The Word on the Streets

Faith. That simple word best describes Bill and Georgia Street, an unselfish and giving couple who are celebrating 53 years of marriage this year. Their faith abides in their God, in their family, and in the future, and is underpinned by a deep, abiding faith in the constancy of their own love for one another. Their devotion to these – as well as their decades long, optimistic presence serving our community – make them November’s BayouIcons.

Article by Georgiann Potts | Photography by Kelly Moore Clark

Bill and Georgia Street share everything. Since being introduced by a friend who thought they might enjoying each other, these two have made a life together that has not only enriched them, but has also enriched everyone they’ve encountered. They love both working and volunteering together (Bill danced in the Junior Charity League’s Follies years ago and the couple still enjoys watching the video of that wonderful evening), and cherish those times when they get to play together. Grandchildren and travel offer many opportunities for these “play” times!

BILL’S EARLY YEARS
Bill Street’s parents, Justin Eugene Street and Inez Harper Street, welcomed their second son Bill to their home in West Monroe. Bill had 2 brothers (Joel, the oldest, and Jimmy, younger) and 1 sister three years younger (Elizabeth “Liz”). They attended Millsaps School and brother Joel attended Ouachita High School since West Monroe High School did not yet exist. The younger siblings started school at Millsaps and then attend Crowville schools.
One of Bill’s fondest memories is of “Petunia” — his pet goat. Bill’s dad built a wagon so that Petunia could pull Bill around. As one might predict, the goat was not always obedient and eventually pulled Bill through a ditch. The wagon flipped over and Bill suffered a cut on his eyebrow. Such “home accidents” back then were handled by mothers armed with hydrogen peroxide and a band-aid. That’s exactly how Bill’s mom handled the injury.

When Bill entered high school, the family moved to Crowville where his dad opened the Street Insurance Agency (located today in Winnsboro and owned an operated by Bill’s younger brother, Jimmy). Cooking was one of Bill’s mom’s most famous skills, and he remembers her frequently having their extended family over for feasts served on her beloved collectibles, Milk Glass dishes. While she would substitute teach when needed, for the most part Bill’s mom was a homemaker, devoted to her family and the home they shared together.

Bill’s extended family included aunts and uncles whom Bill was very close to. His Aunt Alma and Uncle Emanuel played important roles during Bill’s high school years. While she was working on a M.Ed. away from home, Alma hired Bill to do chores for her when she returned to Crowville on weekends. One summer, Emanuel hired Bill to work in his pharmacy in Mangham. These jobs provided Bill with a way to earn extra money during high school.

GEORGIA’S EARLY YEARS

Georgia’s parents, George Edward Humphries and Sibyl Thornton Humphries, were delighted to welcome their first child, a daughter. Four years later, a son, Eddie, was born, and 6 years after that, another son, Randy, arrived.

The children grew up in Winnsboro, living on the same property during Georgia’s entire childhood. When Georgia was in junior high school, her parents built a new house next to their old home right there. That stability was key to Georgia’s own sense of stability. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father was a small business owner – just like Bill’s. And like Bill, Georgia loved her aunts and uncles, too. Her dad’s siblings were hunters and fishermen, so there were frequent cookouts and fish frys. As for her dad, he was neither a hunter nor fisherman, but he loved tending his garden. Georgia still remembers his fresh vegetables and the wonderful pecans he would pick up for her at the “Old Home Place” in Fort Necessity.

Georgia was very active in high school and remembers those experiences fondly. “I was active with the Beta Club, the Future Homemakers of America (FHA), and president of the Library Club,” she remembers. “For FHA, I remember making my purple jumper with a lavender blouse and modeling it in a school style show,” she adds. “I’m sure I would be horrified today!”

Her leadership qualities were noted, and Georgia represented Winnsboro High School at the Leadership Conference at LSU when she was a senior. She loved the experience, if not the sunburn that she got while there.

Georgia was not only the oldest of her siblings, but also the only girl – a birth order that Georgia says made her “ . . . very responsible and nurturing.” While birth order certainly does impact one’s personality, there were several things during Georgia’s childhood that helped shape the giving and loving person she is today.

