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Eula Mae Jones

November 5, 1928 ~ January 15, 2018

Abbeville—Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 at Abbeville United Methodist Church honoring the life of Eula Mae Primeaux Jones, 89, who died Monday, January 15, 2018 at Eastridge Nursing Center. She will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Pastor Dr. Rev. Mollie McGee officiating the services.
Eula is survived by her sons, Patrick Lee Jones and wife Linda of Abbeville, and Jack Allen Jones of New Orleans; daughters, Lona J. Huval and husband Ray of Marrero, and Carolyn J. Sagrera and husband Brent of Abbeville; sister, Agnes P. Prince; ten grandchildren; and twenty-four great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence William Jones; son, Lawrence “Larry” Jones; parents, Theodore Primeaux and the former Adele Desormeaux; and sisters, Bernice P. Detraz and Ruby P. Demarcy.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 from 9:00 AM until 1:45 PM when the procession will depart for the church.
The Jones’ family would like to thank the staff of Eastridge Nursing Center and Hospice of Acadiana for their dedication and love while caring for their mother.
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.

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Huey Perrin

Funeral Services will be held on Thursday, January 18, 2018, at an 11:00 A.M. Mass of Christian Burial at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Lafayette, for Huey P. Perrin, 82, who died Sunday, January 14, 2018 at Lafayette General Medical Center.
Interment will be in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Erath, Louisiana.
Reverend Joel Faulk, Parochial Vicar of St. Pius X Catholic Church, will serve as Celebrant and will conduct the funeral services.
Survivors include his beloved wife of 61 years, Grace Marie Mailhes Perrin; son, Van P. Perrin and his wife, Maribel; daughter, Azelia Perrin Lee and her husband, David; son, Ivan L. Perrin; six grandchildren, Cory P. Perrin, Miles L. Lee, Leslie G. Simmons, Morley A. Perrin, Rockett Perrin and Macy G. Perrin; three great grandchildren and one sister, Gale Graham.
Preceded in death by his parents, Gladue Perrin and Egles Dubois Perrin and one brother, Roland F. Perrin.
Born in Henry, Louisiana and a resident of Lafayette for over 40 years, Huey was known as “Mickey” as a child, and later in his professional career known as “High Pressure”. A Registered Professional Engineer, he worked for multiple oil and gas companies for 43 years throughout the continental United States. Favorite hobbies of his were golfing, hunting, and fishing with his wife. He was a devoted family man and loved spending time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren, whom he adored deeply. Huey was a true gentlemen to his wife, children, grandchildren, siblings, friends and all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.
Honored to serve as Pallbearers will be Van Perrin, Ivan Perrin, Cory Perrin, Miles Lee, Rockett Perrin and David Lee.
Honorary Pallbearers will be Jonas Perrin and Carson Nunez.
The family requests that visitation be observed in Martin & Castille’s SOUTHSIDE location on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 from 4:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. and on Thursday from 8:00 A.M. until time of service.
A Rosary will be prayed for the soul of Huey P. Perrin on Wednesday evening at 7:00 P.M. in Martin & Castille Funeral Home.
A heartfelt appreciation is extended by the Perrin family to all family, friends and medical staff who supported and assisted in our time of need.
View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com
Martin & Castille-SOUTHSIDE-600 E. Farrel Rd., Lafayette, LA 70508, 337-984-2811.

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Vermilion Parish schools will be closed Tuesday

Vermilion Parish public schools will be closed on Tuesday, due to the weather.
Also, there will also be no sporting events on Tuesday because the schools are closed.

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Cecil Picard Elementary 2017-2018 Student of the Year, Hailey Lattero (second from left), was recently recognized during a school assembly. To be considered for SOY a student must maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher and score at high levels on standardized tests. The student must display character which includes self-confidence, effort, attitude, relationships with peers and respect for adults. This student has exhibited these attributes and will represent the school at the parish level. Hailey is actively involved in band, 4-H, and Beta. She is pictured with Cecil Picard principal (left) Paulette Gaspard and her parents Megan Bobo and Christian Lattero.

