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DELCAMBRE — Evans Anthony LeMaire, Sr., a native of Delcambre, passed away on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at Maison du Monde Nursing Home in Abbeville. At his passing he was 88.
Evans was born on July 1st, 1934 to John Lee and Ozia LeBlanc LeMaire in Iberia Parish near Delcambre. He was one of seven children. His father moved the family to Thibodaux when WWII began, to work in a shell plant. Evans had just completed third grade. He then attended Thibodaux College, a Brothers of the Sacred Heart school for boys, and later attended St. Benedict's in Covington.
In 1950 the family returned to the family home near Delcambre. He then attended St. Peters College in New Iberia, a Christian Brothers' School for boys, where he graduated in 1952. During the following years he attended St. Mary's College in Kentucky and Notre Dame in New Orleans before earning a BA degree in Education from SLI in 1957. After graduating from college, he and Jackie were married June 28, 1958 and became the parents of five sons and one daughter.
Evans started his teaching career at Thibodaux Jr. High School in Thibodaux. It was interrupted temporarily with his service in the U.S. Army. Upon completion of his commitment, he returned to Delcambre. At Delcambre High School he was a classroom teacher, Assistant Principal, Guidance Counselor and retired as Principal in 1978. During those years he earned a Masters Degree in Administration and Supervision from LSU, eventually earning a Masters plus 30.
During the early 70s, he worked at the Iberia Parish School Board Office as Media Specialist and then replaced the director of the Title VII French Immersion Program in the parish. He travelled to Maine and New Hampshire to observe other programs.
In the summer of 1972, Evans led a group of teachers who had students in the program to study French at a community college in Jonquiere, Quebec, Canada. It was a wonderful experience for his family as they accompanied him and participated in excursions around the Lac St. Jean and Saguenay River regions and Quebec City area. Lodging with a French Quebecois family offered additional immersion experiences. Also driving up and camping along the way, allowed many opportunities for sightseeing. Through the years he and Jackie enjoyed travelling throughout the contiguous U.S., Hawaii, Alaska and western Canada.
After retiring from education, Evans worked at Iberia Bank for 20 years as an Appraiser, Personnel Manager, and Loan Officer. He also served for several years on the Iberia Parish Library Board.
As a parishioner of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Delcambre, Evans served as trustee, lector, Parish Council President, and Eucharistic Minister. He also served on the Diocesan Synod.
Evans died a few days after his 88th birthday and 64th wedding anniversary.
Left to cherish his memory is his loving wife of 64 years, Jacqueline Vincent LeMaire; children, Van LeMaire (Susan), Barry LeMaire, Patrick LeMaire (Mattie), Timmy LeMaire (Mia), Claire L. Schmehil (Jim), and Val LeMaire (Lori); grandchildren, Trey LeMaire, Eric LeMaire, Sarah Judice, Jonathan LeMaire, Simon LeMaire, Sean LeMaire, Curtis LeMaire, Mark LeMaire, T.J. LeMaire, Regan LeMaire, Aaron LeMaire, Ryan LeMaire, Elizabeth Schmehil, Marie Miller, Jacqueline Schmehil, Andre LeMaire, Lily LeMaire, and Annabel LeMaire; and fourteen great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his father, John Lee LeMaire, Sr.; mother Ozia LeBlanc LeMaire; brothers, Theodore "Teddy" LeMaire, John LeMaire, Jr., and Olan LeMaire; sisters, Yolande Moss, Loucinda DuBois, and Mary Lynn Richard; and great granddaughter, Zoe LeMaire.
A Funeral Service will be celebrated on Tuesday, July 19, 2022 at 2:00 pm at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church with Fr. Herb Bennerfield officiating and Fr. Buddy Breaux concelebrating. He will be laid to rest following the services at the church mausoleum.
A gathering of family and friends will be held at Evangeline Funeral Home on Monday from 4:00 pm until 9:00 pm with a rosary being led by the Men’s Rosary Group at 7:00 pm. The funeral home will reopen on Tuesday at 8:00 am until the service time.
Serving as pallbearers are Van LeMaire, Barry LeMaire, Patrick LeMaire, Timmy LeMaire, Val LeMaire and Jim Schmehil.
