After graduation from Marksville High School, Laborde enrolled at his father's ''alma mater,'' [[Roman Catholic]]-affiliated Loyola University in[[New Orleans]], where at the age of eighteen he played on the 1945–1946 Loyola national championship [[basketball]] team.<ref name=hoffame>{{cite web|url=https://lapoliticalmuseum.com/inductees.php|title=Political Hall of Fame: Raymond J. Laborde|publisher=Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame|accessdate=November 3, 2019}}</ref> He graduated from Loyola in 1949 and then launched his Raymond's Department Store at 317 North Main Street in Marksville.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://giving.loyno.edu/s/1135/giving.aspx?sid=1135&gid=1&pgid=653|title=Alumni Donors, 1934–1949|publisher=giving.loyno.edu|accessdate=December 19, 2009}}</ref> He was later a captain in the Louisiana National Guard.<ref name=adtt/>
In 1951, Laborde married the former Nellie Sanchez. The couple has four children, Donald A. Laborde, Raymond Laborde, II, Charles Laborde, Minnie C. Lafargue, and Rachel Karam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.avoyellestoday.com/content/laborde-bass|title=Laborde-Bass|publisher=Avoyellestoday.com|accessdate=December 19, 2009; no longer on-line}}</ref>
==Political career==