Paul Desbon Cordes Sr.
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth Date: 6 Jun 1920 - New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Christening:
Death: 27 Jul 2005 - Mandeville, St. Tammany, Louisiana, USA
Burial: in Mandeville Cemetery Mausoleum, Mandeville, St. Tammany, Louisiana, USA
Cause of Death:
Find A Grave ID: 138020477
Parents
Father: Frederick Cordes
Mother: Annette Desbon
Spouses and Children
1. *Mary Elizabeth Skelly {FGID: 138020532}
Marriage: 8 Nov 1948 - Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Notes
General:
Per Times-Picayune August 31, 1964 Page 53Marriage Notes (Mary Elizabeth Skelly)
Paul Cordes to Take Oat as Mayor of Mandeville
Ceremony Will Be First in 20 Years
By John Fahey
MANDEVILLE, La. '97 This small lakeside community will witness the first mayoral inauguration in 20 years, when Paul D. Cordes is sworn into office Tuesday.
Newly-appointed Judge Gus Fritchie Sr. of Slidell will administer the oath of office at the Mandeville town hall at 11 a. m. to Cordes, four new councilmen and a returning council veteran.
Rev. John LeBlanc, Rev. Julian Burke and Rev. C. G. Aultman will be participating clergymen. Councilmen to receive the oath are Gary Baudot, Dennis Bechac, William Parks, Althea Thompson and Francis Eastman. Eastman is the only returning councilman.
FIRST OFFICE
This will mark the first elective office ever held by Cordes, 44. He defeated Clay Prieto in a second primary election. Prieto had served for the past 20 years as Mandeville's mayor.
Cordes was educated in New Orleans schools. He was freshman class president at Tulane University and left there in 1942 to join the United States Air Force. He served as a bomber pilot for three years and completed 50 missions in the Middle East. .
Upon his return from service, he began his employment with Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co. in the sales and administration. In 1957, Cordes was transferred to St. Tammany Parish as manager of this parish
office. He has retained that position through the years while working on community development programs.
The mayor-elect is a 4th degree member of the Knights of Columbus He was appointed by the St. Tammany police jury to the parish planning commission as a charter member and was elected by this body as secretary for two years. He has also been elected to serve as its chairman, his present post.
C OF C WORK
In 1962, he reorganized the Mandeville Chamber of Commerce and served as its president for two years. He is also a member of the Slidell Chamber of Commerce.
Cordes is married to the former Mary Elizabeth Skelly and the couple have three children: Paulette, 14; Paul Jr., 11; and Elizabeth, 6. Mrs. Cordes' father, Joseph P. Skelly, was a commissioner in New Orleans for some years.
"I plan to bring in more residents to the Mandeville area by letting folks know what Mandeville has to offer. We, the council and I, hope to be able to convince light industry that we have the facilities that they need for their businesses. We hope to beautify the lakefront and make Mandeville one of the resort spots of the parish, a reputation it once proudly claimed," Cordes stated.
Civic organizations of Mandeville, in order to advance civic participation, have planned an inaugural reception to be held at the Golden Shores Clubhouse from 7 to 9 p. m. Tuesday. The newly inaugurated officials will
be guests of honor along with invited state, parish and neighboring city officials.
Col. Lennard Rohrbrough will serve as master of ceremonies at the oath ceremony, with Louis Zollinger as general chairman of the mayor's and town council inaugural committee.
Per Obituary in theTimes-Picayune (New Orleans, La) July 30, 2005
Paul Desbon Cordes, credited with being Mandeville's first modern mayor, died Wednesday at his home. He was 85. Mr. Cordes was mayor from 1964 to 1976, and is credited with spearheading the purchase of woodlands that later became the site of the City Hall and Police Department complex. A small wooded park, with playground area and tennis courts, on some of that property Thursday was officially renamed The Paul D. Cordes Park . Family members will attend a public ceremony at the park unveiling a monument bearing Mr. Cordes' name.
"He was a very close personal friend for a long time," Councilwoman Adelaide Boettner said. "He was first and foremost a gentleman at all times and even more just a very gentle man. "I think the legacy of Paul Cordes is that he had the vision to see during his tenure that the city was about to become rapidly transformed from a sleepy fishing village into a bustling city because of the completion of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway," Boettner said. "He had the foresight to look at what was then wilderness alongside a just opened East Causeway Approach and convince the council to purchase it," Boettner said. "Sadly, he never got to preside as mayor inside the current City Hall, which was opened in mid-July of 1976 and his final term ended in early July of that year."
Mr. Cordes was born June 6, 1920, in New Orleans and lived in Mandeville for 47 years. He graduated from Fortier High School and attended Tulane University. He moved to Mandeville in 1958 as an executive of the Southern Bell Telephone Co. and retired in 1985 from South Central Bell Co. after 45 years. He was a real estate broker and appraiser and owned Cordes Real Estate for more than 50 years.
Mr. Cordes was an Army Air Corps captain in World War II, serving as a B-24 pilot. He was awarded the Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Bronze Battle Star.