Her father was a WWII veteran, but – like so many of that era – never talked about his experiences. What the children knew was that their dad had spent a year in a hospital after he came home from the war, a year in which doctors managed to save his feet from what was at the time considered almost certain amputation because of their having been frozen in the war zone. Georgia’s father promised God that if his feet were spared, he would start a church. He kept his feet, and he kept his promise.

Georgia tried often to get her father to talk about his wartime experiences, even buying him a tape recorder once to encourage him. He never took it out of the box. Still, there were clues. His choosing gardening over hunting, for example, may very well have reflected his desire never to lift a gun again once war for him was over. Georgia’s quiet persistence paid off eventually when he finally gave her a glimpse into that period. She learned that her dad had been in an Army promotional film while he was in London, and had also met war correspondent (and later media personality) Andy Rooney.

Like so many other families, at that time the Army did not yet have rules about how many sons from the same family could be drafted. As a result, Georgia’s dad and 3 of his brothers served at the same time. His youngest brother, Tommy, was mortally wounded by enemy fire and died from bleeding before help could reach him. That tragedy changed all of their lives. The fear was rekindled years later when Georgia’s brother, Eddie, was drafted for Vietnam. He survived, but the memory of Tommy was always present, and always will be.

MENTORS AND THE COLLEGE YEARS

After graduating Crowville High School as salutatorian, Bill learned that he was to receive the first Ouachita National Bank Scholarship to be awarded to a student living outside of Ouachita Parish. With that scholarship and his own hard work, Bill enrolled at Northeast Louisiana State College (now ULM) majoring in Business Administration and minoring in English and accounting.

During his years at NLSC, Bill served on the Student Government Association (SGA) all 4 years and was the Southeast Representative for SGA. In addition, he was very involved in his professional fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon. While a student, Bill became great friends with Dr. Dwight Vines and worked in Vines’ office before Vines became university president.

Georgia enrolled in summer school at Northeast Louisiana University immediately after her high school graduation. She chose a double major – elementary education and library science. Although she toyed with the idea of earning a degree in psychology (those were her favorite classes), Georgia ultimately felt that elementary education – working with children – was what she wanted to do.

While in school, Georgia met 5 women who were to influence her life for decades. Miss Guice, Georgia’s high school English teacher, and Mr. Hoover, her speech teacher, were both important role models.

However, it was the librarian at Winnsboro High School, Miss Berry, who taught Georgia the importance of following rules and assuming responsibility. Georgia still laughs about the time Miss Berry was bragging about her being such a mature young lady for one so young. “Well, we had just had a school dance and another teacher of mine said that Miss Berry should have seen me dancing last Saturday night,” Georgia says with a giggle. “Having grown up Baptist, dancing was my ‘secret sin’. Thank goodness that is no longer so!”

At college, Dr. Kathryn Vaughn, Zanona “Zip” Flynn, and Nan Copeland were all special mentors to Georgia whom she has never forgotten. “What a blessing to have these fine ladies care for me,” she says. “I discussed everything with them, and they gave me excellent guidance. They were true inspirations at a time when I needed them most.”

LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING

Bill began his post-college career working as a credit manager for Houston Shell and Concrete in Houston, Texas. His brother, Joel, a geology graduate, found work there as well, and for a time Bill lived with Joel and his family. After awhile, Bill decided that Houston was too big and crowded, and he moved back to Monroe.

One of Georgia’s friends from growing up in Winnsboro, Wydell Ellerman, was working with Bill at Monroe Office Equipment (where Bill would serve as chief financial officer for 24 years) and decided that Bill and Georgia should meet. After she introduced them, Bill and Georgia began dating seriously. On January 22, 1966, they were married — and not without something of an adventure!

Bill had a close friend Rev. Jerry Polk (they had gone to high school together) who was a Baptist minister in Dubach, and so the wedding was planned for there. The congregation was giving their reception, and Bill’s mom was making the wedding cake. Georgia was between semesters, so she was very happy to complete her finals and prepare for her wedding.

On their wedding day, the bride and groom awakened to an unexpected (and rare) ice storm that had closed all of the roads. There was no way to get to Dubach. The happy couple quickly changed their plans and were married that same afternoon in Georgia’s home church in Winnsboro. “We changed ministers, churches, photographers, florists — and Bill’s cousin, Marilyn Sartor, even went to the cemetery to get greenery for the wedding cake table!” Georgia recalls.

