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MSgt F. Joseph Abshire, Jr., U.S. Air Force, Ret., age 82, of Gulfport, passed away on February 1, 2017.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. Joseph Abshire, Sr., 2 sisters, Thelma Abshire Broussard and Velma Marceaux, and a brother, Lester Desormeaux.
Survivors include his loving wife of 60 years, Peggy Sue Abshire, his children, Kathy (Dana) Vogel, Krista (Bill) Whitehill, Mark (Tina) Abshire, Karen Bussolati, Kelly (Eric) Spahl, Karla (Mark) Gilmore, Tom (Brenda) Abshire, Michael (Jennifer) Abshire, and “Trak Abshire”, 18 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, and other relatives and friends.
Mr. Abshire was a native of Abbeville, LA and served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and later retired as a Master Sergeant. He later worked as an Electronics Engineer at Ingalls Shipbuilding and was an active member of St. Joseph Catholic Church serving as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, usher, and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He enjoyed playing golf, cards, and spending time with his family.
Visitation will be on Friday, February 3, 2017, from 6 – 8 pm at the RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 11280 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 1 pm Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 12290 Depew Road, Gulfport, MS. A graveside service will be at 2:30 Monday in the Biloxi National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to St. Vincent de Paul Society, 12290 Depew Road, Gulfport, MS 39503.
An online guestbook may be signed at www.riemannfamily.com.

A record number of Vermilion Parish football players signed a letter of intent to play college football.
There were seven seniors who signed on the first official signing day.
One will be attending college 20 miles from Abbeville, while another will be close to 800 miles away from home.
Erath High’s Elijah Mitchell made it official by signing on the dotted line. He is the first Erath player to sign a football scholarship to UL out of high school since Mike Book in the late 1980s.
Mitchell signed with the UL Ragin Cajuns in front of his family, friends and teammates.
“It felt pretty good to make it official,” said Mitchell. “I worked hard the last four years and now I get to go play college football.”
He committed to UL last year and did not visit anywhere else. Other universities wanted him to visit their campus, but he decline.
The attraction to UL is because how close it is to Vermilion Parish.
“My family and my Erath family can see me play,” he said.
There were two Vermilion Parish high schools who had three athletes sign scholarships.
North Vermilion and Abbeville held signing ceremonies because each school had three football signees.
AHS principal Ivy Landry orchestrated the signings and then held a ceremony in the school library for the athletes who signed. Their AHS teammates attended.
Signing from AHS were Allen Arclies, who signed with Stephen F. Austin University in Texas; Chris Shelvin and Montel Cormier both signed scholarships to attend Louisiana College in Alexandria.
For Arclies, he knew on his first visit to Stephen F. Austin (SFA), which is four hours away from Abbeville, that is where he wanted to play.
The school recruited him as a tight end. SFA has four tight ends on its roster and two will be seniors in 2017.
While the campus was first class looking, Arclies said he selected SFA because of their offense.
“They run the spread offense and like to throw the football,” Arclies said.
Last year SFA threw for an average of 292 yards a game. There were five receivers with more than 19 catches in 2016.

Two going to LC

Two good friends who played along side each other since they were eight will continue to play next to each other.
Montel Cormier and Chris Shelvin Jr. have played pee-wee football together and both signed a scholarship together.
They inked a scholarship with Louisiana College Wildcats. Both visited the school together and liked what they saw and heard.
He will play linebacker.
“It feels great knowing I will continue playing football after high school,” said Shelvin. “It is even better knowing I will be going with family.”
Cormier and Shelvin both made the visit to Louisiana College and enjoyed what they saw.
Cormier, also a linebacker, said, “It is a dream come true for all of the hard work both me and Chris put in over the years. It is a blessing for a university like Louisiana College to say they want both of us.”
Both young men said the coaching staff at LC made them feel at home on their visit. Also, the college is only 90 minutes away, which is not too far from Abbeville.
Abbeville head football coach Kevin Kern said, “It is a great day to be an Abbeville Wildcat.”

