Myrlene Shemper

Florrie Myrlene Cumbest was born on February 23, 1931, to Mack Elvis Cumbest and Florrie Almeda Goff Cumbest. She grew up in the Creole/Wade Community in Jackson County and married Israel “Buddy” Shemper, Jr. in 1950. In 1954, the couple moved from Pascagoula to Biloxi to a property Buddy and his father secured in a trade. On this property located at the foot of Crawford Street and Bayview Avenue, a surplus store and Shell Oil service station were on the north side of the street with a seafood shed on the south. It was here that Buddy and his father ran a scrap metal business, serviced the trucks of seafood dealers and used waves to lift boats out of the water for repairs. When his father died in 1954, Buddy decided to purchase his own shrimp boat and learn how to harvest shrimp. He eventually opened the seafood shed that had been vacant on the property.

This was the beginning of Buddy and Myrlene’s journey into the seafood business and the

establishment of Shemper Seafood Company. With their own two shrimp boats and fleets of boats from Louisiana unloading their catches at the Shemper’s docks, fresh shrimp were sold to local seafood processors in Biloxi and to the public out of washtubs.

In addition to their shrimp business, Myrlene spent countless hours in the oyster shed where local oyster shuckers would open the oysters for packing and canning. The oysters were canned under two brands – Shemper Brand and Miss Leah Brand, named after her daughter. With a very competitive oyster market on the Mississippi Coast, the Shempers extended their reach to the Alabama markets.

In 1963, with their shrimping business booming, the Shempers built a retail market to expand their niche in the seafood industry. While Buddy managed the shrimp boats and trucks, Myrlene managed the newly opened retail market, carrying not only shrimp and oysters, but a variety of seafood. After Hurricane Camille struck the Coast in 1969, the size of the retail market was doubled and became a popular place for locals, tourists and restaurants to get their fresh shrimp oysters, crabs and fish.

Myrlene could be found in the retail market from sunrise to sunset, six days a week, tirelessly working to ensure her market was clean, inviting and well stocked. She would often be seen packing ice chests for tourists to bring home fresh seafood, cleaning fish or teaching customers how to properly boil shrimp and crabs. Often people would come by to see what Myrlene was cooking for lunch that day. The retail market and its large client base were a source of pride for Myrlene, as many people came back year after year to buy fresh seafood from her.

After more than 30 years, the retail market was leased to a fellow businessman, but this did not slow Myrlene’s involvement in the seafood industry. She focused her efforts on the Shemper Seafood trucking warehouse on the south side of the street, where she helped manage the day-to-day office tasks. She still continued to cook those delicious lunches!

Myrlene officially retired after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and passed away in 2016. Her contributions to the seafood industry by providing top-notch customer service to all who entered her establishment will forever be remembered.