Weldon Granger named King of Cattle Festival

Weldon Granger has been named the King of the 68th Annual Louisiana Cattle Festival.
The event will take place in Abbeville from Oct. 13-16.
Weldon Granger was born in 1946 to Willis and Edith Granger of Erath, Louisiana. He was the second of 11 children, 7 boys and 4 girls. The son of a sharecropper and salt miner, Weldon graduated from the local high school and went on to college at USL, now University of Louisiana at Lafayette, following behind his older brother, Harris. Weldon, in turn, helped the next child in line get to college, and this continued with all 11 children.
It was there that he met his wife of 46 years, the late Fran Debaillon Granger. They had three children, Jennifer, John and Jason and now have 7 grandchildren, ranging in age from 10 years down to two infants. The Cajun culture is ingrained in the family as they often visit Erath and Weldon’s parents, still going strong well into their 90’s. They attend Erath’s July Fourth Festival each year, and boiled crawfish are always a great favorite in the spring.
After graduating from UL Lafayette, Weldon’s professional career began at Monsanto Chemical Company in Texas City, Texas and, after attending Houston College of Law, began his law practice in 1974 in a legal field specializing in the railroad transportation industry. During that time, he has founded and invested in a number of companies and ventures including banking, oil and the hotel business.
Over the course of his career, Weldon Granger has received many awards and honors, foremost among them being named as a Distinguished Alumnus by UL Lafayette in 1995. In 1998, he and Fran established The Willis Granger and Tom Debaillon Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Francophone Studies at UL Lafayette.
His love of art has inspired him to be a patron for many young artists around the country. Over the course of his career, Weldon has served on many and varied boards, including Frost Bank and others in Houston, The Museum of Western and American Artists, The Regis School of the Sacred Heart, St. Thomas High School, San Jacinto Hotel Corporation, founding member of the Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys, and many others. A special charity has been Guide Dogs of America, which provides seeing eye dogs to deserving participants at no cost to the individual, and which honored Weldon Granger in 1993 with the Gift of Sight award.