While touring the University of Louisiana at Lafayette under a clear February sky, Dr. Harold Travasos, '48, was surprised – and proud – of how the campus has grown since his time as a student nearly 80 years ago.
The 98-year-old retired veterinarian recalled the dairy barn – which once stood where Moncus Park is now located – where he worked to earn tuition. He remembered Evangeline Hall, a women's dormitory, where he first met his wife, the former Theresa Russo, '48. They were married for 75 years before she passed away in 2023. A shared love of their alma mater led Theresa to leave nearly $1 million to UL Lafayette to support scholarships and student veterans. It was a decision he happily agreed with.
"Giving back was very important to her and to me, too," Travasos said.
An Avoyelles Parish native, Travasos enrolled at what was then Southwestern Louisiana Institute in 1942 to study dairy husbandry. With World War II underway, Travasos received a deferment that enabled him to attend college rather than be drafted into the U.S. Army. Two years into his studies, however, he enlisted. "I just wanted to go," he said.
Travasos soon found himself at Camp Beauregard (now Training Center Pineville) in central Louisiana. Travasos' infantry division was sent first to England and France, then to Belgium, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944. During the battle, his "best buddy" was killed, and Travasos was shot in the chin. The bullet entered one side and exited the other.
"Every morning when I shave, I remember it," he said. After a two-week convalescence, he returned to the thick of the action. Travasos received the Purple Heart for his bravery.
The war ended in 1945, and Travasos returned home. He resumed his studies at SLI and reunited with Theresa, who was completing her bachelor's degree in business. In 1948, they graduated and married. An Abbeville native, Theresa then taught at Forked Island Elementary School and handled bookkeeping for the Abbeville Adult Education Program.
By 1950, the couple headed to Auburn University in Alabama, where Travasos was one of six Louisiana students selected to attend veterinary school. Theresa found a job at the university and settled into their new surroundings. Travasos said she often joked that Auburn should have awarded her a Ph.T. – Putting Husband Through.
Following his graduation, the couple returned to Abbeville. Travasos practiced veterinary medicine and served as one of the first commissioners of the Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District. Theresa was at his side during his 35-year veterinary career, managing the practice, assisting with research projects and supervising her family's real estate holdings. The couple had one son, the late Todd P. Travasos.
Through the years, their love for their time at SLI never wavered. It was where they met, established goals for their professional lives and built their foundation.
"We had a wonderful life," Travasos said. "College meant so much to Theresa, to the both of us. That's why she wanted to leave something to the University. I think that's one of the biggest accomplishments of our lives."
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