More than just gas

The elderly woman slowly pulls into the filling station and parks her four-door car right in front of one of the three gas pumps.
A middle-aged man comes out of a small building and takes part in a little small talk with the woman before proceeding to fill her car up with gas, as well as clean her windshield, check air pressure in the tires and take a look under the hood.
The woman then hands the man her credit card which he goes into the small building and swipes to process her payment. The man hands the woman her receipt and the two exchange pleasantries before the woman drives off with a tank full of petroleum and a smile on her face.
That “Andy Griffith Show”-esque scene of early 20th century Americana culture was commonplace across small towns all across Louisiana. With the interstate expansion of the 1950’s though, the days of full-service filling stations in small towns and rural highways has essentially become a thing of the past, nothing more than a faded memory.
Except that scene is exactly what one finds at H.L. Pitre & Sons Inc. located at 1538 E. Main Street in Ville Platte. The Pitre family has been providing friendly full-service to its customers for more than six decades.
“We are all the way full service,” co-owner John Pitre said. “We take a lot of pride in that.”
The original Pitre’s was a blacksmith-repair shop located on LaSalle Street which opened up in 1954 by John’s late father, Howard L. Pitre better known as “Cayou,” and John’s brother-in-law J.D. Ortego. That location was closed in 1958 when the business relocated to the present location on East Main Street (known to residents for decades as Opelousas Road).
Not only was Pitre’s known as a full-service filling station, it was also known as a small engine machine shop, a lawn mower repair shop and a gathering place for locals.
“He served people all of his life,” 72-year-old John said about his father. “Our father took great pride in running his business and serving the people here. That is in our blood.”
John began working at the station, which for years had a B.F. Goodwrich sign standing atop the canopy, when he was 10-years-old in 1954. John would pump gas after school and on Saturdays, and his younger brother Charlie would follow suit a few years later.
After graduating from Sacred Heart School, John went on to study elementary education at the University of Southwest Louisiana (now known as University of Louisiana-Lafayette) for two years before returning home and working for the family business.
John also served in the United States National Guard.
“After my family this is my life,” John said. “We just try to help the people that come here anyway we can. We just try to provide a service to the people. There is nothing fancy with what we do.”
The location isn’t fancy and hasn’t changed all that much in the nearly 60 years it has been opened. In the early 1990’s, the gas pumps had to be moved back 35 feet because of the highway expansion, which also caused them to restructure the main building. For nearly a year, there was only one entrance in and out of the filling station.
“That was pretty a good headache,” John said.
Inside the small cement block building there are shelves filled with faded old Florida Queen cigar boxes consisting of small auto parts. In the back, Rubber belts hang from the ceiling, and there are shelves layered with boxes of parts from Briggs & Stratton and Tecumseh, some of which haven’t been touched in years.
That doesn’t mean that there isn’t life at the station.
Even though John and his brother Charlie no longer have a staff that works on engines, the filling station still offers plenty of essentials for car-owning residents.
H.L. Pitre & Sons Inc. of course offers gas but also provides inspection stickers, tires, oil changes and can fix flats. Stop by any morning or afternoon and you will see plenty of cars and trucks coming in and out of the location.
Customer service is what keeps people coming back.
“They are very efficient, convenient and more importantly trustworthy,” said Danny Fuselier, who has been a customer at Pitre’s for 40 years.
“They like our service,” 67-year-old Charlie said. “The older people they like that full service. They come to us and they trust us.”
John and Charlie are partners with their sisters Jean P. Reed and Delores P. Dunn, and the family isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon.
“We just try to give them the best shot at good service that we have,” John said. “We appreciate them. We enjoy what we do. We love it.”
“It means a lot to us because this was our daddy’s place,” Charlie said. “And we are keeping it going.”