Billy Joe Booth
Encyclopedia
Billy Joe Booth played professionally with the Ottawa Rough Riders
in the Canadian Football League
from 1962-1970. He also played for his alma mater
s, Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge and Minden High School
in Minden
, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana
, where he was born and reared. After his football career, Booth was an electrical contractor
for the IC Electric Company in Harvey
, a census-designated place
on the west bank of the Mississippi River
in Jefferson Parish near New Orleans. Booth was killed in 1972 in a plane crash in Ontario, Canada.
of Minden. He graduated from Minden High School in 1958 and then LSU in 1962, having received a bachelor of science
degree in physical education
. At Minden High School, Booth played football from 1954 to 1957. His coach for the first three seasons was the former professional player, George Doherty
, but Doherty left Minden for Louisiana Tech University
in Ruston
in Booth's senior year. Another of Booth's coaches was his maternal uncle
, Patrick Cary Nation (1918–2005), later a school principal. Booth was designated "All-State" and the "Outstanding Blocker" in 1956. He also played baseball
in 1956 and ran track
from 1955-1958. He was All-State in track in 1957. He was an elected member of the MHS Student Council in his senior year. At LSU, he played in the 1962 Senior Bowl
.
He was the son of Coy Dexter Booth (1915–2004), who retired in 1978 from the Kansas City Southern Railway
and was formerly employed as a carman by Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
, and the former Fern Nation (1915–2001), a Minden native. Fern N. Booth's father and Billy Booth's maternal grandfather, Abraham Brisco Nation (1886-1933), was a Louisiana and Arkansas Railway foreman, the father of twelve children, and a member of the Minden City Council from 1932 until 1933, when he was shot to death in a political dispute by John L. Fort (1906-1992), a Minden businessman and son of then Mayor
Connell Fort
, with whom Nation had quarreled.
The Booths were living in Shreveport
when their son was killed. Booth married the former Janice Schouest, whom he met at LSU, and was the father of two young sons, Mike Booth (born ca. 1963) and Coy Ulysses Booth (born ca. 1965 - since deceased, automobile accident victim). He had a sister, Carole Booth Mulina (born ca. 1944), and brother-in-law, Andy V. Mulina (born ca. 1942), then of Cleveland, Ohio, and later of the St. Louis
suburb
of Chesterfield, Missouri
.Billy Booth's cousin, Kathryn Diana Nation (1946-1968), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. Webster Nation of Minden, was a young schoolteacher, engaged to be married, who was killed in an automobile accident while commuting to work.
, but his toughness and determination was said to have overcome his physical limitations. His size thwarted his ultimate goal of playing in the National Football League
. Booth's team won the Grey Cup
in both 1968 and 1969. During the 1969 season, he was named "Outstanding Lineman" in the eastern division of the Canadian Football League. He lost the coveted Schenley Award to John LaGrone
of the Edmonton Eskimos
. Booth was not compelled to retire but could likely have played a few more seasons. Many lamented his decision to leave the game and the circumstances of his ill-fated fishing trip.
denomination headquartered in Texarkana
, Texas
. After his death, the congregation of the former Central Missionary Baptist Church of Shreveport, under the late pastor Dwayne Furlow, established the Billy Joe Booth Memorial Press. Booth's father at the time was a deacon
at the church. When Central Baptist merged with another congregation, the Booths transferred their membership to the Heritage Missionary Baptist Church in Bossier City
.
Six years before his death, Booth penned a letter to his young sons informing them that he might not live as long as most people. Booth urged the boys to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ. Booth told his sons: "The good Lord has been good to me, and He will do the same for you if you will only put your faith and trust in Him." In making the letter public, Pastor Furlow added in his comments: "We need to be ready to meet God
at every moment. We do not know when our name shall be called by the Death Angel
."
in Terrebonne Parish
in south Louisiana, were killed in an airplane crash near Dorchester, Ontario
. The two were in Canada on a fishing
trip when their four-seat Piper Cherokee Arrow crashed during a thunderstorm
. Witnesses said that the plane blew up and fell to the ground, with wreckage spread over an area of some one and one-half miles. The plane was en route from Windsor
to London
but crashed some ten miles (16 km) before reaching its destination.
Booth is interred at Westlawn Memorial Park in Gretna
in Jefferson Parish.
Ottawa Rough Riders
The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. One of the oldest and longest lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, a...
in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
from 1962-1970. He also played for his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...
s, Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge and Minden High School
Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)
Minden High School is the public secondary educational institution in Minden, a small city of 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana...
in Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, where he was born and reared. After his football career, Booth was an electrical contractor
Independent contractor
An independent contractor is a natural person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when...
for the IC Electric Company in Harvey
Harvey, Louisiana
Harvey is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Harvey is on the West Bank of the Mississippi River, within the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, a census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
on the west bank of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
in Jefferson Parish near New Orleans. Booth was killed in 1972 in a plane crash in Ontario, Canada.
Biography
Booth was born and reared in the small cityCity
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
of Minden. He graduated from Minden High School in 1958 and then LSU in 1962, having received a bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
. At Minden High School, Booth played football from 1954 to 1957. His coach for the first three seasons was the former professional player, George Doherty
George Doherty
George E. Doherty was a National Football League player from 1944–1947, who thereafter was the defensive coach of the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs in Ruston and the head coach of the Northwestern State University Demons in Natchitoches from 1972-1974.-Early years and education:Doherty was...
, but Doherty left Minden for Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
in Ruston
Ruston, Louisiana
Ruston is a city in and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,546 at the 2000 census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy caters to its college population...
in Booth's senior year. Another of Booth's coaches was his maternal uncle
Uncle
An uncle is a type of familial relationship.Uncle may also refer to:* Uncle , by J. P. Martin* U.N.C.L.E., a fictional organization in the TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E....
