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October 24, 1935 ~ July 25, 2020

KAPLAN — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church honoring the life of Mary Vincent Breaux, 84, who died peacefully to join her husband, Randall, Saturday, July 25, 2020 at Acadia General Hospital. She will be laid to rest at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Cemetery with Reverend Mark Miley officiating the services. Serving as pallbearers will be Hank Menard, Matthew Simon, Brandon Benoit, Kevin Choate, Romin Bradley, and Cory Foreman. Honorary pallbearers will be Sumner Harrington, Parker Hebert, Tyler Benoit, Ian Benoit, Draper Hebert and Kelly Bradley. Lectors will be Jacinta Vincent Dyck and Ashley Broussard Choate with interrupter, Lynette Bourque Simon.
She is survived by her children, David Simon (Lynette), Vicki Simon Foreman (Charles), Nedia Simon (Michael), Monica Simon Camel (Etienne), and Mary Ann Broussard (Wayne); her grandchildren, Renee Simon Hebert (Draper), Monique Noelle Simon, Matthew Simon (Monique), Cory Foreman (Katie), Heather Menard Bradley (Kelly), Hank Menard (Ashley), Brandon Benoit, Nancy Simon, Christy Gaspard, Isabelle Camel, Ashley Broussard Choate (Kevin), Lance Vidrine (Jennifer), Paige Vidrine; her great grandchildren, Parker, Lainie, Layla and Riley Hebert, Joe, Jack, and Jude Aucoin, Emma and Gretta Jens, Ellie Simon, Lani Darby, Sumner Harrington, Romin and Libbie Bradley, Kennedy and Dylan Menard, Paige, Kinzy, and Bryce Foreman, Jenna Foreman, Tyler and Ian Benoit, Charolette and Samuel Choate, Kenlee and Lincoln Vidrine; her great-great grandchild, Vivian Grace Benoit; her stepchildren, Mary Ann Breaux McDonald (Bubba), Ricky Breaux (Maylinda), Randy Breaux (Kim), David Breaux (Angela), Cindy Breaux Mustin, Alex Breaux (Michelle), Pat Menard Rousell, and Susan Menard Leblanc; and her brothers, Jerry Paul Vincent of Kaplan and Donald Vincent (Melinda) of South Carolina.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Lanese and Cecile Vincent; her daughter, Nancy Ann Simon; her granddaughter, Erin Monique Simon; her great grandson, Hayden Mouledous; her sister-in-law, Mildred Simon Vincent; and her husbands, Randall Breaux, AP (Ace) Menard, and Doris Lee Simon.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 from 8:00 AM until the procession departs for the church at 12:45 PM with a rosary being prayed at 10:00 AM.
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 Breaux family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.

December 2, 1948 ~ July 25, 2020

ABBEVILLE — Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Andrew Cedrus Duhon Jr., 71, who died Saturday, July 25, 2020 at Abbeville General Hospital. He will be laid to rest at Graceland Cemetery.
Andrew is survived by his niece, Tiffany G. Pontiff and her husband, Danny; nephew, James M. Griffin, Jr. and his wife Michelle; great nieces, Phallyn Folse, Krislyn Landry, Lauren Griffin and Camille Griffin.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Andrew Cedrus Duhon, Sr. and the former Grace Elaine O’Bryan; sister, Andre “Ann” Duhon Griffin; and niece, Pamela Griffin Bares.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Tuesday, July 28, 2020 from 1:00 PM 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.

Louisiana’s French speakers were in serious demand during World War II, especially when interpreters were needed as GIs fought their way across France after D-Day. But south Louisiana’s French speakers were also wanted for their fighting ability and even their typing skills.
Men from south Louisiana caught the eye of the Marine Corps early in the war. At the beginning of 1942, the brass sent Capt. Bob Mouton, a former congressman and a member of the Marine Reserves, into the byways to “get the best men from the bayou country.”
A newspaper report noted that Mouton “speaks good French, speaks bayou French, speaks good Spanish and bayou Spanish, and then, too, he speaks English.” He was to use his skills on “a vast pool of young men who are perfect Marine material.”
Mouton told a reporter, “They can shoot straight, they can handle a knife, they’re good physical specimens, and they love a scrap. If that doesn’t make them good Marine material, then, moi, je suis fou.”
South Louisiana soldiers showed that Mouton wasn’t exaggerating about their straight shooting when, as the armed forces newspaper Stars and Stripes reported, “officers and men of a … infantry battalion from Louisiana … won all four events in which they entered [in a marksmanship competition], thereby setting a record.”
According to that article “at the time of mobilization the entire personnel conversed in French, even to the commands of the officers and noncoms, as many of the men couldn’t understand orders in English. … The men have done an excellent public relations job in helping the French people obtain a better understanding of America and Americans.”
You have to wonder about the “understanding of America” given by these soldiers, many of whom had never traveled more than 20 miles from home until the war. It was probably a bit different than the “understanding” a GI from New York or even New Orleans might give.
As the war was winding down in 1945, Congressman James Domengeaux sent out an appeal for “typists and secretaries familiar with the French language.”
He said they were “urgently needed by the French government for positions in Washington,” where paperwork was piling up for lack of bilingual office workers.
French officials regularly cited the work of Louisiana GIs in their country, but there were also times when we commended Frenchmen, and south Louisiana language skills helped there, too.
In April 1945, “in a dramatic ceremony” held in a part of France under U.S. control, Roger Godart, “a member of the French Forces of the Interior,” was given a gold wrist watch “for courage and aid to U.S. forces.”
The award was given in the name of Gen. George Patton, but someone who spoke fluent French was needed to make the actual presentation. That was, of course, a soldier from Louisiana, Col. Roy Dalferes of Lafayette.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, Cajuns and Other Characters, is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

