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Timothy Joseph Touchet, a loving father, grandfather and great grandfather, and dear friend to many, passed away peacefully Tuesday June 6, 2023 at Maison du Monde in Abbeville. At his passing he was 82.
Timothy was born December 3, 1940 in Abbeville to the late Preston Joseph Touchet and the late Edia Soirez Touchet, the eldest of two sons. He was raised in Delcambre where he graduated from Delcambre High School in 1958. It was there he made his home, married the love of his life, and raised his family.
He enjoyed a long and successful career in the wholesale grocery business having worked with various companies in the area. Outside of his work, he gave of his time to his church, Our Lady of the Lake in Delcambre. He served as a Eucharistic Minister and as a Trustee of the church, and with Knights of Columbus Council 5166, past Grand Knight. He also served as a past City Councilman with the Town of Delcambre.
Timothy did find time to enjoy his pastimes, playing golf and watching his favorite MLB team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. But his greatest joy was the time spent with his family. We rejoice in knowing that he is not gone from us, only gone on before. He is happily reunited with his beloved wife, Genevieve and his family before him. Until we meet again. We love you.
Those left to cherish his memory are his children, Gregory Touchet (Bridget), Paige T. Mitchell (Rob), Jeremy Touchet (Laurie), and Christine T. Payton (Donovan); his grandchildren, Hilary Hill, Jessica Touchet, Noah Touchet, Emily O’Brien, Derek Mitchell, Alex Mitchell, Ann-Racheal Touchet, Grace Payton, and Abigail Payton; and his great grandchildren, Owen Hill, Ian Hill, Camden Hill, Catherine Hill, Andrew Touchet, and Lyla O’Brien.
Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Genevieve “Gib” Mergist Touchet who passed just over six months ago; his grandson, Andre’ Touchet; and an infant brother, Russell Touchet.
A Mass of Christian Burial celebrating Timothy’s life was held at 11:00 am Saturday, June 10, 2023 at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church. Fr. Buddy Breaux, Pastor, was the celebrant. Following the mass, he was laid to rest with his wife in the church mausoleum.
Pallbearers were members of the family.
Family and friends are encouraged to share their condolences and memories with the family by visiting Timothy’s memorial page at www.evangelinedelcambre.com
Evangeline Funeral Home of Delcambre was in charge of arrangements.

A Delcambre man was booked into the Vermilion Parish jail after his bond total equals just under $800,000 for crimes he allegedly committed against a 13-year-old.
The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested David Breaux of Delcambre. He was charged with 13 crimes resulting in a total bond of $795,000.
Breaux was charged with four counts of first-degree rape. Each first-degree rape charge has a bond of $125,000 and an automatic life imprisonment sentence.
He was also charged with a second-degree rape charge with a $100,000 bond.
Breaux’s four rape charges carry a bond total amount of $600,000.
He was also charged with four counts of indecent behavior with a juvenile. The total bond amount was $100,000.
Two charges of intimidating, impeding, or injuring had a bond total of $20,000.
The other charges were sexual battery ($25,000 bond) and obstruction of justice $50,000 bond).

Mother Nature was good to the 21st Annual Daylily Festival and Garden Show this past Saturday in Abbeville.
When the festival opened its doors, a cool breeze zipped through Magdalen Square at 8:30 in the morning.
Mother Nature unleashed rain on the few festival goers at around 2:30 p.m.
By then, many of the 45 plant and garden vendors had sold most of their plants.
While the festival opened at 8:30 a.m., plant lovers were lined up by 7:30 a.m., hoping to be the first to land a beautiful plant or daylily before anyone else.
“This festival was one of the best ones,” said Charlene Beckett, who oversees Downtown Main Street in Abbeville. “It was not too hot in the morning. The new and old vendors did well.”
Lynn Guillory, Executive Director of Vermilion Chamber, said, “The Daylily Festival brought in hundreds of garden lovers from all areas of Louisiana! Daylily was a day to bring people together and celebrate the love of gardening! All the hard hours put into the planning of the Daylily Festival is worth it when we get to showcase our community to people visiting us for the first time! These visitors also boost revenue for our local restaurants and hotels. So, this was not only another successful year for the Daylily Festival, but this was also a success for our community!”
Although the daylilies were the featured flower for the festival, different types of gardening was highlighted. The Abbeville Garden Club was located in the Gazebo and was available and answered gardening needs.
In addition, the Abbeville Cultural & Historical Alliance Center had educational speakers throughout the morning.
The Daylily Festival was put on by Abbeville Main Street, the City of Abbeville, and the Vermilion Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Abbeville Cultural Center and Historical.
Alliance and the City of Abbeville. Sponsors are the Abbeville Garden Club and Gulf Coast Bank.
It was impossible to put the number of people who attended the festival, but 500 paper fans were handed out to the crowd that morning.