, Patrick Cary Nation (1918–2005), later a school principal. Booth was designated "All-State" and the "Outstanding Blocker" in 1956. He also played baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
in 1956 and ran track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
from 1955-1958. He was All-State in track in 1957. He was an elected member of the MHS Student Council in his senior year. At LSU, he played in the 1962 Senior Bowl
Senior Bowl
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football exhibition game played in Mobile, Alabama which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those collegiate players who have completed their eligibility. First played in 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida, the game moved to Mobile's Ladd Peebles Stadium...
.
He was the son of Coy Dexter Booth (1915–2004), who retired in 1978 from the Kansas City Southern Railway
Kansas City Southern Railway
The Kansas City Southern Railway , owned by Kansas City Southern Industries, is the smallest and second-oldest Class I railroad company still in operation. KCS was founded in 1887 and is currently operating in a region consisting of ten central U.S. states...
and was formerly employed as a carman by Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
Louisiana and Arkansas Railway
The Louisiana and Arkansas Railway was a railroad that operated in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. The railroad's main line extended 332 miles, from Hope, Arkansas to Shreveport and New Orleans...
, and the former Fern Nation (1915–2001), a Minden native. Fern N. Booth's father and Billy Booth's maternal grandfather, Abraham Brisco Nation (1886-1933), was a Louisiana and Arkansas Railway foreman, the father of twelve children, and a member of the Minden City Council from 1932 until 1933, when he was shot to death in a political dispute by John L. Fort (1906-1992), a Minden businessman and son of then Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Connell Fort
Connell Fort
Connell Fort was a businessman and newspaperman who served as the Democratic mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in north Louisiana, from 1922 to 1926 and again from 1932 to 1934....
, with whom Nation had quarreled.
The Booths were living in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
when their son was killed. Booth married the former Janice Schouest, whom he met at LSU, and was the father of two young sons, Mike Booth (born ca. 1963) and Coy Ulysses Booth (born ca. 1965 - since deceased, automobile accident victim). He had a sister, Carole Booth Mulina (born ca. 1944), and brother-in-law, Andy V. Mulina (born ca. 1942), then of Cleveland, Ohio, and later of the St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Chesterfield, Missouri
Chesterfield, Missouri
Chesterfield is a second-ring western suburb of St. Louis and is the largest city in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census the population is 47,484. Chesterfield also celebrated its 20th birthday in 2008.- Geography :...
.Billy Booth's cousin, Kathryn Diana Nation (1946-1968), daughter of Mr. and Mrs. D. Webster Nation of Minden, was a young schoolteacher, engaged to be married, who was killed in an automobile accident while commuting to work.
Playing career
Booth was six feet tall and weighed 240 pounds. Many had considered him too small to be a defensive endDefensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
, but his toughness and determination was said to have overcome his physical limitations. His size thwarted his ultimate goal of playing in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. Booth's team won the Grey Cup
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
in both 1968 and 1969. During the 1969 season, he was named "Outstanding Lineman" in the eastern division of the Canadian Football League. He lost the coveted Schenley Award to John LaGrone
John LaGrone
John LaGrone is a former professional Canadian football player with the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos.-CFL:...
of the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
. Booth was not compelled to retire but could likely have played a few more seasons. Many lamented his decision to leave the game and the circumstances of his ill-fated fishing trip.
Personal life
Booth grew up in the Missionary Baptist or American Baptist AssociationAmerican Baptist Association
The American Baptist Association , formed in 1924, is an association of nearly 2,000 theologically conservative churches that are Landmark Baptist in their missions and teachings...
denomination headquartered in Texarkana
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. After his death, the congregation of the former Central Missionary Baptist Church of Shreveport, under the late pastor Dwayne Furlow, established the Billy Joe Booth Memorial Press. Booth's father at the time was a deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
at the church. When Central Baptist merged with another congregation, the Booths transferred their membership to the Heritage Missionary Baptist Church in Bossier City
Bossier City, Louisiana
Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total population of 61,315. Bossier City is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport, located on the western bank of the Red River. The Shreveport-Bossier City metropolitan area is the...
.
Six years before his death, Booth penned a letter to his young sons informing them that he might not live as long as most people. Booth urged the boys to turn their lives over to Jesus Christ. Booth told his sons: "The good Lord has been good to me, and He will do the same for you if you will only put your faith and trust in Him." In making the letter public, Pastor Furlow added in his comments: "We need to be ready to meet God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
at every moment. We do not know when our name shall be called by the Death Angel
Death Angel
Death Angel is a Filipino-American thrash metal band from Concord, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released six studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and two live albums....
."
Death
Booth and his friend, James W. Magee, Jr. (1938–1972), of Morgan CityMorgan City, Louisiana
Morgan City is a city in St. Martin and St. Mary parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 12,404 at the 2010 census....
in Terrebonne Parish
Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
Terrebonne Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Houma. Its population was 111,860...
in south Louisiana, were killed in an airplane crash near Dorchester, Ontario
Dorchester, Ontario
Dorchester is the residential and commercial core of the municipality of Thames Centre, located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, a few kilometers directly east from the city of London. According to the Canada 2006 Census, the town has a population of 9,329....
. The two were in Canada on a fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
trip when their four-seat Piper Cherokee Arrow crashed during a thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
. Witnesses said that the plane blew up and fell to the ground, with wreckage spread over an area of some one and one-half miles. The plane was en route from Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
to London
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
but crashed some ten miles (16 km) before reaching its destination.
Booth is interred at Westlawn Memorial Park in Gretna
Gretna, Louisiana
The city of Gretna is the parish seat of Jefferson Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. Gretna is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just east and across the river from uptown New Orleans. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area...
in Jefferson Parish.