Bill Breithaupt
Masonry Contractor
1889-1972
Bill met Elizabeth Burns in 1919 and they were married in 1920. In 1921 they moved to Shreveport permanently. Bill did brickwork for many general contractors in Shreveport & Bossier City; Tom Ashley, J.P. Durham and F.E. Griffin. He also began buying materials from Builders Supply Co. in the 1920’s.
In the early part of 1921 he started doing his own contracting, figured the jobs and furnished the labor.
Later on he furnished the materials and hired his own bricklayers, as well as laborers. He did the job “figuring” on his kitchen table; doing all the arithmetic the long hard way and wore out many pencils. Bricklayers were making $13 per day and Bill had plenty of work. When he worked steadily he was about the highest paid man in Waterside (eastern part of Shreveport.) Bill also taught the bricklaying trade to all his boys. He thought it was important for his sons to have a trade to fall back on.
Joe Breithaupt
1924-1983
Founded Company in 1953
In the spring of 1943 Joe graduated from Byrd High School and was drafted into the Army Air Corp. After passing the examination for Aviation Cadet he trained as a pilot in Texas, Arizona and California.
In 1944 he received a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant. World War II ended about the time
his training was complete and he was separated from the service in 1945, but he stayed in the Army Reserve.
Joe enrolled at Centenary College in Shreveport in 1946. In 1949 he began working part time as an apprentice bricklayer. He completed his college work in 1950 and received a BS degree with a major in Commerce in 1951.
He met Bette in 1946 while at Centenary. They were married in 1950. After marriage, Joe continued to work as a bricklayer. In January 1953 Joe started construction on his first house and thus his new career as a homebuilder began. He designed, remodeled and built houses until his death in 1983.