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The 2018 Rene Rost Elementary Student of the Year is selected from our fifth grade class.
This year, the winner is Claire Louise Richard. She is the daughter of Brandi Gaspard and Jeremy Richard.
Claire is an active member of the Rene Rost 4-H and also the RMS Jr. Beta Club. Her extracurricular activities include dancing and softball. She plays the clarinet in the RMS Band. Claire and also enjoys baking. She has participated in pageants and was La Reign de Mardi Gras Queen in 2016. She has maintained Principal’s List throughout her fifth grade school year at Rene Rost.
The 2018 Rene Rost Middle School Student of the Year is selected from our eighth grade class. This year, the winner is Claire Elizabeth Guidry.
She is the daughter of Shannan and Mike Guidry.
Claire is the Rene Rost 4-H Health Chairman, Student Council Vice President, and also the RMS Jr. Beta Club Vice President.
She enjoys dancing classes outside of school. She plays the saxophone in the RMS Band and is a Rene Rost cheerleader. Claire spends much of her free time bonding with her family.
She has maintained Principal’s List throughout her eighth grade school year at Rene Rost.

Students of the Year

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Catherine Ann Touchet

November 24, 1954 ~ January 11, 2018

Kaplan—A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, January 13, 2018 at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church honoring the life of Catherine Ann Touchet, 63, who died on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at her residence. She will be laid to rest at Kaplan Cemetery with Reverend Nicholas DuPre' officiating the services.
She is survived by her husband of 31 years, Minus Touchet of Kaplan; one son, Seth Touchet and his wife, Andrea of New Iberia; one step-son, Brent Touchet of West Lake; her mother, Theresa Trahan of Kaplan; one sister, Theresa Campbell of Kaplan; one brother, William John Campbell of Marrero; and three grandchildren, Emma Touchet, Hunter Touchet, and Serina Touchet.
She was preceded in death by her father, Willis John Campbell.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Friday, January 12, 2018 from 2:00 PM until 10:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 7:00 PM; Saturday, January 13, 2018 from 8:00 AM until the procession departs for the church.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276 [Service Information 225-5276]. Condolences may be sent to the Touchet family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.

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Elwood Paul LeBlanc

ERATH — A mass of Christian Burial for, Elwood Paul LeBlanc, 80, will be held on Saturday, 2:00PM, January 13, 1018, at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Erath, with Father Bill Melancon officiating. Burial will follow at Our Lady of Lourdes Mausoleum.
Visitation will be in David Funeral Home of Erath Friday January 12, 2018 from 4:00PM until 9:00PM, with recitation of the Rosary at 7:00PM, and will continue Saturday from 8:00AM until time of service.
Elwood, passed away Wednesday January 10, 2018 in Consolata Nursing Home in New Iberia. In his early years, he served as an altar boy until 1961, he was an active member of the Junior Holy Name Society. He then moved to the Senior Holy Name Society in Henry. In 1961 he moved to Erath Holy Name Society and joined the Knights of Columbus Council 3872 in Erath. All in all, he had thirty three years of council work. He has not missed a Knights of Columbus State Convention since 1984. He received the Grand Knight Award in 1984 and 1986. He was named Knight of the Year for 1984, 1985, 1989, and 1990. He was also Knight of the Month and Family of the Month from 1980 until 1992. He was also given The Outstanding Citizen Award and had perfect attendance at all KC meetings. He served on the Board of Directors for Erath Community Center and also Vice-President from 1987 until 1992. He was very active on the Board of Directors, serving as Grand Marshal for the Fourth of July Association. As District Deputy, he received Star Council Awards, The Columbia Award, The Father McGivney Award and the Founder’s Award. He was involved in the Basketball Free-Throw competition at district and state. He has participated in the district and state cook-off competition. He was a U.S. Army Veteran. He was a lifetime member of the Henry Fire Dept. He was a member of the Vermilion Cattlemen’s Assoc.
He is survived by his daughter Bettina “Tina” LeBlanc Sharon and husband Joseph W. of Liberty MS; siblings Nelies LeBlanc Dugas, Francis LeBlanc and wife Connie and Russel J. LeBlanc and wife Mona all of Henry; two granddaughters Brittany Nicole Broussard and husband Eric of Rayne and Callie Elizabeth Desormeaux of Delcambre.
He is preceded in death by his wife Beverly Jane Suire LeBlanc; his parents Simonet A. and Eula Primeaux LeBlanc , a brother Wilson LeBlanc and a special friend Judith White.
Serving as his Pallbearers will be Joseph Sharon, Eric Broussard, Clint Dugas, Francis Matthew LeBlanc, Dustin Dugas, and Cody Dugas
The family would like to thank Eastridge Nursing Home and Senior Assisted Living, Consolata Nursing Home , and Heart of Hospice for their wonderful care and support.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.davidfuneralhome.org.
David Funeral Home of Erath is in charge of arrangements 209 East Putnam Street, Erath LA 70533, 337-937-0405.