We are used to hearing legislators in Washington call each other liars. Just a few months ago during the President’s State of the Union speech, Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia jabbed a thumbs down in the president’s direction and yelled “liar” after his comments. “Joe Biden is lying to the American People,” Greene tweeted during the speech.
But all the congressional bantering about lying is small potatoes as compared to what takes place in Baton Rouge at the state capital. The Bayou State has been operating in a dysfunctional manner for years, with a long and colorful history of legislative brawls, viciously partisan debate and charges of lying.
I was in the middle of such a legislative altercation in my first few months as a Louisiana state senator back in 1972. A controversial proposal to create a new trade school system was up for final passage in the waning minutes of the legislative session. I sat next to Senator “Big Jim” Jumonville, who was as brash and tenacious in debate on the senate floor as they come. He just never took no for an answer. Jumonville was opposing last minute amendments that would take one of the trade schools out of his district and move it to Baton Rouge.
The legislation would die if not passed at the stroke of midnight, and the official clock high on the back wall of the senate chamber was ticking away. With only seconds left, Jumonville pulled off his boot and heaved it at the clock in an effort to stave off the deadline. He missed. Off came the other boot as Big Jim hollered out to his colleague at the podium, “You are a liar.” He then rose back to throw the remaining boot. I put myself in grave danger by grabbing Jumonville’s arm in an effort to calm him down. He missed the clock a second time, and time ran out. I don’t think Big Jim ever forgave me.
And who can forget the Governor Earl Long story of reneging on a promise to a group of south Louisiana constituents? The blow-by-blow account was given to me by my deceased friend, Camille Gravel, who was on Long’s staff and a witness to the Governor’s comments. Long was reluctant to live up to a campaign commitment, and Gravel inquired as to what he should tell the group. Without batting an eye, Long told Gravel: “Just tell them I lied.”
Dutch Morial was Louisiana’s first black legislator, and went on to serve as a judge and two-term Mayor of New Orleans. With much humor and gusto, Dutch relished telling friends of his first day at the state capitol as a new legislator. Representatives have seatmates, with their two desks sitting side by side. As chance would have it, Dutch sat right next to Representative Jesse McLain, who represented an archconservative district in southeast Louisiana that had been a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity.
Now Dutch was from a Creole background and quite light skinned. As Dutch told me years later of that first day — when he took his seat, Jesse leaned over and whispered: “Where’s that lyin’ N…..? (Yes, the N word.) Dutch said he just smiled, looked around the room for a minute, then leaned over to Jesse, got right up in his face, and said: “You’re looking at him.” Then he burst out laughing. A flustered McClain excused himself from the legislature for the rest of the day.
So as tensions continue to mount up in the nation’s capital, tell those congressmen from other states that they are playing softball with their interparty scrabbling. If they want to learn how to experience real hardball politics, they can certainly find a “learning experience” here in Louisiana. We have plenty of political lyin’, cussin’ & discussin’, fumin’ and fightin’ going on in the deepest of the deep southern states. Maybe it’s in the roux or the Tabasco sauce. But it’s always lively here when Louisiana politics is involved. So just come on down.

Peace and Justice
Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also listen to his regular podcast at www.datelinelouisiana.com.