When Frank Rachal graduated from Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now UL) in 1959, the engineering major from Lebeau left Louisiana to further his studies at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

He was recruited right out of college by Westinghouse and worked for the company in its Pittsburg, Pa., and Baltimore locations for 35 years before retiring to Columbia, Md.

He never lived in Louisiana again, but it seems his heart never left.

"No matter how far he goes, his roots bring him back to Lafayette," said Sherry Broussard, librarian at UL's Edith Garland Dupre Library.

Rachal's fascination with his Creole heritage has prompted him to write the historical fiction novel Jean Baptiste: Louisiana Creoles of Color and the Civil War. He published the print-on-demand book through iUniverse.com, an online publisher.

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Judy Bastien
jbastien@theadvertiser.com