Major de Pingre'

Major Louis de Pingre'​ (Louisiana journalist, Baptist historian, and businessman)​
Born	May 31, 1928 ​ Leesville, Vernon Parish, Louisiana​ Residence: Minden, Louisiana
Died	September 19, 2007 (aged 79)​ Shreveport, Louisiana​ Resting place: Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Minden, Louisiana
Political Party	​Democrat-turned-Republican
Spouse	Patricia Catron de Pingre' Children: Benny Louis de Pingre' Margaret Ann Willis Four grandchildren Parents: ​ A. E. and Madeline de Pingre' ​ Alma mater: Louisiana State University
Religion	Southern Baptist​
Military Service
Service/branch	United States Navy

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Major Louis de Pingre’ (May 31, 1928 – September 19, 2007) was a former journalist and businessman from Minden, a small city of some 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.

He was particularly known for his History of the First Baptist Church of Minden, Louisiana, published in 1969. First Baptist Minden was founded by George Washington Baines, the maternal great-grandfather of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, who joined the congregation in a 1969 anniversary service. A First Baptist deacon, de Pingre' handled the details for Johnson's visit to Minden.

Background

De Pingre' (pronounced DEH PING REE) was born in Leesville in Vernon Parish in western Louisiana, to A. E. de Pingre' and Madeline de Pingre' (1894-1986). He was named "Major" because his mother had two uncles who reached the rank of major for the Confederate Army in the American Civil War. The uncles were Henry Kirby, a Vernon Parish deputy sheriff killed in the line of duty, and Henry Finly Stanley (1825-1916), a native of Wayne County, North Carolina.

De Pingre' dropped out of high school shortly before graduation to join the United States Navy. Thereafter, he sought to enroll at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge but had to get the approval of the then Louisiana state superintendent of education, Shelby M. Jackson, to enroll in college because he had no high school equivalency. He graduated from LSU with a degree in journalism and minor fields in English and history. He was awarded his high school diploma consecutively with his college degree. At LSU, he was on the staff of the student newspaper, The Reveille.

Career

In January 1956, de Pingre' assumed the editorship of the Minden Press and the Minden Herald. then just purchased by the publisher, Tom Colten, a later mayor of Minden. The weekly papers were consolidated in 1966 into the daily Minden Press-Herald, by which time Colten was no longer an owner but wrote a column while mayor. De Pingre' was also a correspondent or stringer for twelve years for both The Shreveport Times and the since defunct Shreveport Journal. In 1959, he was named the "Outstanding Young Man in Minden." He was listed in Who's Who in the South and Southwest. He was a former president of his local Jaycees who served a year as the state vice president. In that capacity, he was designated the Jaycees "Outstanding Vice President" for the entire United States. He was active in historical preservation and served as president of the Dorcheat Historical Association, which constructed the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum at 116 Pearl Street in Minden.

Thereafter, for twenty-two years, he operated Major Office Supply Company located near the Minden post office. He was president and co-owner of Meadowview Nursing Home in Minden, one of the first such facilities built in north Louisiana. His business partners were his father-in-law, Alonzo B. Catron (1897-1984), and the attorney Henry Grady Hobbs (1923-2012). He also owned the Meadowpark Nursing Home in Shreveport. He later sold his interest in both facilities. He was also president of Tremade Oil and Gas Investments.

Death and family

De Pingre' died in Shreveport of a lengthy illness. Services were held on September 21, 2007, at the First Baptist Church, with the then pastor Wayne DuBose officiating. Interment was at Gardens of Memory Cemetery in Minden. Survivors included his wife, the former Patricia Lee "Pat" Catron (1927-2021), a former home demonstration agent who left that position to work with her husband in the printing business. He had a son, Benny Louis de Pingre' (1954-2023) and a daughter, Margaret Ann Willis of Irving in Dallas County, Texas, the widow of James Willis.

Daughter-in-law Jerri Lynn Ray de Pingre' (born 1959) was the 1977 "Miss Minden" pageant winner. An educator-turned-businesswoman, she ran unsuccessfully in 2011 as a Republican candidate for the Webster Parish District 10 seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives, having lost, 55 to 45 percent, to the Democrat Gene Reynolds, who no longer holds the seat now filled by Moderate Republican Royce Wayne McMahen of Springhill. Thereafter, she served as executive director of the South Webster Chamber of Commerce, in which capacity, she started the Leadership Minden program. She resigned from the chamber in the summer of 2016 to purse another business opportunity, which did not disclose. Benny and Jeri de Pingre' since divorced.

Major de Pingre' had four grandchildren, one of whom, John Major de Pingre' (1988-2019) was diagnosed shortly after birth with cystic fibrosis but overcame the odds to graduate in 2014 from LSU.

In addition to his parents, de Pingre' was preceded in death by a sister, Margie Helen de Pingre'. His two brothers were Clarence Edward de Pingre’ (1921-2012) and wife Alma of Houston, Texas, and William Earnest "Bill" de Pingre' (1931-2017) and his wife, Charlsie, of Shreveport.

Patricia de Pingre' was a sister-in-law of the Southern Baptist evangelist, Bill Ichter of Minden. She relocated to Irving, Texas, to be near her daughter, Margaret Willis, and died there in 2021.

References

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