An Old Friend

Back in 1997 i was recruited to transfer to Odessa by the then regional manger. His name was Malcolm Savoie. He lived in Lake Charles but was from Church Point. He preferred to go by Ole Dad. Ole Dad picked me up at the airport and we went straight to the bar until about 0200.

About 3 years prior, i had met Ole Dad at one of the crawfish boils our company had in Baton Rouge. After the crawfish boil we all went to the bar and it was then that i met Ole Dad for the first time and realized that Ole Dad had a bit of a drinking problem. Ole Dad like to get gassed up and then he thought he was bullet proof. He was a fun man to be out drinking with.

So anyhow, Ole Dad decided i would work out in Odessa TX and transfer ed me in. Ole Dad being from Church Point had a thick almost not understandable coonass brogue. When he talked and if you didn't know him you would think he was the most uneducated person in the world. He was a hoot. When Ole Dad flew into town you met him at the airport with 1/2 gallon of Crown or VO, an ice chest and one 7up. Ole Dad didn't like tall glasses or much 7up in his Toddie. About 1500 he decided to take the whole branch to the bar for a Toddie for his Body. We would stay in that bar until it closed. He used to go to the bar tender and say " You see dem boys over der, they works for me. I'ms da boss" He would have a short glass of Crown and after about 3/4 of it he would have to throw it away. he said " Dat drink tase like wader, fix me a new one shovels" Shovels is a common slang name for black folks back in the old country according to Ole Dad.

Ole Dad's drinking got the best of him and he lost his job and his wife. He went down hill and ended up having a stroke. He was placed in a nursing home and he used to call me every now and then. Eventually they released him from the nursing home and then Ole Dad drank himself to death. He died 29 September 2007.

NAME: JAMES MALCOLM SAVOIE
OF LAKE CHARLES, LA.

AGE 55

DIED SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2007 @ HIS HOME IN LAKE CHARLES

SERVICES: MEMORIAL SERVICES WILL BE ON THURSDAY, OCT. 4, 2007 @ 11:00 AM @ OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART CHAPEL CHURCH POINT, LA.

3 BTRS: PATRICK & CHRISTINE SAVOIE CHURCH POINT, LA. TERRY & CONNIE SAVOIE TEXAS KENT SAVOIE CHURCH POINT, LA.

JAMES IS PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HIS PARENTS, CLARENCE & BEATRICE SAVOIE. ALTHOUGH JAMES HAS LIVED IN LAKE CHARLES FOR THE PAST 33 YEARS, HE WAS A NATIVE OF CHURCH POINT.


Ole Dad may have been a falling down drunk, but he was one hell of a salesman and had connections every where. One time i was having trouble getting into the refinery in El Paso. I talked to Ole Dad about and he said he would call me back. About an hour later Ole Dad called me and told me to pick him up in El Paso tomorrow we had sales calls to make. He would fly in with 100 pounds crawfish, boudin, Tasso and everything else and we would have a hodown. He was something else. He got me into the refinery. He was good when he was on his game.

Ole Dad, you will be missed. I will have a Toddie for the Body inyour honor tonight. Rest in Peace.