Bill and Lucy Benoit (c. 1926)

This photo is of my grandparents in front of their new car. My grandfather is holding my mother, who was born in 1926, so this photo was probably taken in 1926 or 1927. They must have been going someplace special because they are all dressed up.

Willie “Bill” Benoit (1894-1985) was born in Vinton, Louisiana, to Michel Maran and Marie Domathile Duhon. Domathile was the second of three wives of Michel. As a soldier in WWI, he served in France as a guard at a German prison camp.

Lucy Pauline Courrege (1899-1990) was born in New Iberia, Louisiana, to Jean Courrege and Emerantia Rodrigue.

My grandmother was working in a mercantile store in Vinton and staying with her cousin Gus Courrege’s family when she met my grandfather. They married on 30 Apr 1923 and were married for over 50 years. They owned Benoit’s Variety in Vinton for 22 years.