John “Wesley” Compton, Sr.

Born in Meridian, Mississippi in 1920, John “Wesley” Compton, Sr., moved to the Gulf Coast as a young man. He began working with his father on the electrical systems of the popular Buena Vista Hotel. After serving in the US Navy, he assumed ownership of the electrical business.

It was when “Big Bill Kennedy” took Wesley to the Chandeleur Islands on a fishing trip that he fell in love with the islands along the Gulf Coast. This inspired him to purchase the 32-foot Mary Jack and take his family to the islands frequently. As his family grew, Wesley decided they needed a bigger boat, so, in 1958, he purchased the Happy Landing.

  The Biloxi Lugger was constructed in Biloxi by Jacky Jack Covacevich for the Happy Landing Restaurant located in New Orleans and was used for entertaining guests and gambling on the Mississippi River.

On the Happy Landing, Wesley would bring his family, friends and even friends of friends to the Chandeleur Islands for fishing trips. Soon, Wesley decided to juggle his electrical contracting business with charter trips aboard the Happy Landing. Only with his failing health in the 1980’s did he hand the reins of the charter business over to his youngest son, Mark, who ran the charter for the next twenty years.

John “Wesley” Compton, Sr. was a member of the Sunkist Country Club, Elks Club and Biloxi Chamber of Commerce, for which he served as Director in 1957. He even entertained Mardi Gras royalty aboard the Happy Landing prior to the Biloxi parade.

After a life well-lived on the Gulf waters, Compton passed away in 1995. For his many years of service to the fishing community along the Gulf Coast, he is recognized in the Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum’s Heritage Hall of Fame.