Richard Lloyd Belaire
April 23, 1929 - March 17, 2023
ABBEVILLE — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Mr. Richard Lloyd Belaire, 93, at 1:00PM on Saturday, March 25, 2023 at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church with Fr. Louis Richard officiating. Interment will follow in St. Paul Cemetery with Military Honors.
Visitation will be held at David Funeral Home of Abbeville on Saturday, March 25, 2023 beginning at 9:00AM until the time of services with a recitation of the rosary at 12:00PM lead by Darryl Rabasso.
A native of Sulphur, LA and a resident of Abbeville, Richard passed away on Friday, March 17, 2023 at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center.
Richard always shared very interesting stories and lived life to the fullest. He loved to speak French and share many tales of his life and profession.
As a supervisor for the Louisiana State Highway Department for 30 years, Belaire helped with many large projects. One particular accomplishment he always reminisced about was being a part of completing the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. He often blamed his hearing loss on being around the banging of the pilons that form the bridge for many years. He helped engineers by leading many bridge projects at Pecan Island, Lake Arthur, and Baton Rouge.
An avid hunter and fisherman, Richard assisted in guiding many hunters at the Amaco Camp at White Lake in Gueydan after retiring.
One of his favorite weekends was guiding President Lyndon B. Johnson and the First Lady (Lady Bird). Belaire told the tale of when the First Lady forgot her fur coat at the Amaco Camp, it was he who transported her coat quickly to the airport in his pickup truck. He was also given a beautiful gold pen by the Secret Service guards, which he displayed. He recently found a note in his keepsake box with a card from that same Secret Servant guard, who is still around and owns a bank in Texas.
He was born in Sulphur, Louisiana to Narcisst and Agnes Rodriguez Belaire. The Belaire’s purchased a farm in Henry, Louisiana. At a young age, in middle school, Richard's father suffered a stroke on the farm, and Richard had to grow up fast with his father being unable to work the farm. Richard had to work the farm and go to school. It was then when Richard learned to never be afraid of hard work. A strong work ethic was one blessing which Richard always made sure to guide his children and grandchildren with. His favorite saying was, "When you do the right thing, you can never go wrong."
Richard met his beautiful bride, Audrey Doucet Belaire, at the Airport Club and had three children: little Lisa Gayle, who died at the tender age of 3 years old, due to heart complications, Lori Ellen Belaire Booth and Richard Scott Belaire. Later, the two newlyweds relocated Richard's parents off the Henry Farm to a home next-door to them, to help take care of both sets of their parents, so they could reside -one set on each side- of the Belaire’s.
From delicious Cajun meals, family gatherings, fixing car issues, plumbing problems, doctor visits or boiling the crawfish for their parents, Richard and Audrey were always around to see that their parents were well taken care of.
Richard was proud to say he had not been in the hospital in over 12 years. He enjoyed going to construction job sites with his son and giving his opinions on how they use to do it with the engineers. He loved hearing his grandchildren’s stories of their football games, peaking in door waiting to hear the score when they drive up, or running to get his Abbeville Meridional so he can read all about the games. He was extremely proud of his grandboy getting the opportunity to be part of the UL Ragin Cajuns baseball team and listening to their college adventures. He was also very proud of his son in law being an F16 Fighter Pilot and enjoyed hearing the stories of his grandchildren traveling all over the world. Richard was an extremely proud father and grandfather.
Richard and his wife were devoted Catholics of St. Mary Magdalene Church. Richard also prayed a Holy Hour every Thursday in church at 11 pm. You can find him daily on his swing saying the catholic rosary for all his family members. He and his wife were dedicated members of the Knights of Columbus Auxiliary of Abbeville. He enjoyed cooking for many events with the KC Auxiliary.
“When you go right, you can never go wrong.” - Richard Belaire
He is survived by his son Richard Scott Belaire and his wife Sharon, along with his grandsons, Richard Austin Belaire and Ashton Edward Belaire. Also, grandchildren Madison Grace Booth and Logan Alexander Booth along with their father Eugene Beau Booth of Niceville, Florida; sisters-in-law, Dorothy White of Lafayette and Janelle Hebert and her husband Jim, along with his Godchild Kim Hebert Hammett of Baton Rouge. His cousin, Deanna Comeaux Broussard of Abbeville, who helped care for Richard over the years and many holidays.
Belaire is preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Audrey Doucet Belaire, daughters little Lisa Gayle Belaire and Lori Ellen Belaire Booth, his parents Narcisst and Agnes Rodriguez Belaire, and in-laws Odey and Annie Comeaux Doucet.
Serving as pallbearers will be Scott Belaire, Austin Belaire, Ashton Belaire, Brent Hebert, Logan Booth, Eugene Beau Booth, Scott Menard, and David Potier.
Serving as honorary pallbearers will be Patrick Menard, Clay Menard, Gus Orellana, Chris Broussard, Mark Leblanc, Kelly Escanelle, and Michael Escanelle.
Serving as readers will be Kim Hebert Hammett, Godchild of Belaire, and Hailey Gunter.
Music will be provided by St. Mary Magdalen vocals and organist with the songs Amazing Grace, Ava Maria & Eagles Wings.
The family would like to extend a special thanks to Dianna Ducote with Abbeville Hearing & Speech for in-house speech therapy over the years for swallowing correction. Praying friends Sylvia Putnam and Flo Veazey of St. Mary Magdalen Church who delivered Eucharist the 1st Friday of every month. And all of his family and friends who continue to keep him in prayer.
You may sign the guest register book and express condolences online at www.davidfuneralhome.org
David Funeral Home of Abbeville 2600 Charity Street (337) 893-3777 is in charge of the arrangements.