Interview with Beverly Lousignont Click for bio
Beverly Lousignont
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Blake Wooderson: So this is Blake Wooderson. I'm speaking to Beverly Lousignont. The date is September 21 2024 Okay, let's get into it. So let's just do some basic questions. Where were you born?
Beverly Lousignont: I was born in The Dalles [Oregon]. And I lived in Tygh Valley [Oregon].
BW: Can you tell me what the family dynamic was like?
BL: Yeah, well, being the second to the oldest, the oldest girl of seven, you know, we were assigned daily chores. We all had chores. If you were old enough to walk, you know, you had daily chores, yeah. And dad was at work or hunting or fishing, you know, to provide for the family, and mom was a stay at home.
BW: So you have six siblings in total?
BL: Yes, six siblings.
BW: So do you think it was a little bit like difficult growing up in such a big family? Was there any challenges?
BL: No.
BW: So it was all pretty fine?
BL: Yeah, I mean, that's, you know, our parents were good parents and dad was a good provider. They provided basic essentials, they were reliable. But you know, with a family of seven, money was tight. But you know since dad hunted and fished, we always had plenty to eat, and mom was a good cook.
BW: Right. Okay, let's switch up the questions a little bit. So the next question I'd like to ask is, what were you doing when you were, like in your teens, like your later teens?
BL: Drinking beer. In school. I had different jobs. I ironed for people, I babysat, and worked at the county fair.
BW: Oh wow. It sounds like you did a lot of work. Where did you work? Was it in Tygh Valley or somewhere else?
BL: After I graduated in 70', I went to work in The Dalles at a nursing home.
BW: How long did you work there?
BL: I worked there, probably 3 years.
BW: Did you like working there?
BL: Yeah, I mean it was fine. It was a good work site, and I had friends there. So, you know, it was, it was easy, yeah, you know, it was kind of hard working with older people, because, you know, some of them had died during the time I was there.
BW: That must have been really difficult.
BL: It was, emotionally. And then I got a job at an insurance and real estate company, Kargl, Elwood, and Geiger
BW: Oh really, And then did you go to college?
BL: Well, I moved when I got married and moved to Le Grande [Oregon].
BW: What did you study there?
BL: Pre-Law.
BW: Oh, that's really interesting. And then did you do anything with pre-law?
BL: No. I mean, I worked for a couple government programs that worked with seniors and disabled. And then in 76' I got a job at Union Pacific Railroad.
BW: When did you start working for CPS [Certified Personnel Service] or ODOT, or what you're doing right now?
BL: In 82'.
BW: Oh really, so you've been doing that for awhile?
BL: In 92' the railroad downsized their clerical division, then I was hired by the gal who owns Certified Personnel and became the manager. And in 70' or no, I'm sorry. I'm forgetting my years. In 94' I had grown CPS where I owned 40% of it because she didn't really, I mean CPS was just a small company. They were just doing clerical and when I started working, I expanded it to work with construction sites and do labor stuff.
BW: Oh wow. Sounds like you did a lot in that short time.
BL: Yes. And so she says, "Well, I can't continue this relationship where as you grow the company, you become owner, because you're going to end up owning it all." So she says, "I'll sell it to you." And so I bought her out for $40,000 and now we gross about 7 million a year.
BW: Yeah, you really grew the company a lot. Was that a lot of hard work?
BL: Well, it was in the sense that you had to watch the market trends, right? And that's when we expanded and started doing flagging for ODOT. And then we also did work for wildland fires.
BW: So you really did a variety of expansion on the company.
BL: Yeah, it's like, we had to expand our services and having labor pool like we did. We even did derailments for Union Pacific Railroad when they had derailments and they had goods on the ground, we would hire laborers to go out and help clean up the stuff that had to be done by hand.
BW: It's a lot of hands on work, I'm guessing.
BL: Yeah. I mean, then trying to hire people, you know day labor stuff really was pretty easy because there was people available who were either on unemployment or had some kind of disability to come out and do short jobs. And we paid well. You know, that was the key to a lot of it. We paid more than minimum wage.
BW: You guys have night workers too? Is that a little harder to find people to work for?
BL: For night work, no. Not really.
BW: So they're all pretty available?
BL: I mean, you did what you could because we had a good reputation and people liked working for us. If there was travel, we, you know, reimbursed them for mileage and travel, and sometimes we even provided rides if that was necessary.
BW: Oh really. It sounds like you do a lot for your workers.
BL: Yep. And we had offices in Baker, La Grande, Hermiston, and Redmond.
BW: That's a lot of locations. Was it only one location when you started?
BL: Yes.
BW: It's very interesting how you grew the small company into a multi million dollar company.
BL: Yeah, I mean it was really pretty easy to do because of having prime contractors. Yeah, seven, you know, Union Pacific Railroad, ODOT. We got in with some really good companies that needed the services that we provided.
BW: That's all very interesting stuff that you have to talk about. Okay, I think let's switch up again on the questions. So, going back to when you were younger, I assumed you watched TV shows. I was just wondering, do you remember what you were watching at the time?