Three NV players sign

North Vermilion’s Tyler Galley, Jaylon Miller and Triston Romero each signed letters of intent Wednesday at the school, surrounded by family, friends and teammates
Jaylon Miller has gone through the recruiting process for a few months now. That process ended Wednesday morning when he signed with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Miller had considered other offers, including Jackson State. He will play on the defensive line
“I am so excited about this decision,” Miller said. “I like everything about the school. I felt like the coaching staff treated me like family.”
Triston Romero will be heading to Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois. He will play defensive back.
“I’m very excited,” Romero said prior to signing his letter. “It was a fun process. I looked at some other places, but Elmhurst offers a lot. The program fits what I am looking for.”
However, It is more than 15 hours from home.
“I am a little nervous about that,” Romero admitted. “I will get used to it.”
Tyler Galley’s college destination will not bring him as far from home as Romero, but Sterling College in Kansas is about 12 hours away. Galley, a receiver, signed with the school Wednesday morning.
“I am pretty excited,” Galley said. “It is something that I have worked on for a while.”
Galley considered two other schools in Kansas, Tabor College and Bethel College, but ultimately found Sterling to be the best match for him based on the position he plays.
“They run a spread offense,” Galley said. “I think that is a good fit for me.”

Things did not start off too well for the Vermilion Catholic Lady Eagles against the Hanson Lady Tigers, but they ended well.
The Lady Eagles fell behind in the first period by as much as eight points, but then VC went on an 11-4 run in the second quarter and led 32-24 at halftime.
The Lady Eagles went on to win 58-48.
“We changed defenses against them,” said VC head coach Kim Guidry. “We were in a box and 1 (defense) but then their guards made outside shots. We switched to a man-to-man defense.”
Kelli Frith, a freshman center for VC, made two baskets and nailed four free throws in the second period. She finished the game with 15 points.
At the 6:24 mark in the second period, VC took its first lead when Frith nailed two free throws.
Also, sophomore guard Jay Demouchet nailed a couple of outside jumpers for VC in the second period.
The second half belonged to VC.
Four different VC players scored, including Demouchet’s second 3-pointer. She finished with 17 points.
Ainsley Mallet also had a trey in the third period and one in the fourth period. She finished with 10 points.
VC’s Bella Doucet scored eight points in the game. Anne Catherine Gallet made six and Kylie White scored two for VC.

VC boys rally

The Vermilion Catholic Eagles were down 33-26 at halftime but rallied to win 54-51 in a district contest.
Kris Constantine nailed a 3-pointer with four minutes left to play in the third period giving VC a 37-36 lead. The lead went back and forth in the third period.
VC scored the final five points in the third period for a small 42-38 lead.
Tre Lane scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half to help the Eagles win.
He had a dunk at the 5:36 mark that gave VC a 46-40 lead. Lane blocked a 3-point shot and was later fouled. He made two free throws to seal the victory with 20 seconds to play.
Ethan Lege scored 14 points and Constantine chipped in eight points.

The Abbeville Lady Wildcats helped their playoff cause by beating Westgate 48-24.
The victory gets Abbeville over the .500 mark at 12-11.
As of Tuesday, Abbeville is the No. 30th seed team in Class 4A. The top 32 teams qualify for the playoffs.
The Lady Wildcats blew the game open in the second half by scoring 31 points.
The Lady Cats had three players score in double digits.
Tayla Willis, who has been steady the last two weeks, scored a team-high 15 points.
Eveylyn Briggs made three 3-pointers and finished with 12 points. Ariel Henderson also had 12 points for AHS.
The Lady Wildcats were only 9 of 19 at the free throw line.

Westgate.....60
Abbeville.... 54

The Abbeville Wildcats could never catch up against Westgate after falling behind early in the game.
Javontae Decuir led AHS with 20 points.
Kevin Williams had 10 and Tyrese Sam made eight.
With four minutes to play in the game, Abbeville cut the lead down to 54-50 on Jacoby Senegal’s back-to-back layups.
That would be as close as Abbeville would get to the lead.