BIOGRAPHY:

I was born in 1947 at the Robinson Clinic in Denham Springs, so I like to say I am a “true” native. I was the fourth of four girls and then my little brother came along and ruined it all for me. The five of us - Gloria Gabel, Linda May, Bea Kemp, Raymond Fugler and me - are the offspring of Benjamin Franklin Fugler, Jr. of Live Oak and Annie Laura Miller Fugler of 4-H Club Road, Denham Springs, both deceased.

I have lived on the same acreage for 61 years and am still, and have always been, surrounded by family. My maternal grandparents lived a country block away and aunts and uncles were all around us. That first mile of 4-H Club Road was nicknamed “Millerville.”

My grandparents were Benjamin F. Fugler, Sr. and Sarah Chandler Fugler and Walter B. Miller and Augusta Maine Tucker Miller. There is a rich Livingston Parish history on both sides of my family. My Daddy had 11 brothers and sisters and there were13 children in Mother’s family, so you can see that I have a very large, extended family in Livingston Parish and spread around the globe.

Unaware of it then, we were reared in Paradise when 4-H Club Road, like all the roads around it, was just a dusty gravel lane that really didn’t go anywhere except into the woods and everyone knew everyone. We rode our bikes, and horses when we had one; climbed trees; played board games and played croquet and basketball with Momma and Daddy; explored the creeks and woods; sat on the edge of the highway culverts, resting our arms over the pipelines and crawfished with a piece of string and pork fat; made mud pies underneath Grandma’s porch using her best silver; climbed into the barn haylofts to play; had “Chinaball” wars; camped out in tents; caught lightning bugs at night in Mason jars with holes poked in the lids; picked may haws, peaches, plums and persimmons; built pine-straw huts and raked leaf-walled houses; ate watermelon and home-cranked, custard ice cream outside under the trees; gathered the eggs; picked and shelled peas and beans; killed a frying chicken for Sunday dinner; and we roamed from house to house and yard to yard. We weren’t afraid of strangers and didn’t see many. We slept with the windows and doors open in the summer. With a couple of exceptions, all of our neighbors were aunts, uncles and first cousins and those that weren’t “blood-kin” were honorary relatives. Oh, yeah – it was Paradise! I like to say, “It was like living in a large commune, but we all had our own homes and property.”

We went to church and said “Yes, M’am,” “Yes, Sir,” “Thanks,” and “Please,” never disrespected an adult or questioned the existence of Jesus, the Cross and the Trinity. We were provided with an excellent spiritual, scholastic and social education.

To a great extent, we lived off the land – the 30 acres my family owned from 4-H Club Road to Rushing Road - with cattle, chickens, an occasional goat and two acres of vegetables that were put in the freezer. My father worked a fulltime shift at Ethyl Corporation and immeasurable hours at home. With five children and a farm, no A/C, no microwave, no permanent-press clothes, and a wringer washer and no dryer, Mother worked around the clock, up when we arose and up when we went to bed. The ethic and example of hard work was all we knew and we each adopted it as our own.

I got on the bus in the first grade at the stop on 4-H Club Road and got off in the same place after high school graduation. I then attended Spencer Business College, got a degree, and immediately went to work at the Department of Highways, later known as the Department of Transportation and Development, where I stayed for 33 years, retiring in 2001.

During those years, I attended LSU for a time and took expository writing classes. I have always had an affinity for writing. Later, as the

single mother of a teenaged boy, another couple and I established a Livingston Parish Chapter of ToughLove and facilitated meetings. In the next chapter of my life, through directing the Singles Ministry at First Baptist Church, we founded the Caring & Sharing Singles Support Group, which I facilitated, with average weekly attendance of 40 people a meeting.

I am now an active member of Open Door Baptist Church.

After retirement, I began a new career path in journalism, photojournalism, and marketing/advertising and I did free-lance writing for local publications. I was instrumental in establishing the Livingston Business & Real Estate Journal here, serving as Associate Publisher, Editor and Marketing Exec. The LBREJ magazine was a Chamber finalist for “Small Business of the Year” after only six months of publication. I later served a year as Marketing Director and copy editor of Chalk Talk Magazine.

I have actively worked with numerous civic and charitable organizations, providing contacts, writing press releases, attending public events and organizing fundraisers. At the beginning of 2009, I started down an unfamiliar path when I was appointed by the mayor and city council to serve an unexpired term on the council and was elected to fill the seat shortly thereafter. Life's a great adventure!

I was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce in 2007 and 2009 and served as a chair person for the March of Dimes WalkAmerica. Our walk raised the most money ever in Livingston Parish at that time. I work on a number of charitable and civic committees putting on benefit fundraisers and have received a “Heart of the Community” Award for my efforts.

I also serve on the Board of Directors of the Livingston Parish Republican Women, responsible for public relations, and am a member of the Louisiana Federation of Republican Women and the National Federation of Republican Women, as well as being a member of the Edward Livingston Historical Society.

I like to help people and when I see a need, I want to fill it. If something is wrong, I want to make it right. I believe all citizens should give back to their community in some form of service. There is something we all can do. We are the community and it will be what we make it.

George Bernard Shaw speaks to me through his quote: "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

You know, I usually don't plan my route and at times I march to a different drummer. None of us always chooses the right path but I've had many exciting adventures on some very interesting trails. I hope I've made a positive difference, not only in the lives of those I love, but also in lives of those I've never met. I have led a divinely blessed and full life, complete with joys, sorrows, accomplishments and failures. I hold dear a wealth of wonderful and lifelong friends. I've known love.

I am the very proud mother of Craig Yoches and grandmother of my loves, Austyn and "Doni." I have a close family and large extended family. In addition to my home here, I have some peaceful woods on the side of a northeast Tennessee mountain and hope to someday live on the water. My "off" hours are spent walking, bike riding, fishing, reading, writing, listening to music, watching movies, beach sitting, traveling, enjoying great food and making memories with family and friends.