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Robin Gray Dent

February 17, 1959 ~ January 7, 2018

Abbeville — Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM on Saturday, January 13, 2018 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Robin Gray Dent, 58, who died Sunday, January 7, 2018 at Rapides Regional Medical Center.
He will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery.
Robin is survived by his brothers, David Dent and his wife Charlette, Christopher Dent and Jimmy Jay Dent; sister, Joan Methvin and her husband Ronnie; godmother, Delores Meaux; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, James Dent Jr. and the former Myrtis Ledet; and brother, Sammy Dent.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Saturday, January 13, 2018 from 8:00 AM until time of services.
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.

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Deyshia Hargrave speaks at her own rally in Abbeville, La. The small town of Vermilion, Ohio is being mistaken by some of the public as the place Hargrave is teaching at. Vermilion in Ohio has been getting mean phone calls about Hargrave getting arrested.

Ohio, Vermilion Police Department getting heat about Vermilion Parish teacher being arrested

They think she is from Vermilion, Ohio

This story is from a paper in Vermilion, Ohio., where the police department received messages regarding Deyshia Hargrave’s arrest at Monday’s Vermilion Parish School Board meeting.

VERMILION, Ohio — On Tuesday, the police in this small town were going about their business, posting on the department’s Facebook page about icy morning roads.
“Be careful and slow down” is a typical message.
Over the weekend the site posted pictures of a stray dog that residents and officers had been trying to rescue from the cold, asking for people to keep an eye out for him. Another post, complete with photos, listed a goose that was spotted sitting in the road in front of the town library. The cops managed to catch the frightened pup, but the goose got away.
But all that changed Tuesday morning, when the tenor of the citizen responses grew taxing, even for a department that will spend time searching for a lost goose.
Messages starting seeping in by way of email and social media sites. Suddenly, the small department was on the receiving end of hatred from — well, all over.
“So is everyone in your district crooked cops or just you guys,” emailed Julia. The department’s autoresponse kicked in, replying to Julia that no one was currently available at the moment, but they would be back shortly and listed a number to call if she couldn’t wait.
It seems Julia was angered by this, too.
“I don’t need fake police,” her response began, and from the content of her message it was clear she was voicing her displeasure at the Vermilion police for arresting a schoolteacher the night before.
The teacher addressed the school board during a public forum and questioned the superintendent’s pay raise. She was removed from the meeting, forcibly handcuffed and booked into jail.
But here’s the catch: The event took place in Vermilion Parish, La., 1,189 miles from the Lake Erie Vermilion that straddles Lorain and Erie counties.
“Hi Julia, I bet you have some issues with the Vermilion Parish police in Louisiana,” the department replied.
She thanked them for the correction with a laughing-so-hard-I’m-crying emoji. But that really was just the warmup act for the avalanche that was to come. Hate, disgust, destroyers of freedom of speech — all of it swelled up and overran the internet feeds of police Chief Chris Hartung.
A particularly stinging one came from “out-of-the-country-Al” who wanted him to know that watching his department arrest a teacher for questioning a pay raise was symptomatic of everything wrong “with police in America.”
“You guys should be a shamed of yourselves,” Hartung read. “‘A. Shamed. Two words.”
Hartung sighed.
“I said, ‘That’s not us. You’ve got the wrong state,’” Hartung said, and suddenly the venom collapsed. “Oh, sorry about that,” Al said.
The group Copwatch, which lists complaints against police officers and often videos police making arrests to post online, put the department on notice.
“They posted a warning: ‘We’ve got boots on the ground, and we’re watching your agency,’ ” Hartung said.
“Not us.” The warning vanished.
“And then there’s my personal favorite,” Hartung said, an expletive-filled rant left as a comment under an ice advisory on the department’s Facebook page Wednesday afternoon. His only response: “Wrong Vermilion.”
By then other comment writers were trying to stem the tide, too, including one person who helpfully posted a link to the actual Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office site.
“Now say you’re sorry,” another person urged.
Shortly after that, Hartung posted again. “The teacher was arrested in Vermilion Parish in Louisiana. This is Vermilion in Ohio. Please stop sending us your hate mail.”
Hartung said he called the new mayor, Jim Forthofer, to warn him.
“I had to call him and say this is what’s happening and there’s a chance people are going to be calling you next and saying your police department is doing all these things,” Hartung said. “He was reserved and appreciative, but I’m sure that’s not what you want to hear when you’ve been mayor for a week.”
Hartung said he has been thinking about reaching out to Vermillion, S.D. He knows from experience that the South Dakota town likely won’t escape the Vermilion backlash, even if they do spell their name with two “L’s.” When his own town made headlines in recent years, the South Dakota force caught some flak.
“You know, my father-in-law stopped in on his way through there a few years ago, got a picture with the chief,” Hartung said. “We’re thinking about calling and asking them if they were getting this stuff.”

