MONROE, LA — Lyle Centola, 59, longtime production manager, site coordinator and rigger, died April 29. A key member of the Event Safety Alliance, Centola helped organize and stage major events ranging from Super Bowl halftime shows to a Veterans Day college basketball game held on the deck of an aircraft carrier. His career in live entertainment rigging and management began in the 1970s.
Centola, known by friends as the “Raging Cajun,” started out working on some classic tours such as Keith Richards and the New Barbarians, Barry Manilow, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Dan Fogelberg, Rod Stewart, CSN and Yes, to name a few. He was also a longtime member of the team supporting tours for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
He majored in general business, theatre and history at Louisiana State University, graduating in 1978.
“The industry has lost a true veteran who traveled the world numerous times, and leaving friends and a better trained local crew wherever he went,” recalled fellow classmate and production professional Steve Thomas. “Lyle was the first person to take me out on high steel, of course, without a harness, but I trusted him implicitly,” Thomas added.
Centola is survived by his wife, Laura Liner Centola; son Jordan Centola and daughter Melissa Centola; and four brothers and two sisters. A funeral service was held May 5 at Kilpatrick Funeral Home in Monroe.
NOTE: This posting has been updated with a corrected quote from Lyle’s friend Steve Thomas. PLSN regrets the error.
