Major General Erbon W. Wise has a wonderful garden. There is a winding road that takes one through hundreds of azalea and dogwood, 200 camilla and 50 citrus trees, some mayhaws, blueberries and figs. The ponds on his forty acres of pine tree forest north of Sulphur have lovely wood bridges. The ducks know when feeding time is near and begin to call. Wise is calm and relaxed. His work on the property keeps him in shape.
"Usually on a pretty day like this all year around there are photographers who come out here to take pictures of brides, seniors or babies," Wise said.
He has a wonderful life to remember and a wonderful family to share his retirement.
One can google his name and find the legacy of his several careers.
"I was born in 1920 on a farm in a big log house. My parents lived in Leesville, but as was the custom at the time, my mother went back to her parents' home to have her baby. Both my mother and father were educators when I was born," Wise said.
Wise is the son of Edmond W. and Eula (Bridewell) Wise. He has two younger brothers who are twins. Wise graduated from Boise High School, outside Alexandria in 1937. He followed his father and his mother, and many other Wise family members, and attended State Normal College (now Northwestern University). He graduated in 1941 in agriculture.
"My father was a teacher, and then a principal for many years. My mother taught all her life. My father had gone into banking in the 1920's. He had a bitter outlook after the depression. He had been forced to leave his business career and go to farming like many others.
"He did have cattle. He leased land near Boise in 1934. I grew up milking cows. The depression was awful. There was no government help. Feed for the animals, household items, medicine--everything was so expensive. It hit my daddy hard. It was a pretty bad life for us all. I studied by lamplight.
"When I went to college my father said, 'We are farmers. Go study agriculture.' So I did," Wise said.
"I met my wife at Natchitoches where she was a student in the college. When I graduated I had a teaching job at Bordonlonville. I was teaching everything--basketball coach, biology, civics, math, algebra, geometry and more! It was a job. I made $70 a month---$25 for room and board, $35 to pay on a car, and $10 toward the diamond ring for Marie. I was living at home. Otherwise there wouldn't have been enough money.
"Then Pearl Harbor happened. I enlisted right after that," he said.
Marie Norris of Natchitoches and Wise were married in July of 1942 before he was sent overseas.
"I was sent to Officers Candidate School and was commissioned Second Lieutenant. I was in the 91st Bomb Group. In September of 1942, I was in the first convoy of Americans to be sent to England," Wise said.
He was in the U.S. Army Air Corps until the war ended. He participated in four campaigns. He was at the Normandy Landing at Utah Beach and in the Paris Liberation.
"The war was bad. It was worse than any movie," he said.
He was able to personally meet Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Lyndon Johnson and French President Charles De Gaulle.
"I have been back overseas 25 times. I had made lots of friends in Europe, especially in England. My favorite country to visit was Ireland. My great grandfather on my father's side came from Ireland to Louisiana. My mother's family was English/Irish. I've done lots of geneology on the families," Wise said.
Many of the 19 books Wise has written are on his and his wife's genealogy.
About 15 years ago, the Wises donated approximately 4000 genealogical books to the Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge. The library in the archives is now named the Erbon and Marie Wise Genealogical Library to honor their gracious gift.
The Wises also traveled to many other countries around the world where they made more friends. There are many snapshots of them and their friends in the many places in the world their interests brought them. Wise has created a collage of these photos to remember their travels to 85 countries. Wise has also traveled to every state in the United States.
"We made seven or eight trips to Ireland. The Irish people are the most friendly people in the world. They are so warm. Everyone is your friend and wants to talk to you and help you out. Their English is very formal, so it takes a while to talk easily with them," Wise said.
Wise's journalism career began when World War II ended in 1946. He bought the Maplewood Star. When Wise was in school at Natchitoches studying agriculture, he became involved in publishing the school newspaper, the Current Sauce. He was guided by Professor Ralph Ropp. That was the only training he ever received in journalism, but he enjoyed it very much.
"My wife and I published the Maplewood Star for five years and then my daughter began working on it. The Sulphur paper came up for sale, so I bought it. Then I bought the Leesville paper and then all the Guide newspapers in the New Orleans area--they had six down there. We had newspapers all over the state.
"I made a daily paper out of the Sulphur, Leesville and DeRidder papers. Then I started a weekly paper in Westlake, Iowa, Vinton and Moss Bluff.
"Marie had a weekly column on genealogy for 25 years that was quite popular in many newspapers all over the state.
"I bought a printing press that printed so much faster than most presses at that time. Newspapers from all over Louisiana would have us print out their paper. For quite a few years, we were the only press of that kind in this region. Those years were really busy until others began to update their presses," Wise paused.
Wise became publisher of 36 daily and weekly newspapers and court news publications.
He has written the book, "A Maverick Builds Newspapers in Louisiana" to tell that story in his life.
Wise continued to serve his country commanding the reserve units in Lake Charles for some years. In the middle of his newspaper career, the country was at war again in Vietnam.
"In 1964, I was appointed Adjutant General of the state of Louisiana. That meant I was head of all civil defense activities and the selective service (the draft) in Louisiana.
"I was Commander of the very historical Jackson Barracks of New Orleans. Those were difficult times to serve with all the civil rights issues and racial turmoil that is not here now," he reflected.
Wise was promoted to Brigadier General.
He received the Louisiana Distinguished Service Medal and the Outstanding Civilian Service Award from the Department of the Army.
He received his promotion to Major General, AUS in 1967 before he retired in 1969.
"I was happy to retire in 1969. I had written two books before my retirement but most came during retirement. I wrote two autobiographies--one told of my newspaper years and the other of my military years. I enjoyed writing the second one the best. I had saved everything--at least 200 letters and orders--just everything. I had the most fun going through it all as I was writing the book," Wise said.
The book is titled "My Military Years (1941-1969)."
The Wises have two sons and two daughters who have all been very successful in their professions. He has nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Family time is still important to all of them. For important family getaways, they own a lodge in the mountains above Estes Park, Colorado. Big game hunting, great fishing, and breathtaking views of Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park are a part of the attraction for the family. They named the retreat Olympus Ten. Mount Olympus in Greek mythology is "the home of the celestial gods." Ten acres of land surround their home.
"Every other year I go with family or friends to Alaska for King Salmon fishing. I enjoyed big game hunting there as well. My biggest kill was a grizzly bear," he said.
In 1991, the couple created the Erbon and Marie Wise Education Trust to fund advanced education in newspaper-related fields. In 2004, the Erbon and Marie Wise Endowed Chair in Journalism was established at Northwestern State University to insure that students would have one of the best professors of journalism there to teach them.
Because of all his support for the university, he was placed in the Northwestern State University Hall of Distinction. The foundation board gave Wise a special honor.
"They gave me an honorary doctorate in humane letters (journalism). I'm quite proud of that honor. That was just a few years ago in 2004," Wise said.
"We owned the paper for 50 years, from 1948 to 1998. We sold it for three reasons. None of my children wanted it although they all had worked in the paper. We were getting up in years. I'm 88 now. And the big companies like Gateway with their big money were buying up the small papers.
"I miss it--very much so. Not many towns this size have daily papers.
"We've enjoyed living in Sulphur. We love the people. We love having the home here. We are grateful to all the people of Sulphur who have been so kind to us," Wise said.
Loving Sulphur as he has, Wise also wrote "Brimstone, The History of Sulphur, Louisiana."
Wise walked outside. He began talking about the plants and trees, the fruits and flowers. He said it was a beautiful day.
Sulphur, La. —