To view the on-line obituary, view the video presentation and sign the online guest register, please visit www.evangelinefuneralhome.com.
Evangeline Funeral Home of Delcambre is in charge of arrangements.

MAURICE — A successful fundraiser held June 25 at Mendoza Ford in Maurice will help offset some of the costs for the Maurice Volunteer Fire Department, chief David Landry said, but there’s still more that the fire department needs to do in order to keep up with a rapidly growing community.
“Mendoza and surrounding businesses and community made this thing a huge success,” Landry said of the Mendoza Independence Day Celebration that raised funds for the fire department and the Maurice Police Department. “The public turnout was phenomenal like it normally is. Mendoza was on point getting everything scheduled and organized, the fireworks display, the whole nine yards. It was tremendous.”
This year’s event helped out two other volunteer fire departments and two other police departments in addition to Maurice’s, said Landry, 37. A full-time firefighter with the Abbeville Fire Department for nearly 18 years, Landry has been fire chief in Maurice for a year and a half. He’s been with the Maurice Volunteer Fire Department for nearly 20 years.
The Maurice VFD will be upgrading its air compressor, thanks to the Abbeville Fire Department. Both the Maurice and Abbeville fire departments had applied for a grant for a new compressor, and when Abbeville received the grant, Landry asked Abbeville Fire Chief Jude Mire what was going to be done with the old air compressor.
“I asked if we could possibly get it, and the city was generous enough to donate it to the (Maurice) fire department,” Landry said.
The air compressors are used to fill the air tanks used in Self Contained Breathing Apparatus systems, the air packs that firefighters wear on their backs when fighting fires. Landry said the current 2216 psi air compressor fills air tanks that last 30 minutes when firefighters are working in a structure fire. The new 4500 psi bottles would allow for increased work time inside structures, allowing firefighters to be more productive.
“That’s going to be a big aspect for us, because with us growing, we’re going to have to eventually go to 4,500 bottles, which the cascade system we have now is not compatible with, so they helped us be able to grow into the growth of our area,” he said.
The Maurice fire department also is hoping to acquire a ladder truck with the help of a grant that the town has applied for. A previous try for the grant was unsuccessful as the town was still classified as a village at the time, but with the growth in population in the 2020 census elevating Maurice to town status, Landry is hopeful this application will be successful. A 1995 grant application from the town helped purchase one of the fire department’s pumper trucks.
“The town of Maurice is growing at an unbelievable rate,” he said. “They agreed to apply for the grant and help us pay the 10 percent (matching funds) and all the things we need for that particular unit. Right now Maurice Fire Department has a 45-foot extension ladder, which is sufficient to help the residents of Maurice inside and outside of the town keep their (insurance) rates as low as they can. The (Property Insurance Association of Louisiana) requires us to have some type of what they classify as an aerial device, and that 45-foot ladder was sufficient for the last few years. We were told that if we do not get it (a new ladder truck), that 45-foot ladder will not be compliant.”
The main issue Landry sees facing the town’s fire department is the need for more firefighters.
“No. 1 right off the top is manpower,” he said. “Like every other department in the parish, we’re facing manpower shortages.”
It’s often hard for people with full-time jobs to respond quickly to emergency calls during work hours. That can be an issue with the PIL, which is the rating organization that dictates homeowner insurance rates.
“They require us to have certain things in certain spots,” Landry said. “So for us, we have to look at potentially getting a second (fire) station. We have to have certain manpower (numbers) come out at certain calls. We have to have certain equipment come out. That’s a big thing for us because our guys are doing everything that they can, and we’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got.”
It boils down to funding, he said — adding a new ladder truck, or a new station, costs money. The town has property for a potential new fire station, but would have to fund building one. Manpower is another thing that costs money.
“Getting part-time people inside the town would help offset some of the manpower issues and also help people’s insurance ratings,” he said. “Over three-quarters of our active roster are certified Fire 1s, which is the basic requirement like we have in Abbeville. We would basically have part-time people sitting in the station Monday through Friday. We get a call, we get the help out to you quicker. We get the help there to you not just for fires, but for medical (emergencies), car wrecks, etc.”
