NEW ORLEANS — President, CEO, and co-owner of New Orleans Steamboat Co., Miles Gordon Stevens III, has died, according to NOLA.com.
Stevens, 75, passed away on Thursday, November 28, due to cancer at his home in Metairie. He was known as a prominent leader in New Orleans tourism, managing companies that provided steamboat cruises and bus tours, including Gray Line Tours.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, tourism in New Orleans was slow. Stevens then created Gray Line Tours which offered Hurricane Katrina tours in January 2006, our partners reported.
He was also the founder and co-owner of four Café Beignet restaurants, as well as a founding board member of French Quarter Festivals Inc.
He was also dedicated to his Catholic faith and was a foundation board member, "he was active in the campaign to restore St. Louis Cathedral," NOLA.com reported.
“He didn’t see the businesses that he grew as a means for his personal gain," Cory Howat, executive director of Catholic Community Foundation told our partners. "He saw it as a way to spread generosity to others."
Stevens was a New Orleans native and graduated from Archbishop Rummel High School and Loyola University and served in the U.S. Naval Air Force Reserve.
A Mass will be held on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 1 p.m. followed by eulogies at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 105 Bonnabel Blvd., Metairie.
There will also be two visitations held on Wednesday, Dec. 4, from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. The second visitation will be held on Thursday, Dec. 5 from 10:30 a.m. until noon.
His burial will be private.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
