Suire heard the call of education on September 1, 1925 as a young six year old and continued to hear that call for some 25 years until he retired from education at the age of 61. As a student, an educator, administrator, Johnnie Suire believed that a good education was the key to success. He touched thousands of lives as a result of his dedication to the education profession.

In his early years of education, Johnnie Suire remembers teachers who had a great influence on him. Although there were many, Miss Meazie Breazeale (Mrs. R.I. “Doc” Latour) and Miss Rosie Brown (Mrs. Clem Quoyeser) stand out in his memory as exceptional. Their educational techniques and practices shaped the way that he approached education as a teacher and administrator.

After finishing High School, Suire attended LSU from 1937-39. While at LSU he served in the ROTC. In 1939 he transferred to SLI in Lafayette and graduated with a degree in horticulture and immediately volunteered to join the US Armed forces.

With his ROTC training and knowledge of the French language, he was an excellent choice for a corporal rating and drill instructor at Camp Beauregard in Alexandria. In January 1943, he was transferred to an Air Force outfit at Sheppard Field, Texas where a special training unit was being formed. His bilingual abilities again surfaced as he was assigned to teach French-speaking soldier to read and write. Following his discharge from the service, Johnnie Suire enrolled again at USL where he majored in Vocational agriculture and was hired as an instructor teaching “Veterans on the Farm Training.” He was later assigned to a teaching job at Henry High School where he replaced a math teacher and served as Assistant Principal. This is where he found his niche in his education career: math and administration. He went on to teach junior math at Erath High School for thirteen years.

In 1972 Dozier Elementary in Erath was reopened as a primary school and Suire was appointed principal. Because the school had been closed for many years it took a leader like Suire to bring Dozier from extinction to the superior school that is still is today.

After eight years as principal at Dozier and 31 years in the education profession, Johnnie Suire retired in 1980 having touched thousands of lives in Vermilion parish. Johnnie Suire is married to the former Florine Montey and have one daughter, Ricky Suire married to businessman Ed “Parian” Domingues.