Education
In 1959, Culpepper graduated as the valedictorian of Jonesboro-Hodge High School. He studied thereafter in Baton Rouge at Louisiana State University and the Louisiana State University Law Center, from which he graduated in January 1966.
In 1959, Culpepper graduated as the valedictorian of Jonesboro-Hodge High School. He studied thereafter in Baton Rouge at Louisiana State University and the Louisiana State University Law Center, from which he graduated in January 1966.
Culpepper was one of seven children of Edward Chester Culpepper (1912-2005), a farmer, and the former Myrtle Perry (1915-2010), who are interred at Gayla Traina Memorial Cemetery in Jonesboro. After law school, he was the clerk for Judge Albert Tate, Junior., then presiding over the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit, based in Lake Charles. Thereafter, he entered the military police section of the United States Army as a first lieutenant.
He was discharged in 1968 as a captain.
He remained in the Army Reserve until 1971. In 1968, Culpepper began practicing law in the state and federal courts from his office in Jonesboro, which he maintained until his death in West Monroe of a sudden illness at the age of seventy-four.
Under three district attorneys, he was an assistant District Attorney for Jackson, Bienville, and Claiborne parishes. He was also an assistant state attorney general.
He was active in various bar associations and legal organizations, including Phi Eta Sigma and Phi Alpha Delta fraternities, the American Trial Lawyers Association, and the American Judicature Society.
Culpepper was active in Lions and Kiwanis International, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the American Cancer Society, the American Legion, and the Louisiana State University Alumni Association. Culpepper was one of the first inductees into the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame. Culpepper was the president of the Jackson Parish Sports Hall of Fame.
He was an aide-de-camp on the governor"s staff for both John McKeithen and Edwin Edwards.
He was also the long-term chairman of the Jackson Parish Democratic Executive Committee, a post that he assumed in 1976. He was a delegate to the 1976 Democratic National Convention, which met in New York City to nominate the successful Carter-Mondale ticket.
He also served on committees for Republican and Democratic candidates and on advisory committees for presidents of both parties. He was an active Southern Baptist, a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church of Jonesboro.
Bobby was the soldier who fought for those who needed him, and he desired to see the very best for our town.
If there were ever a person who loved Jonesboro, it was Bobby Culpepper. lieutenant was an honor to have considered him a friend. A second son, Nathan Bradley Culpepper, is deceased.
Both Culpepper children are involved in the legal system.
He is interred at Transport Cemetery in Dodson in Winn Parish. Culpepper in 2012 published Objection, Your Honor: The Story of a Country Lawyer.
He was a board member of the Jimmie Davis Tabernacle Foundation, which honors the former governor of Louisiana Jimmie Davis, a native of Jackson Parish and a nationally-known singer. A die-hard Louisiana State University Tigers supporter, he was an original member of the Louisiana State University Tiger Athletic Foundation. Culpepper was the longest serving member of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee, on which his tenure extended from 1968 until his death.
He was witty, trustworthy, hardworking, and wise.