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A HISTORY OF THE  ALEX C. "FROG" HANDLEY FAMILY

By A. C. Handley, Jr.

Alex C. Handley was born on January 5, 1905, in Patterson, Louisiana, to Alex C. and Jeanne Duplan Handley. His father was superintendent of the Williams Lumber Company sawmill in Patterson, later in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. His first job was as timekeeper and swamper for the Williams Lumber Company.

Alex "Frog" Handley attended Patterson High School, and later, Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

He went to work with Gulf States Utilities Company on October 21, 1924, in Port Arthur, Texas. In 1928 he was moved to Nederland as superintendent of the Midcounty region, and he continued to live here until his death on February 20, 1966.

About 1928, Gulf States built its new office in Nederland at 11th Street and Nederland Avenue, across from Weingarten Shopping Center and the old Fair Store building, in a building that for many years now has been a paint store. At that time, a railroad spur crossed 11th Street and ended up at the rear of the Gulf States building, which had a large storage room for ice in back. Ice manufacturing and distribution was a major part of Gulf States Utilities' business activities in those days, and each morning for many years a refrigerator box car, filled with ice, was sidetracked onto that railroad spur to be unloaded.

A. C. Handley was married to Holyn Eloise Whitley, who was born in Hammond, Louisiana on May 17, 1905. They became the parents of two sons, A. C. Handley, Jr., who still resides in Nederland with his wife, and Phil W. Handley, who resides in Richardson, Texas. About 1952, the Handley family bought the former home of Mrs. Pearl Niewoehner at 1304 Avenue A, and they resided there until their deaths.

Holyn Handley lived there until February 28, 1989, when she died following a small house fire in her bedroom which burned her severely.

While living in Patterson, "Frog" Handley acquired the nickname of "Bunny," which he did not like. Shortly after arriving in Texas, people began calling him "Frog," a nickname that he liked and always wanted to be called. At any time after 1928, A. C. "Frog" Handley loved Nederland very much, and he would never have chosen to reside elsewhere.

"Frog" and Holyn Handley are fondly recalled and are still sorely missed by their sons, grandchildren, and a host of friends whose lives they touched.