He was a member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, where he was a Eucharistic minister. He was past president of the Holy Name Society, a fourth-degree knight in the Knights of Columbus and the recipient of The Order of St. Louis Medal. Mr. Cordes was a member of the St. Tammany Parish Hospital board, the Mandeville Municipal Police Employees Civil Service Board and the board of American Bank and Trust Co. He was a past president of the Mandeville Chamber of Commerce, the St. Tammany Municipal Association, the Greater Mandeville Federal Credit Union, Meals On Wheels, the Young Men's Business Club and the Krewe of Olympia. He was a lifetime member of Telephone Pioneers of America and member of the Pontchartrain Yacht Club.
Survivors include his wife, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Skelly Cordes; a son, Paul Desbon Cordes Jr; two daughters, Paulette Marie and Elizabeth Skelly Cordes; and two grandchildren.
A Mass will be said today at noon at Our Lady Of the Lake Catholic Church, 316 Lafitte St., Mandeville. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Mandeville Cemetery Mausoleum. E.J. Fielding Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Per Obituary in the St. Tammany News (Covington, La) August 1, 2005
CORDES
MANDEVILLE - Paul Desbon Cordes, 85, died Wednesday, July 27, 2005, at his residence. He was a native of New Orleans and a resident of Mandeville for the past 47 years.
He was a graduate of Fortier High School and attended Tulane University. He was a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII serving as a B-24 pilot in an early special operations unit of the Office of Strategic Services. He was awarded the Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Cluster, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and Bronze Battle Stars for serving in the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaigns. His unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
Cordes moved to Mandeville from New Orleans in 1958 as an executive of the Southern Bell Telephone Company and retired in 1985 from South Central Bell Telephone Company after 45 years of service. He was a real estate broker and appraiser and owned and operated Cordes Real Estate for over 50 years. He participated in numerous church, civic and charitable activities. He was an active member of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Mandeville. He was a Eucharistic minister, a past president of the Holy Name Society, and Fourth Degree Knight of the Knights of Columbus at Our Lady of the Lake. He was a recipient of The Order of St. Louis Medal. He served as a retreat co-captain for Manresa Retreat House where he was a retreatant for over 50 years.
He served as Mayor of Mandeville from 1964 to 1976. He also previously served as a Democratic Central Committeeman. For the last 20 years, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the St. Tammany Parish Hospital and served as the Board's chairman from 1993 to 1998.
He also served on the Mandeville Municipal Police Employees Civil Service Board and the Board of Directors of the American Bank and Trust Company. He was a past president of the Mandeville Chamber of Commerce, the St. Tammany Municipal Association, the Greater Mandeville Federal Credit Union, Meals on Wheels of Mandeville, the Young Men's Business Club of New Orleans, and the Krewe of Olympia. He was a past member of the Louisiana Economic Development Commission and the Board of Directors of the Citizens Bank and Trust Co. He was a Life Member of the Telephone Pioneers of America and a member of the Pontchartrain Yacht Club.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Elizabeth "Betty" Skelly Cordes; three children, Paulette Marie Cordes, Paul Desbon Cordes Jr., and Elizabeth Skelly Cordes; two grandchildren, Paul Desbon Cordes III and Marcel Alien Cordes; and daughter-in-law, Karen Heausler Cordes. He was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick Robert Cordes and Annette Desbon Cordes; and his sister, Elizabeth Cordes.
Religious services were held Saturday at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church. Entombment was in Mandeville Cemetery Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, donations to Our Lady of the Lake Catholic church in Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish Hospice Service or St. Tammany Parish Hospital Foundation, are requested.
E.J. Fielding Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Per Findagrave.com Paul Desbon Cordes
Birth:Jun. 6, 1920
Death:Jul. 27, 2005
Burial: Mandeville Cemetery Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, USA
Created by: DGW
Record added: Oct 30, 2014
Find A Grave Memorial# 138020477
Per Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La) November 10, 1948 Page 32
Miss Mary Elizabeth Skelly, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Skelly, became the bride of Mr. Paul Desbon Cordes. son of Mrs. Frederick R. Cordes and the later Mr. Cordes last week at the Church of the Holy Name. The bride, given in marriage by her father, wore a gown of white slipper satin fashioned with a bertha of heirloom princess lace. Her veil of illusion was caught to her head with lilies of the valley and she carried a bouquet of lilies of the valley and a prayerbook.
Mrs. Morton R. Campbell, sister of the bridegroom was matron of honor and Miss Maura Ann D'Antoni, niece of the bride. was maid of honor. They wore dresses of Stuart green velvet and carried white amazon lilies.
Mr. Cordes had as his best man, Mr. Albert J. Nugon, Jr., and as the groomsmen and ushers, Mr. James T. Skelly, Dr. Joseph S. D'Antoni and Dr. Andrew J. Kreller, Jr. The reception was held at the home of the bride's brother-in-law and sister, Dr. and Mrs. Joseph S. D'Antoni on Calhoun street. Mrs. Skelly received her guests in a soldier blue crepe dress worn with matching blue hat trimmed with plumes. Assisting her in receiving was Mrs. Cordes, the bridegroom's mother, who wore a gray satin and a gray hat trimmed in pink roses.
Later in the day the young couple left on a wedding trip to the Smoky Mountains. The bride's going away costume was a pearl gray gabardine suit and forest green accessories .