History in the making

Bobby “Doc” Deshotel has spent his career making history through his desire to help people
Image

From working along side some of the greatest doctors to call Evangeline Parish home, including Frank Savoy, to becoming the longest serving school board member in the State of Louisiana, Bobby “Doc” Deshotel has spent nearly half a century making history through just his desire to help people.
While the early part of his life was spent growing up in the Vidrine/Redell area, it was his chosen career of medicine and fate that would eventually lead Doc and his wife, Joella F. Deshotel, to the community of Basile.
“During my residency I was working at Tulane Hospital, I remember telling everybody at the hospital that if they get anyone that speaks French, to let me know,” said Doc. “One of my patients ended up being the mayor of Basile, and he told me, ‘I want you to come to Basile.”
It didn’t take much convincing to get Doc to move to Basile in 1963 once he returned to Evangeline Parish.
Doc said, “When I came to Basile, the people were like me. They were from the country, so it made the move here very easy.”
He settled into his work as a doctor, and in just a short seven years, the passing away of a patient led Doc straight into the arena of politics, which was something the long time politician and his wife say they never thought he would have been a part of.
Joella said, “He wasn’t the least bit interested in politics.”
Doc then added, “Honestly, I hated politics. We’d go to family gatherings and they’d all start talking about the president. They all had an opinion, and it was the biggest noise and hoorah that you ever saw. I would leave and go outside to not have to hear it.”
How he felt about politics didn’t matter though, because soon he would answer his calling to serve the community of Basile in two different political positions.
Doc said, “The school board member at the time, Red Bacon, had ended up in the hospital, and when I went to check on him, he was dead. I was then asked to become school board member, and decided that I would do it.”
Doc served the remaining two years of Bacon’s term before running for the seat that he has now filled for 48 years.
It wasn’t long after becoming a school board member that Doc was then approached and asked to run for Mayor of Basile. With his feet now wet in politics, Doc couldn’t say no.
“The town was in pitiful shape, and at that time you could hold two public offices,” said Doc. “Someone talked to me about running and I said, ‘Okay,’ and I won.”
During the 1970’s Doc was wearing three hats. He was a doctor, a school board member, and the mayor.
His time as mayor was short lived. After just five years he was forced to give up his position as mayor when he was sued for holding two elected positions.
Doc said, “There was another man that wanted to be on the school board because he liked to control people like the mayor, but he found out he would have no luck controlling me. The man wanted me to resign, but I told him, ‘I am not resigning. You will have to sue me.’ That way it would show that the government made me give up my position as mayor.”
Before being forced to decide whether he would remain a school board member or the Mayor of Basile, Doc spent five years building up the community where he raised his five children.
“All of the white buildings you see when you come to Basile were built during the five years I was mayor,” said Doc. “One houses the police department, one is a community center, and we built a place for city hall.”
What seems to make Doc most proud about the construction of these buildings in Basile was the fact that “all of these buildings were built without the people putting one cent up.”
Doc said, “This was all paid for with grant money that Gillis Long helped us get and with money from the federal government and companies who donated the money to the town.”
Not long after bringing the town up to a new caliber, Doc was forced to leave his position as mayor after the courts decided that an individual could not hold two elected offices at the same time.
Deciding between school board member or mayor was easy for Doc, who said, “Education was more important and I wanted to be a part of making sure our children had a better education. That’s why I chose to stay a school board member.”
During his tenure as school board member, Doc has become famous for being able to pass bonds for the purpose of improving school buildings, increasing coaches pay at Basile, building a track and for providing classroom supplies.
“Every single bond I have called has passed,” said Doc. “I had a school board member ask me one time, ‘How do you get people to vote for these bonds?’ I told him, ‘You tell them the truth about what it is for, and they will vote for it.’”
Through those bonds Doc has been able to implement major renovations at W.W. Stewart Elementary and Basile High School. The latest of which has included a brand new cafeteria for the high school and a gymnasium at W.W. Stewart.
The gym at the elementary school is one that Doc said he had tried to get during consolidation.
“Judge Melancon, who had made the schools consolidate, had also made Evangeline Parish call a 4 mill tax for school repairs and he was suppose to make a gym at W.W. Stewart,” said Doc. “We had to go meet with him every month, and he would just talk and talk and scratch his head. I wouldn’t listen to what he was saying because it was a lot of bull. But when the tax passed, I went and asked him about our gym and he said, ‘Well, you know the 2x4’s went up. They cost more now.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir, but if you wait longer then the cost will be even higher.’
“I don’t know what they did with the money, but we didn’t get our gym.”
Doc’s major goal as school board member has been to fight for the things his schools need, and to make sure the Basile schools were not left out when it came to receiving money for updates, repairs or additions. One example of this was when Doc attempted to get a fence around the track at BHS.
Doc said, “One time a board member had gotten a fence built around the school in Ville Platte with no bids. So, I went and I told him I wanted a hurricane fence around the track at Basile, and he said, ‘Okay, I guess I’ll vote for it.’”
Doc then continued, “When it came time though, he didn’t vote for it. Two or three meetings later he said something about it, and I told him what he had done wasn’t right. He tried to deny that he told me he would vote for it, but then I took out my recorder and said, ‘Do you want me to play the tape for everyone to hear exactly what you said?’ He didn’t know what to say then.”
Eventually, Basile would get their hurricane fence around the track, and Doc’s surprise recording was the start of recording all school board meetings.
With improvements to the Basile schools, Doc said the performance of the students began to improve. This is something Doc also says couldn’t have been done without the support of the principals and teachers who have worked at W.W. Stewart and BHS over the years.
Doc said, “Everything I have tried to get for our schools has been what the principals tell me they need because they know their school better than anyone. I asked Mrs. Christine Bacon what they needed at W.W. Stewart, and one thing she wanted was a bathroom and sink in every classroom and that’s exactly what we did for them through a bond. This has helped keep students out of the halls during class time, and students don’t have to worry about possibly missing important information because they had to leave the room to go to the rest room. With the improvements like that being made over the years, we started noticing the school’s performance getting better. After a while both of our schools started getting A’s and B’s.”
Unlike in the past school board members now have term limits in Louisiana, which means Doc only has one more term left to serve before he calls it quits.
In his last four years, if re-elected this November, Doc has no intentions to stop making it possible to continue to improve the Basile schools.
Doc said, “If I am re-elected this year, my plan is to continue doing what I have always done for our schools. It’s about the students, and making sure they are given the best possible education that we can provide.”