Helen & Mimi Pratte

Helen Elaine Schwent was born in 1924 in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, the second oldest continuous settlement in the Louisiana Purchase. She was the oldest of five sisters born to Thomas and Aleda (nee Winters) Schwent.

After graduation from high school, Helen moved to St. Louis to begin working for Rice Stix Dry Goods, the largest company west of the Mississippi River. She move up through the ranks of the company to become secretary to the vice president of sales. It is here that she met George Pratte, who she married in 1949. After marriage, she and George moved to Louisiana to begin raising their family.

When most of the children had left the house, Helen herself went to college as a non-traditional student, graduating as valedictorian from Northwestern State University before earning her master’s degree in Business Education. After graduation, she went on to a successful career as Assistant to the President of Buford Television in Tyler, Texas. She passed away in 2014 at the age of 90.

Mimi Genevieve Pratte was born in 1964 in Natchitoches, Louisiana, the youngest of nine children born to George and Helen Pratte. An avid athlete who lettered in multiple sports, she graduated from T.K. Gorman High School in Tyler, Texas in 1983. She pursued a career in the restaurant industry in both Tyler and Austin after graduation. Much like her mother, Mimi went back to college as a non-traditional student to finish her degree while battling cancer for 23 years. Unfortunately, she was not able to finish her degree before her death in 2015.