld for the first time when you were five brings back so many warm memories. You hugged every Disney character you saw. You had no fear for any of the rides, like Space Mountain, which I found very scary. After you learned to read (at an early age I might add), when we would travel, we would just stock up on books from the library and you would read them on the way.
Sharing adventures with Sarah in Williamsburg.
Memories from your junior high and high school years include the many family vacations we took from D.C., to Alaska (remember the float plane trip over the Glaciers to the fishing lodge), taking you and friends to the movies, to eat, the mall, Astroworld and my office for your yearly downtown bus trips(before you could drive), sending Biscuit upstairs to wake you up for school, watching all the Alien movies in one day before we went to see the last one, the many sleepovers, the video movies you and your friends would make, your expression when I surprised you with your first car, your writings and your many scholastic achievements.
One of the numerous parties and sleepovers.
yeah, we really knew how to do slumber parties, didn’t we?
Our Alaska Adventure.
When you left for college, for the first two weeks every time I would walk by your room I would get this lump in my throat and my eyes would swell up. It is always tough for a parent to let go, but that is the way is supposed to be. I am so proud of you and your accomplishments and how you continue to develop and maintain friendships.
Proud day in the Pitre family, Sarah’s graduation from Rice.
As foot note, I am always pleased to read or hear the achievements and activities of your high school and college friends as they are truly some special young people. Our lives have been blessed and enriched from knowing them.
how would you compare yr childhood to mine? when i was growing up, did i ever remind you of yrself?
As you read above, you can see that your childhood was very different than mine. Your mother and I strived to ensure that you had a normal childhood. You were very different from the child I was.
what sort of ideal did you strive for as a father? what were the values you sought to instill in me?
I wanted to be a different father than my Dad’s generation. When you were a baby I helped your mother by also changed your diapers, bathing you, rocking you sleep, reading to you and playing with you.
Card by Sarah
We wanted Christ to be a part of your life. His values are timeless. By going to church as a family and participating in its activities as a family, we hoped that you would continue once you left home and started your own life.
When you started school we wanted to provide you the best education and the opportunity to participate in all the activities you were interested in. This provision included our encouragement, support and time, in other words being there for you.
We tried not to be too strict, giving you freedom to do things as you matured.
We wanted you have confidence that comes from knowing that we loved you no matter what and would always be there to support and encourage you.
Drinking beer in Germany during our Europe trip (after your Rice graduation).
since everyone knows that you are mr. safety pants, why don’t you give me yr top list of safety tips.
I guess being in an industry where I have witnessed some pretty spectacular and serious accidents, safety has been ingrained in me.
- Before doing any task, check to that you have the proper tools, you know how to use them , any required safety equipment, and think through the task if any think could go wrong and try to address it.
- Driving - maintain your car and check your tires frequently. Keep a good distance from 18 wheelers, remember that everyone else thinks they are the only ones on the road, you never have the right-a-away, just because the light is green doesn’t mean the other guy will stop, the most dangerous driver is the person driving the big SUV, drinking coffee, talking on the phone, putting on make-up or shaving, or even reading the paper (they are out there).
in the last five years or so, you’ve really gotten into cycling. what drew you to bikes? how often (and for how long) do you ride? and when will you work in a bike shop as “friendly mr. al,” the guy who fixes all of the kids’ bikes for free?
As noted above I started riding in college and always had a bike. During our time in Lafayette I got interested in running and used run about 6 miles day 4 or 5 times a week. Just as we moved to Houston I developed bursitis in my hip. After it healed I tried to run again but it would flare up plus I was traveling so much that I stopped running. Later reading about the MS 150 (the two day ride from Houston to Austin) I decided that biking would provide me the exercise running use to. So I brought a bike and started riding. I have done numerous charity rides plus two MS 150s. Since I retired I ride about 60 to 80 miles a week (20 - 30 miles 3 times a week). I must say I love living north of Austin for all the great places to ride.
No “Mr. Al’s” bike shop yet but maybe in the future.
My two special people welcome me at the end of my first MS 150.
so, you’ve recently (sort of) retired for the 30th time. what are you gonna DO with yrself, dad?!!
I have to catch up on all the things we need to do to house and complete our move in. But your mom and I have joined senior university in Georgetown and are looking forward to attending some of the classes. We plan to get into some sort of volunteer work and do some traveling. Biking will still be one of my major activities.
what is yr secret power?
Don’t a have any.
dad, that is SO not true. i’ll tell you what yr secret power is: yr amazing ability to befriend ANYONE. no matter who they are, or what their state of mind is, within one minute of talking with you, they will want to be yr life-long friend.
do you sleep in jimjams? what kind?
I sleep in box shorts (not the white kind) and a tee shirt.
what is yr #1 favorite food?
Apple pie.
what is yr top restaurant recommendation in austin? what’s the best thing on the menu?
I have enjoyed all the restaurants we have been to with you and couldn’t just recommend just one. Now around here we recommend the Monument Cafe in Georgetown. All the food is good.
tell me about yr top area of expertise.
My area of expertise is the design, installation and construction of offshore oil and gas processing facilities and structures.
Me, multi-tasking offshore
what was yr favorite item of clothing as a child?
When I was about 13 or 14 my mom brought me some white buck skin loafers, which was the in thing of the time. I loved and wore them till I finally out grew them.
what was yr favorite toy as a child? (the moody bonus question)
I don’t remember (too many years ago).
what do you plan on doing when you’re 80?
I hope I am still riding my bikes (with my grandkids (hint, hint,)), and living someplace where I can walk, ride a bike or public transportation to stores, restaurants, etc.
what is yr best karaoke song?
Never done karaoke and would not subject any one to my singing.
dad, that is not true. i think yr favorite song begins, “beans, beans, the magical fruit…”
do people ever tell you that you look like someone famous? who?
No one ever has.
tell me something scandalous!
In the 9th grade I and several of my classmates got kicked out of school for a day for making a disturbance in class. If it hadn’t been for my 8th grade teacher who came home with me to calm my dad down, he would have killed me.
The Pitres walk Abbey Road in the summer of 2001.
dad, this has been an absolutely wonderful experience for me (and for the rest of pants world, i bet). i am so proud to call you my father, not to mention utterly thankful for the example you’ve given me. i only hope i can follow in yr footsteps and love people as selflessly and sweetly as you have loved me.
i love you!!
