Otis Miles Pollard, Jr.
Otis Miles Pollard, Jr. departed this life on September 29, 2018. A native of Baton Rouge, he was born on June 3, 1937 to Mary Furlow Pollard of Tangipahoa parish and Otis Miles Pollard, Sr. of Avoyelles parish.
He is survived by: his wife of 47 years, Mary Fitzpatrick Pollard; four children - Mary Claire Pollard Parker (Jeff), Otis Miles Pollard III (Leigh), Olivia Paige Pollard (Tripp) and William Steele Pollard (Lauren); as well as ten grandchildren - Katherine Paige Parker Ragan (Hayes), Jeffrey Thomas Parker, Genevieve Pollard Parker, Olivia Brantley Hayes, Martha Kathryn Hayes, Mary Claire Lee Hayes, Emma Summers Pollard, Charlotte Miles Pollard, Sidney Alexandra Pollard, and Eliza Catherine Bailey Pollard. He was looking forward to the birth of his eleventh grandchild who will bear his name. He is also survived by his siblings, Deborah Pollard Van Hecke (Hubert) and Jeffery Augustus Pollard (Glenda), children of O.M. Pollard, Sr. and his stepmother, Lorene Spaht Pollard who predeceased him.
He was educated at University High School, where he was chosen ""Future Business Leader of America"" and also at LSU where he was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity. He left LSU to enlist in the Army at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. When he returned to Baton Rouge he joined his father in the real estate brokerage business. From 1958 until 1966, he was president of the Pollard Insurance Agency, Inc. after attending the Hartford School of Insurance. He was the owner of Pollard Estates Development Corporation, specializing in real estate development and financial investments. During the 1960s he developed Slidell Country Club Estates in Slidell, LA. In the 1970s he became co-owner, director and executive vice-president of Troy & Nichols Mortgage Company in Monroe, LA, which became one of the largest privately owned mortgage companies in the U.S. He served on the board of Iberia Bank from 2002 until 2015, on the executive committee of First Commerce Corporation, the executive committee of City National Bank, as a director of John I. Jacob shipping company in London, England, the executive committee of United Companies, Baton Rouge, LA, the executive committee of Palomar Financial Corp. in Monroe, LA and the executive committee of Kimbrough Mortgage Company in Jackson, MS.
From 1987 until 1991 he served as director of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company West, Inc., based in Atlanta, GA. He was on the board of the Burden Foundation from 1987 until the present, serving as Treasurer. He served as Chairman of the Board and also as Treasurer for Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans, LA and was on the Board of Trustees of Avon Old Farms School in Avon, CT from 1992 until 2007. He was a member of St. James Episcopal church for almost 60 years and served on the associate vestry. He served on the board of Episcopal High School from 1985 until 1988. As a tribute to his mother, Mary Furlow Pollard, he donated a library at Episcopal High School, recalling how fond his mother was of books. He was a member of the Baton Rouge Country Club, City Club of Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge Assembly, Highlands Country Club, Piedmont Driving Club, Atlanta, GA, Rolling Rock Club, Ligonier, PA, Chattooga Club, Cashiers, NC and a Men's Club in London, England. He was a founding member of Le Cercle de Bacchus, the first organization in Baton Rouge to present debutantes. He was also a member of various carnival associations in New Orleans, one of which he reigned over as monarch. He was an oenophile and member of the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin of New Orleans.
He enjoyed his trips to France exploring the vineyards of Burgundy and Bordeaux. He loved the game of golf and was fond of telling the story of Private first class Pollard playing golf with an Army General every day. Few realized that he was also enamored of the game of boules and a member of the La Galene Club de Boules in St. Remy de Provence. He would don his French beret and play with the locals while sipping pastis. Miles was first and foremost a family man, and enjoyed nothing better than being with his children, especially when he was spending time with them at Sea Island, GA or introducing them to the pleasures of London and the English countryside, skiing with them in Taos or Deer Valley or enrolling in French school with them in the south of France.
He was a true anglophile at heart, deriving great pleasure from his trips to England and his collection of books on Churchill and on English shotguns . He was a lover of Shakespeare and of all things English. He cherished the friends he made in England. He was an avid sportsman, and a member of the Section 14 Duck Club for many years. His love of the outdoors was evident in that his favorite book was Robert Ruark's ""The Old Man and the Boy"". He also served on the board of the American Museum of Fly Fishing, another sport which gave him great pleasure. His knowledge of automobiles was well known and his friends always consulted him first before purchasing their cars. His frequent advice to all for achieving success in life was, ""Just show up!"" He never went anywhere without his famous ""kit"" and could deal with any situation or crisis with its contents. It was said of Miles that he ""always knew someone you knew.""
He never forgot any detail of a friend's life, which garnered him countless friends, many of whom made a trip to Baton Rouge to visit him during his illness. Honorary pall bearers will be John W. Barton, James F. Becher, J. Terrell Brown, Daryl G. Byrd, John Carlton-Paget, John D. Charbonnet, Robert C Cudd, Louis M. Freeman, Holcombe T. Green, James H. Jenkins, Jr., William M. Lamont, Finley H. Merry, C.V. ""Jim"" Nalley III, John B. Noland, Jeffery A. Pollard, John M. Rivers, John A. Wallace, and Robert U. Weiss.
Pall bearers will be Beau J. Box, Brian C. Fitzpatrick, Thomas ""Tripp"" Hayes, J. Thomas Parker, Jeffrey T. Parker, O. Miles Pollard III, W. Steele Pollard and Philip W. Weiss. In lieu of flowers, if you choose, you may make a donation to St. James Episcopal Church, 208 N. Fourth St. , Baton Rouge, LA 70801 or a charity of your choice. Visitation will be held in the parish hall of St. James Church from 10:00 a.m.to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 6, with a service to follow. A private burial will take place at Roselawn cemetery. Arrangements have been entrusted to Rabenhorst Funeral Home.