"Don't wait to buy real estate. Buy real estate and wait." --- Will Rogers
As a twenty-two-year-old Lieutenant in 1960, Don Spiers - with an unparalleled work ethic - was doing quite well. Continuing his duty at the Bogalusa Fire Department eight business days per month and his work for Ventilite Building Specialties, he was making bank, as kids call it today.
With the purchase of a spacious lot on Dogwood Drive for $1200 and the arrival of their son Don Arnold in early April, the Spiers contracted with renowned local builder Milton Rider for the construction of a new family home for the then princely sum of $12,000. The 1,250 square foot brick home - Don's foray into real estate construction - was in accordance with a house plan from a book he bought from Snowden's Drug Store. Their home on Dogwood was, in fact, the first of some 400 homes that he was instrumental in building in the forty years that followed.
Making the acquaintance of his brother Glynn's friend Doyle "Pee Wee" McMillan, who was in the insurance and real estate business (mainly insurance) and who helped him secure the home loan from Tideland Life Insurance Company, Don was galvanized. And meeting R. Morton Roche at the Washington Bank was the turning point. Not only did Don learn the ropes of interim financing and discount points, but also he developed a remarkable, lifelong friendship with Roche, a colorful character to put it mildly.
Don sagely noted that in the 1960s there wasn't a single real estate company solely selling real estate in Bogalusa which, at that time, was bustling. Preparation met opportunity. Detecting a desperate need in our area for "a real estate specialist," Don filled the bill. A quick study, he took the test in Baton Rouge for his real estate license, acing it with flying colors and becoming a real estate broker almost overnight. Working first for McMillan on commission, Don sold a host of homes to the firefighters and other Bogalusans. He found his calling. Real estate became Don's province.
But wearing many hats, he became a campaign consultant in 1962 for his father. Arnold Spiers, running against well-respected incumbent C. P. Verger and another gentleman by the name of Joe Adams, was elected to the office of Bogalusa Commissioner of Public Safety, over both the police and fire departments. Also in 1962, Don was elected Secretary of the Professional Firefighters Association of Louisiana and was promoted to Fire Driver, just beneath Captain. In addition, he was active in the International Firefighters Association. And as an Officer and Platoon Leader of Company B of the Louisiana National Guard, he finally resided in the coveted BOQ. Not only were there private toilets at camp but Don had his own driver, Archie Julian. His cup runneth over.
The year 1962 - in the words of Frank Sinatra, "[i]t was a very good year." Don formed McMillan-Spiers Real Estate and Construction Company, Inc., with Doyle McMillan, becoming partners in real estate. The real estate business surged with Section 235 Federal Housing Administration housing and 100% financing for first time home buyers. McMillan and Spiers built fifty-two homes from 1962 to 1966. But nothing lasts forever.
In 1966 Arnold was defeated in a heated reelection campaign for Commissioner. And short on time, with a monthly National Guard commitment which was consuming it, Don sent a letter of resignation, resigning as Executive Officer of Troop B, to Colonel Cecil Ellzey, the Commanding Officer of the National Guard Battalion - and my father. I learned from Mr. Don's autobiography "The Boy from Bogalusa" and also his missive to me that resigning his Commission was one of the few regrets of his life. And Daddy tried to dissuade him, calling and asking him not to resign. My father offered to transfer Don to the Bogalusa unit where he would be a Headquarters Officer. But with his mind made up, he declined the opportunity, moving forward with his resignation - more's the pity. Back to Sinatra, Mr. Don wrote of his decision, "regrets…I've had a few."
And things went from bad to worse. The dearth of mortgage money, at that time, was a recipe for disaster. With funds tight in the real estate business, McMillan-Spiers Construction Co. folded but not before Mr. Don, taking the high road, personally paid off their creditors. Don Spiers was down but not out.
Forging ahead, in November of 1966, the Spiers family moved into their newly built home on Gaylord Drive, in the exclusive Founders Drive subdivision in Bogalusa. The skies were not all gray. Prudently putting his Army OCS training to use, Mr. Don redefined his mission and developed an efficacious course of action. With his first cousin Seymon Hartzog, who also had his real estate license, Don returned to the real estate business, successfully listing and selling homes from 1967 to 1969. Mortgage money was readily available again. With VA mortgages and FHA insured mortgages to be had, they resumed residential construction, building 86 new homes from 1969 to 1973.
Then, Don and wife Georgia, who became a licensed real estate agent, formed Don Spiers Realty, Inc., in 1973. They were joined by friend and former Fire Chief Alva "Bugs" Myers, also a licensed real estate agent. Ms. Georgia was honored with a prestigious award from the St. Tammany Realtors Association for over $1 million in annual sales. She amazingly sold a slew of homes, averaging around $18,000 each, to amass this sort of volume. The real estate business, once again, burgeoned.
•Stay tuned for next week's conclusion of this series, as Don Spiers diversifies - with a bank and railroad - and organizes the Krewe of MCCA.
