Roy E. Bodet -Years Served: 1939-1942

Roy E. Bodet was born September 3, 1888 in Brunswick Georgia to Laurence & Annie Bodet. He graduated from Loyola University with an A.B. degree in 1907.[1] He received his MD from Tulane University in 1912.[2] He married Anita Teahan on August 31, 1913 in Clay County, Florida.[3] He taught at Loyola University prior to World War I but with the start of the war he enlisted in the draft on June 15, 1917 while living in Ward 6 in New Orleans. After the war he joined the U.S. Public Health Service and his first assignment, given on November 20, 1919, was working in Louisiana on plague eradication and vessel fumigation which kept him there until 1929.[4]

Based on his expertise in plague eradication, Bodet would eventually work in a wide range of other locations including Mobile Alabama (1929-1932)[5], Puerto Rico (1933-1936)[6], San Pedro California (September 17, 1937-1938)[7] and Boston, Massachusetts where he served as the commanding officer from July 1, 1939 to April 30, 1942.

He was the eleventh Public Health Service physician to oversee Boston’s quarantine system since Mayor Curley transferred it to the federal government. During the war years he managed the quarantine affairs of Boston harbor from its dockside offices near the downtown Naval Pier. During his tenure, Gallop’s Island had been turned over for military use so Bodet made no use of it during his years in Boston. In 1941, despite moving the quarantine operation the Navy pier and the onset of World War II which disrupted world shipping, Boston continued to see significant activity with 596 vessels, 27,022 seamen and 2959 passengers passing through quarantine. In addition 13 naval vessels were given radio pratique. The following year, Bodet’s staff inspected 848 vessels, 20,023 seamen and 2,147 passengers.[8]

According to Census records he lived in Newton, MA during his years in Boston, probably a welcome prospect for a man with two young sons. By 1944, he was promoted to Assistant Chief, Foreign Quarantine Division Washington DC.[9] He passed away in October 1954 and is buried in St. Louis Cemetery Number 3, in New Orleans, LA. [10]

[1] Loyola University. 1912-1913, p. 113

[2] Polk's Medical Register and Directory of North America, 1914-1915, Thirteenth Revised Edition, p. 403; 1912 Tulane University Jambalaya, p. 152

[3] Accessed online: http://franmuse.com/clay/marriage/GroomsB.html

[4] Loyola University Bulletin, 1917-1918

[5] Official register of the United States, 1931, U.S. Civil Service Commission, Washington DC., 1931, USGPO, p. 27

[6] Official register of the United States, 1934, U.S. Civil Service Commission, Washington DC., 1935, USGPO, p. 26; Official register of the United States, 1933, U.S. Civil Service Commission, Washington DC., 1933, USGPO, p. 26

[7] Official register of the United States, 1937, U.S. Civil Service Commission, Washington DC., 1937, USGPO, p. 25

[8] Annual Reports of Quarantine Transactions for 1941 and 1942, prepared by Roy Bodet, National Archives & Records Administration, College Park, MD

[9] Letter from Roy Bodet to Surgeon D.F. MaGuire dated December 21, 1944, National Archives & Records Administration, College Park, MD

[10] Accessed online: http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/orleans/obits/times/tpi1954.txt