Henry Eugene Yoes III
Henry Eugene "Gene" Yoes III is an attorney. He is also the editor and publisher of the Racing Pigeon Digest, a magazine dedicated to the sport of racing homing pigeons. Gene is a descendant of Nathan Carroll Yoes, Sr., who arrived in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1800 and died in Louisiana in 1826.
He began researching the Yoes family history in the late 1960s, while a student at Louisiana State University. He earned two degrees from Louisiana State, a BS degree in Social Studies Education in 1971 and a Juris Doctorate Degree in 1982.
After graduating from LSU in 1971, he worked as the associate editor for the St. Charles Herald, a family-owned weekly newspaper. While working at the paper, he researched and authored "A History of St. Charles Parish to 1973," a parish/county history of one of the oldest settlements in North America. He also authored "An Annotated Bibliography of Louisiana Materials" for use by librarians. While working at the Herald, Gene earned several awards and distinctions. Most notably, he was awarded the Community Service Award -- the highest honor awarded by the Louisiana Press Association -- for his investigation of political corruption in St. Charles Parish.
In 1979, he returned to LSU to obtain a law degree, and subsequently practiced law in both New Orleans and Lake Charles. He is currently a solo practitioner in Lake Charles, specializing in litigation.
In 1992, he started the Racing Pigeon Digest, which has grown into the largest racing pigeon magazine in the USA. In addition to being the author of several articles and columns on the sport, he has also won many national and regional competition awards, as well as several futurities.
Besides breeding and racing pigeons (and genealogy and writing,) Gene enjoys travel (especially in his motorhome), photography, and gardening.
He is married to Melody Louise Walker Yoes, and they have five sons: Henry E. Yoes IV, Travis Thomas Yoes, Chad Christopher Yoes, Brandt David Yoes, and Brett Stephen Yoes.