Richard Pizzolatto – Health and Physcial Education, 1958

Richard Pizzolatto

Class of ‘ 58

                My name is Richard Pizzolatto.  I attended S.L.I. from 1954-1958.  I graduated in 1958 with a B.S. in Physical Education and Social Studies.  I received my Masters of Education from McNeese in 1969.

                I recall the early years at U.S.L. with football games played at McNaspy Stadium, and basketball games at Earl K. Long gym and Blackham Coliseum.  I remember the tennis courts behind Earl K. Long and the trips to the small building for classes in “Little Abbeville”, as that area was affectionately called in those days.

                U.S.L. had a great faculty in the Physical Education department.  Coaches Edney, Brand, and Stevenson were great people.  They knew their students as well as our teachers in high school knew their students.  I remember Coach Reinhardt who was the basketball coach as well as athletic trainer.  Coach made a student feel as if he were twelve feet tall.  He always found something good to say about everyone.  I will never forget the Queen of first aid, Mrs. Bourgeois and Miss Aguatics, Miss Margaret McMillen who soap boxed until U.S.L. got their indoor pool.  I can never forget Miss LaSalle; the math teacher who rambled across the campus to class at a great pace and always had coffee and donuts at Hick’s coffee shop.  A few professors in the College of Education that I will never forget are Dean Doucet,  Dr. May, Dr. Coussan, Dr. Zernott, Dr. Turner and Dr. Aycock.  Physical Education majors I recall are Sonny Roy, Allen Hymel, Macky Bourg, Charles Lancon, Dallas Abshire, Walter Comeaux, O.C. Guillot, James Fontenot, Don Whatley, and Curtis Joubert.  These are just a few students who walked the campus of U.S.L.   Many are leaders today.  Let’s not forget Mrs. Price, the English teacher who made you study hard.

                After graduation in 1958, I taught and coached at Simmesport High School; St. Francis, Iota; Goretti, Lake Arthur; Midland; and Crowley High Schools.   I retired in 1994 after thirty six years.  In the Spring semester of 1996, I had a student who attended U.S.L. who had to have A.C.L. surgery on his knee.  His parents were working, so I would drive him to class and wait for him.  One morning while he was in Math class, I waited for him in the office.  I discovered that Miss LaSalle was still teaching.  I went to her classroom between classes and introduced myself as Richard Pizzolatto.  I told her that I was one of her students in 1956.  She answered, “and you mean to tell me you’re still here, go sit down!”  Needless to say, the students waiting for class got a great laugh.

In the late 70’s, I was moonlighting for the local paper and was covering the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.  At halftime of the Southland Conference, Athletic Directors were introduced.  One of my classmates, the late Dan Sonny Roy, was then Athletic Director at U.S.L.  He looked at me and said, “Pizz, what are you doing on the field?”  We all live in a world of imitations, but Sonny was a true gem in this world and a man who sincerely loved U.S.L.

In 1996, I became bored with retirement and accepted the job as Director of Recreation and Parks for the City of Crowley.  My goal is to develop a model recreation program:  great parks, great fields, and facilities that our young and old people will enjoy for many years.  I spent four great years at U.S.L., and the memories are forever.