The sixth annual Fête-Dieu du Teche will petition God for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 40-mile Eucharistic Procession follows Bayou Teche with participants in boats and on foot to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, patroness of the Acadian people and of Acadiana.
This year’s procession also marks the 255th anniversary of the arrival of French-Canadian immigrants who brought the Catholic faith to Acadiana after enduring great trials and suffering.
The Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC, organizer of the event, notes that “having a Eucharistic Procession by boat on the waters of the Teche rather than by foot in the streets makes a lot of sense. Fête-Dieu du Teche on the Feast of the Assumption recalls our rich Acadian history and, in a way, re-enacts the journey made by the Acadians over 250 years ago.”
Champagne said a boat procession with the Blessed Sacrament and a statue of the Assumption involving priests, religious, and laity is basically what happened in 1765. “In order to serve the Acadian settlers in the Attakapas district, Fr. Jean-Louis de Civrey accompanied the Acadians on their journey down the Bayou Teche. Fr. Civrey became the first resident priest.”
The day begins with an 8 a.m. Mass in French with Bishop Douglas Deshotel at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Leonville. Attendance in the church will be limited to 315 persons, but the Mass is to be broadcast on outside speakers.
Anyone who is ill or has a compromised immune system is asked to remain home and participate in the procession on-line at facebook.com/CommunityofJesusCrucified.
All participants 8 years or older (whether on boats or on shore) will be expected to wear face masks and observe social distancing (this includes priests, seminarians, and laity). Persons with health conditions prohibiting them from wearing a face mask are asked not to attend the event. A team of trained marshals will be on hand to assure implementation of safety precautions at all sites.
The Mass will be followed by a procession with the Blessed Sacrament and a statue of Mary and St. Joseph to the nearby boat landing.
This year’s Fête-Dieu du Teche is special as it will be held on the eve of the opening of the Year of St. Joseph in the Diocese of Lafayette, Champagne said. The Diocese of Lafayette boasts 13 church parishes with the name of St. Joseph – 14 if one counts the original name of the Mother Church of the Acadians prior to the name change to St. Martin de Tours.
“Having the Catholic priest accompany the Acadians on their journey to Acadiana is indicative of our ancestors’ great allegiance to their Catholic faith, especially the Eucharist and Our Lady. Fête-Dieu du Teche today relives that original experience of the Acadians,” he said.
The Eucharistic Procession will stop and disembark at makeshift altars along the Bayou Teche for recitation of the Rosary and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
Bishop Douglas Deshotel, notes, “I have been edified by the devotion and participation of so many priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful. I think such a public Eucharistic celebration is an excellent manifestation of the new evangelization that we so desperately need.”
To register a boat for the procession, send an email to fetedieuduteche@gmail.com, download a registration form at https://www.jesuscrucified.net/fete-dieu-du-teche, or complete the online form at https://www.jesuscrucified.net/events/fete-dieu-du-teche-2020/form.
The procession will travel at about 8 mph and thus only motorized vessels are allowed.
Catholic schools are encouraged to send their students or a representative group to be present at the opening French Mass in Leonville with Bishop Deshotel, at one or more of the stops along the procession, and especially to participate in the final foot procession in St. Martinville.
Itinerary for Aug. 15 Eucharistic Boat Procession on Bayou Teche
(Feast of the Assumption of Mary)
8 a.m. Holy Mass in French with Bishop John Douglas Deshotel, D.D., at St. Leo the Great Church, Leonville.
9 a.m. Procession from St. Leo’s to Leonville boat landing.
9:30 a.m. Boat procession departs.
10:20 a.m. Arrive at Arnaudville and disembark for Rosary and Benediction
11:45 a.m. Arrive at Cecilia and disembark for Rosary and Benediction.
1:35 p.m. Arrive at Breaux Bridge and disembark for Rosary and Benediction.
3:15 p.m. Arrive at Parks and disembark for Rosary and Benediction.
4:45 p.m. Flotilla arrives at St. Martinville; Foot procession to Notre Dame de Perpetuel Secours for Benediction.
5 p.m. Procession from Notre Dame to St. Martin de Tours Church for Benediction.
5:30 p.m. Procession down Main Street to Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel for Solemn Vespers & Final Benediction.
6 p.m. Solemn Vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at Mater Dolorosa Chapel.
Confessions will be available at all stops in mobile units along the procession.