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When Kay Landry DeHart began teaching, the year was 1967, and Lyndon B. Johnson was the president of the United States, the Vietnam War was taking place, and the price of gas was 33 cents a gallon. This year, 2022, DeHart has decided to retire from teaching, which brings an end to 55 years in education.
Her career in education stretched over 10 presidents, along with the creation of color TV, computers, BitCoins, the Internet and many other historical events that are too numerous to name.
Over the last 55 years, she has taught at only three schools in Vermilion Parish. She began teaching at Mt. Carmel and then moved to Maltrait Elementary. She spent her final 33 years at J.H. Williams Middle School.
At JHW, she taught ELA (English, Literature and the Arts) to seventh- and eighth-graders. She spent the final 20 years in the same classroom at J.H. Williams Middle School.
At the age of 77, DeHart slowly began seeing that education was taking a different path, and she did not enjoy it as much as she did 20 or 30 years ago. Technology moved into the classroom, and DeHart adjusted and adapted. Then came two years of teaching with COVID, and that would be the turning point that made it easy for her to walk away from her passion.
Walking away from her passion also means walking away from the people she loves, who keep her going each day. Her students are what got her out of bed each morning.
“I love my students,” she said. “They were my kids. So I felt I had to be there for them.”
Her students helped her get through a callous time in her life. In 2006, she lost her husband, Richard. She thought about retiring back then, but she knew it would be a rough situation to deal with if she did. So instead, she continued to teach and walked into her classroom, knowing her students needed her. But what she did not realize at the time was that she needed her students more.
“Sixteen years ago, my students helped me get through the loss of my husband,” DeHart said. “They did not understand at the time, and they thought I was helping them. But they were helping me. They needed love, and I needed love. These teens were getting me through grief.”
Now she is at a good place in her life, and she is ready to move on and begin a new chapter. She is not exactly sure what that chapter will be. She would love to travel. She has traveled to Washington D.C. for 18 years with students from J.H. Williams Middle School. She and the students also traveled to New York City for five years.
Last week, after two surprise retirement parties, DeHart said it was time to walk away from a career that has brought fulfillment to her for more than five decades. Unfortunately, few believed her when she told her assistant principal, Ryan Abshire, that she would retire. He responded, “You’ve been saying that for years. You are not going to retire.”
But this time, it was for real.
“I need to rest at a point in my life,” DeHart said. “I am not sure what I will do, but I have a lot of catching up to do around the house. I want to travel.”
DeHart graduated from Mt. Carmel in 1962 and later graduated with a degree in education from what was then USL. She raised three sons and lived in Abbeville most of her life except for when she lived in Hawaii and Georgia when her husband was in the military.
A former student of hers made her a sign that sums up DeHart’s career statistics. She presented it to her at one of her retirement parties.
On the sign, it read:
• Three schools: Mt Carmel, Matrait and J.H. Wiliams Middle School
• 9,900 days spent making a difference
• 79,200 hours helping shape young minds
• So many lives touched. One unforgettable teacher.
• Kay DeHart 1967 to 2022.
“I am going to miss it, but it is time. I am 77 years old,” DeHart said.

