Bessie Thibodaux

Bessie Thibodaux
Sex	F
Spouse	Paul Thibodaux

Bessie is the wife of Paul Thibodaux who runs the Twillingate phone company.

Bessie met Paul during WW2 and when Bessie's father grew ill in the late 1940's, the couple took over her father's phone company in Twillingate, Florida. Bessie's father had started it sometime in the 1910's. Bessie operated the manual switchboard until Paul (with assistance from Mark Gravengood) installed a dial central office surplussed from Southern Bell.

Paul and Bessie attend the Rev. Sprague's Baptist Church and are a central part of the town and its communication, including gossip. Bessie knew everybody and where they'd likely be found as she connected folks by phone. People in Twillingate didn't use phone numbers in 1971, but told Bessie who they wanted to talk to.

Bessie is described as "an immensely fat dark-haired woman". She was seriously ill in the fall of 1971, making repeated visits to the hospital in Perry, FL. Rev. Sprague's wife worked the switchboard as best she could during Bessie's absence. She went into the hospital for gall bladder surgery in Tallahassee at the beginning of November 1971 with Jackie Archer working the switchboard. The surgery was successful and by the middle of November she was able to sit at the switchboard for an hour at a time. To keep Bessie from overworking, Jackie cooked her first Thanksgiving dinner.^ROC28

Paul and Bessie did not have children and had apparently passed away sometime before 2000.^FtS28