Junction Boy Dennis Goehring remembers the late Billy Pete Huddleston

Key notes from Dennis Goehring interview

• I'm excited to be talking about one of my best friends in life and the influence he had on me. From the time I met Billy Pete Huddleston and the two years I was roommates with him, it was always enjoyable to be associated with him. All of my roommates were engineers. I think I learned more about life, how to live life, and how to be so generous from all of my roommates.
   
• Billy Pete was a very generous guy. I think he was a genius. The way Billy studied was incredible. He helped me with my studies, as well. He was a great friend, and you could count on him in any situation.
   
• We met through football, and that's how we got to be close. That's how that friendship began. We went to Junction together, and we faced that adversity together. With those types of situations, you've got to see them as negatives and positives. I learned a lot in Junction. I went out there without a scholarship because Coach Bryant didn't think I was a football player. I went out there and earned it. Junction was a huge stepping stone in all of our lives. We learned more there than in our textbooks. There were some hard times, but when we came back from Junction, we knew we could handle pretty much anything.
   
• Billy Pete was a halfback. I think he had the best running ability of any of our running backs. He could stop and go. He was like catching a rabbit. He was a good football player.
   
• There's no question about the type of person he was off of the field. After he passed, I was trying to remember all of the times he positively influenced me. I could think of one story, and it goes like this: so many times, coach Bryant would try and test people in order to earn his blessing. Coach Bryant once told a teammate of mine that he didn't want me around anymore. I told Billy Pete to "go tell that old SOB that I'll still be here when everyone else is gone." So, Billy Pete went and told coach Bryant. I picked a fight with Billy Pete over that, and he was surprised it was me, of all people, who wanted to pick a fight with him. I had to explain the whole story to him. I had to explain that I had to prove I was tough enough because I didn't have a scholarship. Coach Bryant let me stay on the team. That fight with Billy Pete probably allowed me to stay on the team. It was my way of showing coach Bryant I could still play. Billy Pete told me after that he was glad he could take one on the chin for me and let me stay on the team.
   
• He was successful in the oil business. He had visions of how to recapture oil that nobody had ever thought of. He went out to a field in Louisiana that other engineers couldn't do anything with. He made it work and made tons of money. In the field that he developed, he was able to put together a funding system for Princeton. He has given Princeton several million dollars. I know it was huge for him.