This plaque now hangs in the Erath Police Department.
Mary Hebert (right) speaks to a crowd that gathered at the Erath Police Station to honor her former husband Gerald Hebert.
Honoring former Erath police chief
A special ceremony was held a year later to the date of the death of Erath Chief Police Gerald Hebert.
Hebert died on Sept. 20, 2016 after a battle with cancer. He was 59 years old. Hebert was chief for nine years.
Erath Police Chief Anna LaPointe arranged the ceremony at the newly renovated Erath Police Station, that Hebert helped design.
In attendance were Hebert’s three children, along with grand children, six out of his 15 brother and sisters, plus, friends, aldermen and Mayor John Earl LeBlanc.
Before LaPointe unveiled a plaque that is now hanging in the police station, family members and friends remembered Hebert. The plaque was donated by VFW Post 3798
Mary Hebert, his former wife, thanked everyone for showing up and she thanked the community of Erath for all of the prayers they said while Hebert became ill the final two months of his life.
“I do believe Chief Hebert was an extraordinary man,” said Hebert. She explained that he was born in the mid 1950s and did not grow up surrounded by money. His father was a sharecropper and Gerald’s parents had the task of raising 15 children. Gerald was the last child.
“His up bringing was in poverty and lack of opportunity,” Mary Hebert said. “People who have known him, have asked that if him growing up in poverty has marked him in anyway? I told them yes. It marked him with ambition and the determination to succeed.”
His drive to do well pushed him at a young age because when he entered the oil field, he did well, she said. He rose through the ranks and by his mid 30s, Gerald was in management in the oil field industry. He worked for one company for 25 years.
“His true passion in life always was law and the people he serves,” said Mary. “When he decided to run for chief the first time, I had no doubt in my mind that if the citizens of Erath would hear him and listen to his message, he would take an ordinary job and make it extraordinary. I do believe he did that.”
She told the crowd that Gerald loved being the chief of Erath and really loved influencing the children in a positive way.
“He never once saw his position as chief as one of great power. Instead, it was one of great privilege,” said Mary.
Mary Hebert Cordwell, a sister, explained that her brother spent the last nine years of his life loving his job in Erath.
“It was not job to him,” said Cordwell. “This position was so much. Gerald told me how lucky he was to find something he loved so much, and loved being the chief of Erath. At the end of his life, he was able to look back and he knew he helped so many people.”
Cordwell ended by thanking the people of Erath for accepting her brother into their lives and making the final nine years of his life outstanding.
“I thank y’all,” she said.
