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Miss Donna Gauthier and Mr. Jake Broussard, both of Abbeville, are announcing their engagement and forthcoming plans of marriage.
The wedding will take place at 6 p.m. on March 3, 2018, at the Erath Community Building in Erath.
The future bride is the daughter of Karen Chapman of Marksville, LA and the late Glenn Gauthier of Hessmer, LA. Her grandparents are Geradline Guillot and the late Idal Guillot of Marksville.
She is a 1997 graduate of Marksville High School and is the general manager at B & G Foods.
The prospective groom is the son of Luke and Romy Broussard of Abbeville, LA. His grandparents are Gerald Nunez of Abbeville, LA and the late Ruby Nunez, Velma Broussard of Abbeville and the late Calvin Broussard.
He is a 2000 graduate of Abbeville High School and is an over the road driver for Falcon Freight.

LAFAYETTE — Funeral Services for James “Jim” Knott, 67, will be 11:00AM Saturday December 9, 2017 in David Funeral Home of Lafayette with Deacon Cody Miller officiating . Interment will follow in Sacred Heart Mausoleum.
Visitation will be in David Funeral Home of Lafayette Friday December 8, 2017 from 4:00PM until 10:00PM with recitation of the rosary at 6:30PM. Visitation will resume Saturday from 8:00AM until service time.
Jim, born in Lafayette and a resident of Broussard, passed away Wednesday December 6, 2017 in Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center. He was a U.S. Army Veteran Stationed in Germany. He retired as a Carpenter after many years in residential construction. He was a loving grandfather.
He is survived by his son James “Tony” Knott and wife Winter of Abbeville, his daughter Lainey Coon and husband Tim of Broussard, 5 sisters Betty K. Vining and husband John of Scott, Bernice Tate and husband Wilson of Sunset, Marie Knott of Arnaudville, Delores Olivier and husband Marcel of Arnaudville, and Gerri Knott of Breaux Bridge, 15 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren
He is preceded in death by his parents Clebert and Helena Guidry Knott, his siblings Eula Mae Moran, Mildred Richard, and Lloyd Knott, his son Benjamin Michael Knott
Condolences may be shared with the family at www.davidfuneralhome.org
David Funeral Home of Lafayette is in charge of arrangements 316 Youngsville Hwy Lafayette, LA 70508 (337) 837-9887.

Judge Kaliste Saloom Jr., who died Dec. 2 after a long and fruitful life, was elected and re-elected to the Lafayette city court for 40 years, even though friends said his first election would be his last because he refused to “fix” traffic tickets.
That didn’t bother him, he told me in a long interview in 2006, because he’d been reluctant to run in the first place.He was already deeply involved in community affairs, was building a successful law practice, and was a part of the generation who went off to fight World War II and who believed it was their duty to contribute to the life of the community when they came home.
“We came back and saw that Lafayette had nothing done in … six or seven years,” he said. “The war had blocked all development.”
As it turned out, his election to the bench did nothing to inhibit his public contributions. It would be difficult, maybe impossible, to name a major project or worthy cause in Lafayette that did not benefit from his work and wise counsel.
He was born on May 15, 1918, so was only a half-year from his 100th birthday, but doctors present at the beginning gave him little chance for such a long life.
His premature birth “was an emergency deal,” the judge told me. “The doctors said, ‘We don’t think the baby can make it.’” But a neighbor, Ida Naomi (mother of the late jeweler Paul Naomi) thought differently. According to the judge’s account, “She said, ‘No, the baby is fine. Get me a shoebox, Get me a blanket. Heat some bricks in the wood stove.’ They did, and she made an incubator for me and I survived.”
He was the fifth child of Kaliste Saloom Sr. (for whom the Lafayette road is named) and Asma Boustany Saloom, Lebanese emigres who came to Louisiana about 1890. He attended Mount Carmel grammar school, was valedictorian of the Cathedral High class of 1935 and quarterback of its regional champion football team (“I was small, but I was fast”), was sports editor of the newspaper at SLI (UL today), and won a scholarship to the Tulane law school.
He got his law degree in 1942, just after the United States was pulled into World War II, and immediately signed up, although he technically could have been deferred. (“You had to be 5-foot-7 and weigh 130 pounds. I was 5-feet-6 and weighed only 120.”)
He said he didn’t know what it meant when he was assigned to counterintelligence work. He thought he was going to be a spy, but was told, “No, you’re going to do the opposite. You’re going to catch spies.” He was first sent to North Africa, “to watch the Nazi … sympathizers infiltrating from Spanish Morocco and Tangiers.”
As a French-speaker, he became particularly valuable after the Allied invasion of France. He was sent first to Marseilles, “where I ran across Cajun troops from Lafayette . . . and ate my first gumbo in almost two years.” He served under Gen. George Patton in Europe and at the end of the war helped capture a notorious German general.
He returned to Lafayette and opened a law firm at the end of the war, involved himself in community life, and was elected city judge in 1953. “I didn’t want to run for judge,” he said. A good friend was also considering the race. But the friend decided not to run and talked Saloom into seeking the judgeship he held until August 1993.
His life and commitments broadened even more after he married Yvonne Adelle Nassar in 1958 and they began rearing a family that eventually included four children: Kaliste Joseph III, Douglas, Leanne Isabelle, and Gregory, all of whom followed his footsteps and earned law degrees.
When his death became known and people who knew him began to reflect on Judge Saloom’s life, certain words kept coming to the fore: “Stern but compassionate,” “kind and genuine,” “brilliant,” “willing to share,” “icon.” The two that came first to me were “visionary” and “gracious.”
Even as a young man, he was able to look beyond the immediate, apparent effects of a plan or project or public work, understand its history, and see its wider implications. That’s why his counsel was so valuable. And despite a list of accomplishments and honors that might have turned another man’s head, he was one of the most gentlemanly and gracious men I’ve known. That’s why he was so widely admired and loved.
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.

ABBEVILLE – Funeral services for Barbara Meyers Marcotte, 75, will be held Friday December 8, 2017 at 2:00 PM at St. John Evangelist Catholic Church in Henry. Fr. Manny Fernandez Pastor of St. John Evangelist will be officiating.
Visitation will be held Thursday December 7, 2017 from 3:00 PM until 9:00 PM with a Rosary recited at 7:00 PM and will continue Friday from 8:00 AM until time of services. Burial will follow in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Cemetery in Erath.
Barbara was a native and lifelong resident of Abbeville, she was a dedicated school teacher have worked a total of 37 years with the Vermilion Parish School system, where she spent 24 years as a teacher at JH William, and 13 years at Henry Elementary. She spent 10 years caring for her Mother, and six years babysitting for the loves of her life, her grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Survivors include her daughter Michelle Marcotte Reaux and her husband Dale; her grandchildren Lyndsay and her husband Benjamin Dubois, Jed and his wife Katie Reaux, and Ellie Reaux; her great grandchildren Nate and Evelyn Dubois, and Easton Reaux. She is also survived by her sister Judy and her husband Greg Hasemann; and her nephew Andrew and his wife Amy Hasemann.
Mrs. Marcotte was preceded in death by her parents Octa and Lola Mae Pullin Meyers.
Condolences may b e sent to the Marcotte family at www.davidfuneralhome.org
David Funeral Home 2600 Charity St. 337-893-3777 is in charge of arrangements.