RUSTON, La. – Long before he was leading the Louisiana Tech Athletics Department and Bulldog football program for more than three decades, Joe Aillet – little Joseph Fuourka – was riding an orphan train.

Louisiana Tech fans know Joe Aillet was a highly-successful football coach and athletics director during his decades in Ruston.

What many may not know is that Aillet was an orphan as a little boy.

The legendary Louisiana Tech Hall of Fame football coach was honored Saturday when a statue of him – as a little boy – was unveiled as part of the Orphan Train Rider Statue series in Concordia, Kansas.  These statues are dedicated to Orphan Train riders and their stories.

Aillet's statue is located outside of at Easy G's Sports Grill in Concordia with members of his family present for the dedication.

Below is an excerpt from the dedication – Aillet was one of three statues unveiled as part of the series this past weekend – that talks about his days as a young boy.

"He was born Joseph Fuourka on September 13, 1904, in New York City.  When the 1905 New York census was taken, baby Joseph was already living with the Sisters of Charity at the age of eight months.  Sometime around his first birthday, Joe was one of the infants and toddlers selected to make the journey to Louisiana. 

"All of the children had predetermined homes, but whoever was approved to take Joe home did not show up.  Father Johanni Rouget, the parish priest, wanted to take the baby in but priests were not allowed to do that.  Instead his housekeeper, Eliza Aillet, took in little Joseph.  After the death of Eliza's husband, she and her two younger sons and Joe, now known as Joseph Rouget Aillet, moved in with Father Rouget. 

"Joe Aillet received all of the advantages one could imagine for that time period. He received a college education, and by his senior year, 1927, not only was he one of the most popular students at Louisiana Tech, he was already the assistant football coach. 

"Joe Aillet had a long and illustrious career as a football and golf coach at Louisiana Tech. He retired in 1970 after leading the team to numerous championships.  He is in five Halls of Fame including the College Football Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame. 

"Joe married Ruby Comeaux in 1927 and they became the parents of three children: Robert, Richard, and Cynthia.  Richard "Dickie" Aillet died in 1941 at the age of three after a short battle with leukemia.  Joseph Rouget (Fuourka) Aillet died on December 28, 1971 of cancer.  The following year, Louisiana Tech University renamed their stadium Joe Aillet Stadium."

To read more about the orphan train series, go to www.orphantraindepot.org.