The solemn bugle tones of “Taps” and the 21-gun salute from a military honor guard were long overdue when Army Pvt. Hillary Soileau was finally laid to rest in Cedar Hill cemetery in Washington on May 21.
Nearly 80 years overdue.
He was listed as missing after a World War II battle on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific and only identified last December.
He was the son of Odey and Leona Soileau, who were farming near the St. Landry community of Whiteville when he entered the Army in July 1942 and was assigned to the 27th Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
One of the division’s first combat operations was as part of an Allied effort that began in December 1942 to clear the enemy from Guadalcanal.
Hilary could not be found after a battle in a group of hills nicknamed Galloping Horse on January 14, 1943. He was declared missing in action on February 3, and was officially declared killed in action on Dec. 13, 1945. He was 23 years old.
Two unidentified men from the 27th Infantry were found near the Galloping Horse battlefield a month after the fighting and were buried at the Army, Navy, and Marine Cemetery on Guadalcanal. Americans buried there were later exhumed and taken to Hawaii.
One of the two unknown soldiers was identified at that time, but Soileau was not. His remains, identified as Unknown-52, were buried again at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. His name was recorded on a wall of the at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines, along with others missing from World War II.
He remained there for more than three-quarters of a century, until finally, on Dec. 8, 2021, the Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency said scientists using DNA, dental records, and other evidence were finally able to positively identify him.
It took a while to make the arrangements and get him from Hawaii to Louisiana, but he was buried for the last time with military honors on Armed Forces Day near the graves of his parents in the historic old cemetery.
His last surviving sibling, Mary Lee Soileau, was presented the flag from his coffin by his great-nephew, Marine Capt. Joseph Soileau, who offered a eulogy for his great-uncle.
The 17-year Marine veteran said one of a soldier’s biggest fears is being killed and not being returned to his family. He said Hilary’s long delayed return to his native St. Landry Parish was a celebration of “all that it took to get him back home.”
Hilary’s journey is also a reminder this Memorial Day weekend of the thoughts of another eulogist who spoke at a remembrance after World War I: “As we in reverence think of our mighty dead, let us not forget that great blessings have a great price.”
Enjoy your barbecue and beer on this holiday that has come to represent the beginning of summer. But also take a moment to reflect on Hilary’s journey and those of men and women who served in his war and in those before and since,
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

The second annual “Remembering the Fallen” ceremony was by far the largest, according to one of the event’s organizers.
Last year close to 400 people crowded into the original display room of the Louisiana Military Museum for the first-ever Memorial Day Ceremony held at the Chris Crusta Airport.
The museum, however, expanded this year with the addition of the Hall of Honor, which is where the ceremony was held on Monday. The Hall of Honor doubled the museum in size.
Hundreds of people showed up to honor the soldiers who had fallen in combat.
Monday’s Memorial Day commemoration was wonderful,” said Dr. Elista Istre, who helped organize the ceremony. “It was amazing to see hundreds of people come together from all walks of life to support our military community, families, friends, and comrades-in-arms.”
The museum is honored to provide a place to remember the fallen, especially on days like Memorial Day. For the museum to once again have a standing-room-only capacity, even in the new Hall of Honor addition, speaks volumes regarding the respect and appreciation Louisiana, especially Acadiana, has for our veterans, both the living and those who have already passed on. We are so grateful for everyone who came out Monday to show their support.”
The ceremony included the posting and retiring of the colors by the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard.
An MIA/POW table explaining the plight of those missing in action or prisoners of war was presented by American Legion Vermilion Post No. 29. The ceremony included laying a wreath at the replica Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Abbeville Garden Club, and Andrew Ward, founder and president of the Acadiana Veteran Alliance, was the keynote address.
“Since we are 100 percent funded by private donations, the overwhelming generosity of those in attendance will continue to have a lasting impact in this community for years to come,” she added. “We are so grateful for those who come alongside us to support us in achieving our mission of ‘honoring our veterans and remembering their stories.’”

Close to 100 people gathered at the second annual "Remembering the Fallen" ceremony on Memorial Day being held at the Louisiana Military Museum.
The ceremony took place in the new part of museum located at the Chris Crusta Airport.
The day began with the Anything Over Rice Cookoff and then a "Remembering the Fallen" ceremony" took place.
A wreath was placed on the replica of the Top of the Unknown Soldier that is on display in the military museum.
The keynote speaker was Andrew Ward, the president and founder of the Veterans Alliance.
Guests and veterans walked outside in front of the museum to observe the Acadiana Veterans Honor Guard give a 21-gun salute.
The one-hour ceremony ended with the Missing Man Aerial Salute flyover.