RSS Feed

December 21, 1924 ~ February 9, 2023

ABBEVILLE — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 AM on Monday, February 13, 2023 at St. Therese Catholic Church honoring the life of Earline Marie Dyson Broussard, 98, who died Thursday, February 9, 2023 at Eastridge Nursing Center. She will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Fr. François Sainte-Marie officiating the services.
Earline had a passion for growing daylilies, vegetables and gardening. She enjoyed many years shrimping and trawling alongside her family and friends. Earline’s research traced her family history back to the early 19th Century. 
She is survived by her husband of 82 years, Lauris Broussard; son, Wesley Broussard; three granddaughters, Romy N. Broussard, Angela Broussard, and Michelle Broussard; five grandsons, Bret Nunez, Matt Nunez, Clint Nunez, Seth Nunez, and Heath Broussard; eighteen great-grandchildren; and seven great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her daughter, Ruby Mae Nunez; parents, O'Neal Dyson and the former Alice Suire; sisters, Beulah Dyson and Gladys Dyson; and brothers, Floyd Dyson and Curley Dyson.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Sunday, February 12, 2023 from 3:00 PM until 8:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 6:30 PM; Monday, February 13, 2023 from 8:00 AM until 10:45 AM when the procession will depart for the church.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement agents arrested a Kaplan man on Jan. 30 for alleged hunting guide violations in Vermillion Parish.
Agents arrested Ryan C. Frederick, 43, for failing to comply with hunting guide regulations.
Agents had previously cited Frederick on Dec. 19, 2022 for six counts of failing to comply with hunting guide regulations. During a subsequent investigation, agents learned that Frederick again facilitated a guided goose hunt on Dec. 23, 2022. Agents obtained an arrest warrant for Frederick on Jan. 25, 2023.
Agents made contact with Frederick on Jan. 30 and arrested him for failing to comply with hunting guide regulations. Agents also had Frederick sign for citations issued from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission for hunting with a suspended license and falsifying information in Arkansas at the end of 2022.
Agents began investigating Frederick at the beginning of the 2022/23 hunting season when they were informed about his license revocation. Frederick was under a license revocation and currently cannot possess a hunting guide license until 2027.
Agents set up surveillance on Frederick and observed him take customers out on guided goose hunts in a rice field near Kaplan. Frederick’s hunting guide business was called Feathered Rice Outfitters. Agents obtained customer statements about hiring Frederick for his services and found Frederick’s ledger that showed monetary payments in return for past guided hunts and future guided hunts.
Failing to comply with hunting guide rules and regulations brings a $400 to $950 fine per count.
Agents involved are Corporal Derek Logan, Senior Agent Joshua Segrest, Sgt. Mike Hebert, Agent Chelsea Moudry, Sgt. Justin Sonnier, and Senior Agent Matt Perkins.

The newly created Vermilion Parish Teen Court is looking for teens to help make teen court a success.
Juvenile detention centers are overcrowded, suffer a lack of funding, and create a disparity between holding young adults accountable or maintaining a sustainable youth justice system. Enter smaller, adaptable avenues of justice.
Youth justice programs like Teen Court have become a new approach to addressing minor juvenile offenses. Justice for teens, by teens.
Vermilion Parish is in search of teens (grades 9th through 12th) to run teen court work in the parish.
Teen court allows the opportunity for teens to learn and practice in a courtroom setting as a lawyer, judge, prosecutor, defender, bailiff or jury member.
The offender walks into the Abbeville courtroom admitting guilt, but instead of an adult at the helm, they see teens their age and older (up to 18) serving as the judge, jury, bailiff, and attorneys. The underlying theory of teen court is that young offenders respond in a more positive way to judgment given by their peers.
Teen court operates through cases handed down by the prosecutors for nonviolent offenders and first time risk-takers. An intake is done between the Program Director and the family and a court date is scheduled. The student must plead guilty. Consequences include hours of community service that has to be served under supervision, and sessions of teen court.
Vermilion Parish Teen Court is the little sister of the already established New Iberia Teen Court. Founded as part of an outreach program, New Iberia Teen Court has had proven success with nonviolent student offenders who, when their sentence is completed, often ask to stay in the Teen Court program and continue to participate in the court process and mentor their peers.
The teen program operates with the goal to ease the burden of discipline within the school system and offer real solutions to some of our more serious teen offenses: vaping, bullying, and committing petty crimes. Through counseling, adult mentorships and enforceable contract consequences, parents and guardians have hope that these first-time crimes won’t turn into a lifetime of trouble.
If interested, call these phone numbers 337-398-9669 or 337-654-5910.

