Linda Marie Guilbeaux Suire

A mass of Christian burial will be held for Linda Marie Guilbeaux Suire on Monday, November 7, at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Erath at 3:00, with visitation from 1:30 to the time of service in the church.
The Ladies Alter Society will say a rosary at 2:00. Rev. Clinton Sensat will officiate. Burial will precede at Our Lady of the Lake Cemetery in Delcambre.
On Sunday, October 30, at noon, our dear mother, Linda Marie Guilbeaux Suire, passed away peacefully at her home at the age of 97. She was courageously battling a debilitating stroke that had taken her speech, mobility, and finally, her life, but not without a fight, as the battle lasted for 13 years.
Linda was born on March 1, 1925, to the late Azard Guilbeaux and Odile nee Hulin.
The Great Depression influenced her first life experiences. Momma learned to conserve and not to waste a drop or a bite. She learned how to save and manage without material things and to make do at an early age. These lessons passed on have not been forgotten.
She was known to take someone else’s trash and convert it into a treasure or to keep her first refrigerator for 57 years because it still ran. Hand-me-downs were a family tradition.
She grew up on a farm and was more comfortable helping her Dad in the field but less agile in the kitchen. My father testified that his new bride’s first batch of biscuits were hockey pucks in flakiness.
She graduated high school in 1941. Two years later, she found herself engaged to my father, Pervis, a handsome chap from Delcambre. On a three-day pass in 1943, they married. Her wedding dress was fashioned from a torn parachute Daddy had procured from an airborne Marine.
He then went off to war till it ended and was discharged in November of 1945. They settled into married life and began their family. In 1946 my sister was born, then I was born in 1947, followed by a brother in 1949. Four more siblings were to follow.
We were the baby boomers. While Daddy was honing his carpenter and later builder /contractor skills, Momma was busy raising her brood and teaching us ethical values. We were taught that we were as good as anyone else, but she made sure we didn’t get too big for our boots. We were taught to respect all adults and to be polite to everyone, and her most basic rule was “tell the truth” because, according to her, you will only have to say it once if you tell the truth. Lying was discouraged in a variety of ways. Discipline was swift and sometimes painful, most often on the rear end.
She believed in granting freedom and independence as soon as a child measured up to the mark. She sewed our clothes, made her Sunday hats for church, and performed all the skills she had mastered that sometimes went unappreciated. Supper was our main meal, so all of us would wait until Daddy got home before we all sat at the table and ate our now tasty meals as a family: it was too bad if a child was impatient. All waited until everyone was present.
We would spend summer days collecting figs, blackberries, oranges, and pears for Momma to preserve as jellies and jams so that we could make our fast foods. Then, when we got older, she managed to squeeze in enough time to get a part-time job selling fabric at a department store.
When Daddy retired, they bought a camper and traveled all over Louisiana and the surrounding states. They traveled in a caravan for safety and added companionship. Momma loved to display her craftsmanship skills at the rallies.
Meeting new people their age was exciting and rejuvenating. Our mother was a strong, honest woman devoted to her family.
Today I realize how fortunate we were to have had her as our mother. Thank you, Momma, for having the strength of character and courage to tell us when one of us would complain, “but Johnny’s momma lets, “and she would say, “I’m not Johnny’s Momma I’m your momma “‘No!!! “ THANK YOU, Mother. Taking care of you was an honor and a privilege.
She is survived by six children, Herman, Russell (Lizette), Cheryl Hebert (Dalton), Pervis Jr. (Marie), Bryan (Roxane), and Robert (Sheila), 21 grandchildren, 47 great-grand children, and 26 great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Pervis, her husband of 59 years, a daughter Linda Anne, her godmother affectionately known as Nan Da, a daughter-in-law Theresa, and a son-in-law Otis.
Momma wrote a monthly check to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital until her stroke ended her mobility, CYPRESS Funeral Home and crematory are handling arrangements.

Written by Linda’s son, Herman