BL: Wow, I, well it was in the mornings when we were cleaning house, doing dishes, breakfast. You know, mom had TV on and she was watching soap operas and so as soon as our chores were done, we were basically kicked out of the house. Not literally, but you know, we were free to go. And we would go see our friends and go to Tygh Creek and fish and swim or just hang out. We were outside a lot and then we would return home for dinner.
BW: Oh, really?
BL: Yeah, but we were always in Tygh Valley with friends, so if our parents needed to check up on us, it was really simple to do because it was a lot smaller town so you didn't really do as much. And then in the evenings, after we had dinner and did the dishes and took our baths, you know there was, what was that space show?
BW: Was it Star Trek?
BL: No, it was way before then. I can't remember the name of it. Or gunsmoke, or some kind of family show.
BW: So you guys watched a lot of western shows?
BL: Yes western and whatever was on TV. And we didn't watch a lot of TV, I don't think more than maybe an hour or two.
BW: Oh really. You definitely watched less TV than I do.
BL: Yes, very much.
BW: So, did you ever watch like Gilligan's Island or The Brady Bunch?
BL: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are pretty good shows. I like watching those ones. I mean, they were like family shows where, you know, subject matter was pretty interesting.
BW: Did you see like any connection to real world events, or like see it on TV?
BL: Very little news. There was like when JFK was running for president, we did go to The Dalles and watched his debate.
BW: Oh wow. Was it not televised?
BL: No. In person. It was really cool.
BW: How long was the rally or whatever it was?
BL: It was like a town hall. You know, where he was at one of the middle schools there. I think it was The Dalles Middle School and there was lots of people.
BW: Well, that must have been really exciting to see a major event.
BL: It really was. He was a good speaker. But you know, as far as news and stuff like that, I mean, you had Jane Fonda who had a pretty big hit. "These boots are made for walking", yeah, and so when she [Jane Fonda] began her rally against Vietnam, it really didn't sit well because it just felt like it was propaganda. She getting her name out there to talk against the war.
BW: That's really interesting because since the Vietnam War was kind of a controversial topic at the time, how did you feel about it?
BL: Well, my brother was there and some people that I had gone to school with, so it was, it was more support for them because they were there.
BW: So were you scared for them?
BL: I mean, not really knowing, you know the schematics of the death. Roy [oldest sibling] was on the navy ship. So he wasn't on the ground and in the fighting, combat of guns and bombs and stuff like that. And he wrote home pretty often. You know, it wasn't scary in that respect because him writing home was the only communication that we had about what was going on.
BW: That's weird that it was so secretive and not mentioned in the public.
BL: Well, it's probably was on the news, but like I said, that wasn't a part of our daily viewing.
BW: How old were you when Roy enlisted?
BL: I would have been 16 and he was 18.
BW: How did Roy feel about going into the war?
BL: I don't know if he ever really expressed it other than, I mean, it was a mandatory thing, and you had to go. You have to support your country and everything. And we had uncles, our dad's brothers. There was four of them that was in the military, most of them were in the Air Force.
BW: So they were flying planes and everything?
BL: Yes.
BW: Were they doing that over in Vietnam or was that in previous wars?
BL: I don't know if they were involved in Vietnam. I know that, oh I don't know. I'm thinking that maybe WW2. So just having military relative, it was, it wasn't controversial as being negative.
BW: Right. Did you ever receive any letters from Roy or your other family members?
BL: Mom got the letters. It was to the family. I know when I graduated, Roy sent me a graduation gift, and it was a, I think it was a Seiko watch and it was orange, and I still have it.
BW: That's really nice of him.
BL: And then when he got out, he was in San Diego for a while and I went down to see him and went to an Elton John concert.
BW: That sounds fun. Who was your favorite band to listen to?
BL: Probably the Beach Boys.
BW: Did you go see them in concert too?
BL: No. That wasn't something I did.
BW: So you didn't go to many concerts then?
BL: Yeah. I went with Lois [Third oldest sibling] a few times in Portland [Oregon]. Can't remember who it was. We went to a lot of comedy shows.
BW: Do you remember who you saw?
BL: Yes, but I can't remember his name. He's the one that would smash that watermelon.
BW: Oh, I know who you're talking about but I can't remember his name either.
BL: It'll come to me. But when he was just starting out, he was in Portland a lot and we went down there to see him. And we even went to Darcelle.
BW: Oh. Who's that?
BL: She was the transvestite or what do you call them? The ones that where men dress up like women.
BW: Drag Queens?
BL: Drag Queens. Well, you know, with Lois, you never know what you were gonna get.
BW: Was Lois kind of the wild child then?
BL: She was adventurous. She liked doing a lot of different things.
BW: Do you remember what she was doing at the time?
BL: She was working. Well, she was an escort. Didn't expect that could you?
BW: Nope. I did not.
BL: I never told you, maybe you didn't know.
BW: I don't know. I might have heard something but I can't remember. I probably would have remembered that, so I probably wasn't told. So, do you remember how old she was when she started being an escort?
BL: It was before she married John [2nd husband]. But it was like three or four years I would think. She did it enough for an income.