Charles Langlinais, who over decades of public service led the transformation of the quiet village of Broussard into a dynamic city, quite often sought my opinion. Most of the time it was on some version of the question, “Have you absolutely lost your mind?”
He didn’t mince words when he disagreed with you.
Neither did I in the days when we first met. I was still young enough to be absolutely sure that the views I expressed in a regular political column were sound, well-reasoned, astute, and undeniable.
That led to some serious debate, usually over the phone, sometimes over a big breakfast somewhere (we were both early risers). Every now and then he showed me that I might — just might — be wrong. Less often, he would concede that it was slightly — only slightly — possible that I could have a valid point. Most often we agreed to disagree — but always agreeably.
That’s how we came to be friends and remained friends over four decades or more.
Other friends, neighbors, and officials who were interviewed by the media after his death on January 24, all spoke of his single-minded dedication to the community where he was born. They also invariably described him as hard-headed.
Broussard public works director Mel Bertrand, for example, told The Acadiana Advocate, “Charlie was very headstrong and very passionate about Broussard. If he thought he was right, he thought he was right, and he would not sway away from that. It was good and bad. He was very reluctant to cave in, to admit when he was wrong. He wanted what was best for Broussard, and he would fight you tooth and nail for it.”
That led to some mighty clashes and controversies, particularly with officialdom in Lafayette over issues arising when the lines or interests of the two communities met, or more likely butted, each other.
But, at least in my experience, his arguments, though sometimes heated, were always about the issues involved, never the personalities. Our debates never threatened our friendship.
He was Broussard’s mayor from January 1991 to December 2018. During those 25 years he used his expertise as a surveyor and real estate developer to convince businesses and other developers that the town’s location on U.S. 90 between Lafayette and New Iberia made it the ideal place to work and live.
The first to agree with him were oil service and supply companies. Then came substantial retailers like Home Depot, Walmart, Stine, and Albertson’s. Some of them came because of the innovative tax strategies he developed. Some came just because he talked them into it.
Under his administration, the town did away with its property tax to lure new businesses. To replace that revenue, he became an expert in the use of a sophisticated tool called tax increment financing, innovating ways for Broussard to pay for development projects with the revenue generated by the development itself. Those ideas paid off not only in bringing business to town, but in street and drainage work and the other things needed to sustain municipal growth.
Over the years, the growth began to build a synergy and momentum that brought still more growth. Charlie was sometimes leading it from the front, sometimes pushing it from behind, but always keen on keeping it moving one way or the other.
Still, hard-driving and passionate as he was, he was someone who was easy to like, with a ready smile and sometimes a canaille gleam in his eye. I think some of his reputed stubbornness came from the fact that he just liked to argue for argument’s sake. He enjoyed it.
The mayor was a thoughtful man who liked people, especially his neighbors in Broussard, and one who took time to have fun and enjoy a good laugh. Bertrand was one of those who recalled Charlie’s booming laugh. “I used to love to tell Charlie a joke because I’d love to hear him laugh,” Bertrand said. “I’d stand back and just watch him laugh.”
Charlie summarized his philosophy at a gathering of friends in December 2018 after his last Town Council meeting as mayor.
“You’ve got to get involved and not complain about situations,” he said. “You’ve got to contribute. I’ve always tried to get … people around me to be involved. Instead of moaning and crying how bad it is, be a part of the solution.”
Charlie continued to be involved with his community even after leaving office, and I suspect that he is still trying to help resolve tangled situations. I can see him at the Pearly Gates explaining to The Keeper how to put together a tax package to expand the road to them, helping traffic flow and at the same time fixing a drainage problem.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.