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There were plenty of signs in support of Deyshia Hargrave,

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The signs were big and small.

More than 200 people attend rally to support Vermilion Parish teacher Deyshia Hargrave

When Deyshia Hargrave stood up to ask a question about the superintendent’s salary at Monday’s Vermilion Parish School Board meeting, she had no intention of starting a movement.
Hargrave said she attended the school board meeting to best serve her students and the community.
“I teach kids daily to treat everyone with respect and to speak out when they witness something that is wrong,” Hargrave said Thursday.
Hargrave asked why the Superintendent Jerome Puyau was in line for a raise while teachers have not received a pay increase in 10 years. Moments after she posed the question, an officer removed Hargrave from the meeting in handcuffs.
“Not only was I denied my First Amendment rights,” Hargrave said, “I was treated with shocking disrespect.”
And it started a movement.
More than 200 supporters gathered in Magdalen Square in downtown Abbeville Thursday afternoon for the #standbydeyshia” community rally. Those supporters, including many local educators, chanted “Stand by Deyshia” on several instances during the hour-long event. Signs with messages backing the Rene Rost Middle School teacher dotted the square.
Jacob Gaspard, whose 10-year-old daughter is one of Hargrave’s students, spoke about his daughter’s favorite teacher.
“Deyshia stood up,” Gaspard said. “We’re all here standing up. I’m a parent and I am standing here. That is the kind of teacher I want for my kids. When something is wrong, stand up and say something. Don’t sit back, say something. It took one person who is maybe five-feet tall to stand up and make a change. Imagine what can happen when you all stand up. Change is going to happen and it’s going to be awesome.
“Thank you, Deyshia.”
Shelly Byron, vice president of the Vermilion Association of Educators, said during the rally that teachers will indeed stand together.
“We will rise together to right this injustice,” Byron said. “Rise up. One voice can impact many. Deyshia Hargrave’s voice made the world aware of the inequality in education in Vermilion Parish and districts across this nation. Rise up for educators and support staff.
“Our combined voice is powerful and will bring the change we seek.”
Hargrave said one thing will not change, how much the teachers care about the students.
“Teachers work hard every day,” Hargrave said. “We love your kids.”
Hargrave said she does want what happened to her to be a spark that encourages those with concerns to go to meetings and be involved.
“If me getting arrested doesn’t get you to come out,” Hargrave said, “I don’t know what will. “Today my heart is broken, but my will is not. What happened to me should not dissuade others from speaking out.
“I hope and pray that my experience will empower you.”

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Vermilion Today

Abbeville Meridional

318 N. Main St.
Abbeville, LA 70510
Phone: 337-893-4223
Fax: 337-898-9022

The Kaplan Herald

219 North Cushing Avenue
Kaplan, LA 70548