PETER S. FORD

 LOUISIANA TRAPSHOOTING HALL OF FAME

1999 INDUCTEE

Peter S. Ford is inducted into the Louisiana Trapshooting Hall of Fame in its initial class of inductees as an acknowledgement of his hard work for, and stewardship of, the sport of trapshooting in Louisiana.

Peter, better known as Pete or “Goob,” was born October 24, 1958, at Amarillo, Texas, and grew up in the Texas Panhandle.  Pete graduated from Tascosa High School in Amarillo.

Pete was familiar with the Arcadia, Louisiana, area from visits and moved to the Bienville Parish in the late 1970’s.  Pete soon fit right in with the people of his adopted community.  While residing in Arcadia, Louisiana, Pete was active in community affairs and on civic matters.  Pete was a successful real estate investor and operated a mini storage complex in the Arcadia community.

Pete married his lovely wife, Missy, after coming to Arcadia.  He had two children, Chastin and Brent.  A proud father, Pete coached little league baseball.  Pete loved the outdoors and also sought to instill this love in his children.

Pete was active in the formation of the Arcadia Gun Club and joined the ATA in 1989.  Pete shot actively in several states and attended the Grand American from 1992-1996.  Pete won trophies at the Louisiana State Shoot and earned placement on the Louisiana State Team through his shooting.

However, Pete’s major accomplishments in trapshooting were in his contributions to the sport.  In addition to being a founding member of the Arcadia Gun Club, Pete served as its president for several years.  Pete was elected Vice-president of the LTA but wound up practically performing the duties of the President due to unforeseen circumstances which occurred that year.  Subsequently, he was elected President of the LTA three times and he guided the association through a very difficult period in its history.  In his service as President, Pete was called on to make many challenging decisions concerning the association and he made them all with a view to doing what would best serve the sport of trapshooting and its participants in Louisiana.  Pete gave up the LTA presidency in 1996 but continued to serve the shooters of the state by acting as an alternate ATA delegate until his death.

Pete was more interested in seeing others have a good time than he was in shooting a good score.  He could often be found pulling, scoring, cooking, or doing whatever was needed to make a shoot successful.  He was well known for his wide smile and cheerful personality.  Pete was Louisiana trapshooting’s “Mr. Hospitality.”  Pete was an excellent mimic and almost all of his contemporaries can recall laughing at Pete’s stories of various events and mishaps.

During his shooting career, Pete registered 23,400 singles, 18,300 handicaps and 14,200 doubles.  Pete especially enjoyed doubles shooting.  A traveling trophy in Pete’s memory has been provided to the LTA to be awarded to the high Louisiana shooter in the doubles championship at the state shoot.

Pete died in a tragic auto accident on November 20, 1996.  With his passing, trapshooting lost a great supporter.  Pete’s induction into the Louisiana Trapshooting Hall of Fame is made in recognition that the backbone of trapshooting is people who contribute their time and effort to build and promote the sport.

 LTA Hall of Fame Committee

April 27, 1999