BW: Do you know if she liked doing it? Was it just for the money?
BL: Both.
BW: Well, yeah, you get the best of both worlds.
BL: She was a higher end one.
BW: Really? Do you know how many girls she worked with?
BL: No. She had regular clients and that's how she met her second husband [John]
BW: That's really interesting. Who would have thought. Would you say you were more conservative than Lois?
BL: Oh yes because I was married to John [not Lois's husband].
BW: Okay, I think we should switch up the questions again. Let's talk about the Civil Rights Movement and what was going on. Do you remember anything going on? Was it mentioned in your house growing up?
BL: I mean, yes. You saw all these people burning and crying, you know, it was just so unsettling to see how they could be disruptive to a community. It was in Portland and other places that we never were around directly. It was more prevalent to see it like in big cities.
BW: Like the protests going on in Portland?
BL: Just the burning of cars and the disrespect to the police and public property.
BW: Did you ever go over to Portland and see the aftermath?
BL: No, you just heard about it. Just saw it on TV a little bit, kind of just had no desire to be around that kind of stuff.
BW: Right. It's kind of scary when there's chaos going on.
BL: Yes and the chaos did not help influence the powers to be to get away from that to stop the war.
BW: Did you see any type of segregation growing up or any conflicts going on?
BL: No. Our dad was from Missouri and where they grew up with blacks. I don't know if there was like for them [African Americans]. And it was just not that it influenced my thinking. It was just you knew that your dad and your uncle didn't have anything nice to say about them. They were like second class people. We didn't have to deal with it. I mean, we had Indians, the Warm Springs Indians in Tygh Valley, but they were a part of the community. So it wasn't like whites and browns.
BW: Since it's a smaller community, you kind of have to be a little closer together I would imagine. I would say living in a smaller community has a big advantage just because you know everyone and you don't have to worry about anything bad happening.
BL: I don't think we ever had a negro family in Tygh Valley or remember seeing them in The Dalles, but you, with the Indians, they lived there. They were old time residents of Tygh Valley. So it wasn't like they were moving in, and you had controversy of them coming to your white settlement. And we had community things. We had Friday nights. We had pinochle and the lodge, and it was a family thing. I would take desserts and you would play cards. You would have desserts. Saturday nights, there was dances at the Grange Hall, and it was a family thing. It was more inclusive than people bitching about their kids being on Facebook and not having an activity that would draw them away from it.
BW: Right.
BL: You know, we had parades, we had school sports. We had family picnics and fishing trips and just activities to draw you away from the TV, I guess.
BW: So was the news on a lot on the TV?
BL: Well, maybe before dinner but I don't remember. I don't remember much TV. Even up into my 20s when I was married. You watched special entertainment programs. There really wasn't the hype on news.
BW: Oh, so were you listening to music or looking at magazines or any type of media?
BL: Not really. The only time you maybe listen to music was in the car traveling.
BW: Did you guys have like a record player or anything like that?
BL: We did. We had a really nice pioneer entertainment center, but that wasn't something you did, switching on the TV or music.
BW: Well, I think the interview has come to an end. Do you have any last comments or anything to add?
BL: It was a calmer peace of mind. Growing up and being a young adult, you didn't have bullying. You didn't have other influences about the clothes you wore or didn't wear. You know, we took the bus to school and sometimes maybe a friend had the parents' car for the day, hopped a ride with them. But it was a simple life. It was, you went to school to learn, and that was it.
BW: Because the media was new and it wasn't as prevalent as it is now, where you can share information from everywhere and have to deal with people judging you and everything.
BL: Yeah, and having an opinion about it, I think the only outside media stuff I remember in high school that we got to watch the last few games of the World Series. It was a simpler life
BW: Well, thank you so much Bev for doing this interview.
BL: You're welcome Blake. I'm glad I shed some light on the family history.
BW: Well, we're gonna have to talk about that later.
BL: All right, I'll talk to you later.
- Title:
- Interview with Beverly Lousignont
- Date Created:
- 2024-09-28
- Description:
- The interview explored many different topics which ranged from the CRM, the type of media the interviewee mentioned, the Vietnam War and also included personal topics like a family member making money as an escort. The interviewee provided insight on how they were personally affected by the topics that were mentioned and how they interacted with those historical movements.
- Subjects:
- CRM: Media Vietnam War Family Career School Childhood Community
- Location:
- Moscow, ID
- Latitude:
- 46.72821545
- Longitude:
- -117.0124598
- Type:
- text
- Format:
- record
- Preferred Citation:
- "Interview with Beverly Lousignont", The Long 1960s - 2024 Fall, Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning (CDIL)
- Reference Link:
- /thelong1960s/items/louisignont.html
- Rights:
- In copyright, educational use permitted. Educational use includes non-commercial reproduction of text and images in materials for teaching and research purposes. For other contexts beyond fair use, including digital reproduction, please contact the University of Idaho Library Special Collections and Archives Department at libspec@uidaho.edu. The University of Idaho Library is not liable for any violations of the law by users.
- Standardized Rights:
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/