More About the Builders
From the 1967 Shreveport Magazine article written by Tom Herline:
W. S. Rhea, 59, the oldest active home builder in Shreveport, has built some 1,500 homes in the area. A native of the city, he attended Shreveport schools. He first became associated with the building industry in 1932, when he joined the real estate department of First Federal Savings & Loan. He has attended courses in business law. In 1939, he
left First Federal and went into business with his own crew of workmen, and has been helping Shreveport grow residentially ever since. He is married and lives at 701 Wesley, in North Highlands.
Mr. Rhea has been instrumental in helping to start numerous modern sub-divisions in Shreveport. He helped open up Anderson Island, Broadmoor Terrace, Country Club Hills Units I , 2 and 3, Rose Park Units I and 2, sections of Broadmoor, and is building in Spring Lake Estates now.
A past president of the Home Builders Association of Shreveport-Bossier, Mr. Rhea now serves on the association’s board of directors. He is a member of the National Association of Home Builders and is a member of the Louisiana Real Estate Brokers Commission.
W. A. Colquitt, 43, has built 300 houses in Shreveport during the past 18 years. He has lived in Shreveport since he was 16, and attended Centenary College. In business for himself for the past 16 years, he is married, and lives at 1802 Audubon Place.
Mr. Colquitt has built homes in Pierremont Hills and Spring Lake Estates, both residential pace-setters in Shreveport.
Mr. Colquitt is a member of the Masonic order, the National Association of Home Builders and the Shreveport-Bossier Home Builders Association.
G. W. Hunter, 53, has built approximately 250 houses in Shreveport. He has been in the home construction and contracting business since 1945. He is married and has four daughters.
A native of Logansport, Mr. Hunter has been building houses since 1938, when he drove his first nail as a carpenter. He worked as a carpenter until he became an independent builder.
He has built homes in Broadmoor Terrace, Southern Hills, University Terrace, North Highlands and Pierremont Hills. He is a member of the National Association of Home Builders, Shreveport-Bossier Home Builders Association and the Carpenters Local. He is also a member of the Holly Ridge Hunting Club.
Hunter’s philosophy of building is that a quality product is the best form of advertising there is.
Doyle L. Wise, 29, is president of Miller & Wise Construction, Inc., and Lannon E. Miller, 32, is secretary and treasurer of the firm . They have constructed some 230 houses in Shreveport, building in Western Hills, sections of Southern Hills, Highland Park and rural off-site construction.
Miller and Wise are members of the Shreveport-Bossier Home Builders Association and the National Association of Home Builders. In addition to home construction, they have built a number of commercial buildings, including First Southern Methodist Church and additions to several elementary schools in the city.
Mr. Wise was born and raised in Pleasant Hill, La., and went to work for a Shreveport building corporation in 1956 as a carpenter. From 1958 to 1962, he managed a lumber yard for the firm. Then in May 1962, he set out on his own in the building business.
Born in Robeline, La., Miller attended Northwestern State College. He has worked for the National Bank of Bossier and Motor Securities Company. He entered the home construction field in 1964 as an independent builder.
Miller and Wise teamed up on January 1, 1966, and during their first year in business together built and sold 64 houses and three commercial buildings.
During his 15 years in the building field, Elmer L. Berry, 50, has constructed some 200 homes for the Shreveport market.
Born in Cleburne, Tex., Mr. Berry has been a Shreveport resident since 1939. He graduated from Lufkin High School, and attended the University of Texas. He has been carpentering since he was 13 years old, but entered the field professionally after graduation from high school.
He has built homes in Country Club Hills, Spring Lake Estates and Kingston Terrace, Ridgewood and Lambert Park sections of Southern Hills. He is a member of the Masons, National Association of Home Builders and Shreveport-Bossier Home Builders Association. He is a past president of the Association and is now secretary-treasurer.
Charles E. Arnold, 50, was born in Arkansas, but has lived in Shreveport since he was six years old, attending Fair Park High School. He first began building homes in partnership with his brother, Don, in 1950, and since then has built some 160 houses in the Shreveport subdivisions of Broadmoor Terrace, University Terrace and Parham Park and Brookwood section of Southern Hills.
For the past seven years Mr. Arnold has been in business for himself. He is a member of the Shreveport-Bossier Home Builders Association, National Association of Home Builders, Masonic Lodge No. 438, and was formerly vice president of Arnold Lumber & Supply Company.
Mr. Arnold moved into the building industry by rail. He worked for the railroad for 20 years, and was a stationmaster when he retired in 1956. He is married and has one child.
Roy J. Fulco, who has built numerous houses in Anderson Island, Southern Hills and Broadmoor Terrace subdivisions, has been in the real estate business since he first got his license in 1946.
After he graduated from high school be went into the army. Following the war, he served with the FHA for ten years as their chief appraiser here. Then he went into business for himself. He is a member of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers, Shreveport-Bossier Board of Realtors, National Association of Real Estate Boards, Shreveport-Bossier Home
Builders Association, National Association of Home Builders, Elks Club, and is second vice-president of the Louisiana Chapter of American Right-of-Way Association.