FAITH AND FAMILY

Bill remembers with pride how much Georgia loved his parents, and how much they loved her. “When Georgia was doing her student teaching at Sherrouse Elementary School, my mother would make her an outfit each week so that she would have something new to wear,” he says. “When Daddy came to town, he would take Georgia shopping at Brookshire’s. Each time Mother came, she would bring a coconut or chocolate pie, or a coconut cake.”

Bill’s mom’s cooking became a bond between the two women. Bill knew that Georgia never ate dressing because she hated it. Apparently her mom used large amounts of sage in her own dressing, and that was the part that Georgia didn’t like. Once she tasted his mom’s dressing, Bill says “ . . . Georgia couldn’t get enough of it!”

The young couple spent many weekends in Crowville where Bill would visit with his parents while Georgia did homework and school projects. They started attending the Crowville United Methodist Church where they befriended young pastor Bob Burgess and his wife, Peggy.

When Georgia graduated from NLU, she worked at the Ouachita Parish Public Library’s main branch. There she had the privilege of working with Frances Flanders, and credits that time as a great experience. “I met many lovely people, and thoroughly enjoyed being a circulation librarian,” she says. When their first child Mike Street was born, Georgia resigned to become a full-time mother and homemaker. Three years later, she and Bill welcomed a second son, Chris.

Bill and Georgia embraced the role of parents with joy! As their sons grew, the family could be seen at Friday night ball games (they worked the concession stand at Neville) and actively supporting the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scout camp-outs, Courts of Honor, tap outs, and trips to Philmont (when Georgia admits to offering more than one prayer that their sons wouldn’t be eaten by a bear) all provided their sons with focused fun that was also character-building. School trips and church ski trips were always on the Street family’s list of “to do’s.”

Mike is a labor law specialist practicing in Monroe, and their daughter-in-law Jennifer is assistant librarian at Neville. They have one son and two daughters. Chris does R&D for Schlumberger in Houston. His wife, Samantha, is an accountant. Both of these “next generation Streets” are doing well and bring much joy to Bill and Georgia.

Bill and Georgia have always been active in their church, wherever they have lived. When they moved to Monroe and started their family, they became members of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church. Their involvement included everything from teaching pre-schoolers to supporting the hand-bell choir.

The couple team-taught a Sunday School class for two-year-olds at St. Paul’s, and still cherish memories from that time. Bill recalls, “It is such fun to run into those children’s parents today and have them comment on the things we did in Sunday School. They say that they still have the Christmas ornaments that we would have each child make each year in class.”

Bill’s creative gifts are well-known throughout the community. Whether designing breath-taking floral arrangements for his church (“His creativity and love of God are expressed through those flowers,” Georgia says), or playing in a church hand-bell choir, Bill’s love for life and for his community is ever-present. The hand-bell choir was at St. Paul’s, and Bill was a performer in the group who called themselves “The Ding-a-Lings.” “We Ding-a-Lings had so much fun traveling to special conferences on bell playing and performing for other churches trying to start a bell choir,” Bill remembers. “Georgia’s job was to pray for each one of us by name before a performance.”

A CLOWN AND A CAUSE

When Georgia accepted an invitation to join the Junior Charity League, she could not have known where that volunteerism would lead. Again, her leadership abilities were noted and she became president of that group. While serving as president, she was invited to serve on the founding board of directors for the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). While she was serving as vice president of the RMH board, she was tapped to become the Executive Director.

Today, some 30 years later, Georgia still loves going to work at this special sanctuary for ill children and their families. Her nurturing personality combined with an aura of personal warmth and caring for others that cannot be “faked” have made Georgia the perfect choice for this important community role. Even though she admits that keeping up with ever-changing technology is a challenge, she nevertheless relishes this unexpected career.

“Service is the rent we pay for living” is not only Georgia’s favorite saying, but it could very well also be the perfect motto for Bill and Georgia’s marriage. Both feel real passion for their community, and both are willing to do their part to make it the best possible place for future generations to live. Although both have received numerous awards through the years for the work that they have done, none will be more precious to them than to see everyone in Monroe working together to make it the best city in Louisiana.