The fire department also needs to find some permanent funding.
“I hate to say the word because most people don’t like it, but a tax for the Maurice Fire District, for the simple fact that we’re growing so fast that it’s going to have to come down to that,” he said.
The fire department is doing its best to help keep residents’ insurance rates down and their property as safe as the department can keep it.
“We’d like everybody to know that if they have any questions, feel free to just get with us on Facebook, or come by the fire station on a Monday night if they want to join, or have questions about how to join. We’re there every Monday unless it’s a holiday.”

June 27, 1953 ~ July 12, 2022

ABBEVILLE — Shana Ledet Qualls, a resident of Maurice, Louisiana, passed away on July 12, 2022, at 69 years of age. Visitation will be held at Vincent Funeral Home in Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Sunday, July 17 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a rosary being prayed at 6:30 p.m. Visitation at Vincent Funeral Home will continue on Monday, July 18 at 8 a.m., with funeral service at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church at 11 a.m. An undoubtedly lively reception will immediately follow the church service in the lobby at Abbey Players Theatre.
Shana was born on June 27, 1953, in Newport News, Virginia to Minus Pierre and Marianne Curtis Ledet. Shana was the fourth of five children and had unique relationships with each of her siblings, Jean, Brian, Kevin, and Ulyssa. Her family moved around a great deal during her childhood due to her father’s military service, including a time she cherished when they were stationed on Okinawa Island, Japan. They eventually made their way back to Chalmette, Louisiana, where she graduated from Andrew Jackson High School in 1971.
Shana began her college journey at Nicholls State University in Thibodeaux, Louisiana. Her college career was cut short by her insatiable desire to have as much fun and do as much theatre as humanly possible. Her passion for theatre led her to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she married and started her family, eventually moving to her father’s hometown of Abbeville, Louisiana to be nearer to her parents.
Shana was involved with many theatre companies across the country over the course of her life, including an international tour of the musical Labor of Love in 1990, of which she was extremely proud and during which she established life-long friendships. Of all the places she worked, Abbey Players Theatre held her heart and was where she began the Children’s Theatre Guild in 1981. She was proud to serve on the board of directors at Abbey Players multiple times, over the course of many years, directing and acting in numerous plays and musicals that entertained many. It was a feather in her cap to direct her own children and grandchildren on the Abbey Players stage.
Shana was a teacher and speech coach who impacted the lives of hundreds of students at Vermilion Catholic High School, Kaplan High School, J.H. Williams Middle School, Erath High School, and Breaux Bridge High School. She also directed productions with Vermilion Players, a summer co-production put on among all public and private high schools in Vermilion Parish for a number of years.
After devoting her life to being a single mother for over fourteen years, Shana embarked on her wildest adventure yet - a move to Los Angeles to explore her acting career at the age of 52. She lived in L.A. for five years, working in Marketing and Consumer Products at Universal Studios, while still having as much fun and doing as much theatre as humanly possible!
Of all of her accomplishments in life, Shana was most proud of her four children and six grandchildren. Nothing brought her greater joy than holding court around a dining table at a holiday dinner. She was a stellar cook, a creative spirit, and an adopter of lost souls. There was rarely a time when Shana didn’t have someone who needed a helping hand living with her and her family. She had open arms, an open heart, and an open door at all times. She will be dearly missed by all who knew her.
Shana is survived by her children, Evona Qualls (John Perry), Victoria (Ken) Atkins, Etienna (Peter) Wright, and Cramer Qualls; grandchildren, Adella Perry, Cecilia Atkins, Vance Atkins, Claudia Wright, Samuel Wright, and Benjamin Wright; her siblings, Kevin (Marcia) Ledet, and Ulyssa Ledet; five nieces; four nephews; ten great nieces; and seven great nephews.
Shana was preceded in death by her four grandparents; her parents, Minus and Marianne Ledet; her brothers, Jean and Brian Ledet; and her brother and sister who died in infancy, Loren Ledet and Evona Ledet.
Shana’s family would like to thank the staff and administration at Pelican Pointe Healthcare and Rehabilitation for their care and compassion during their time with the Pelican Pointe family.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Abbey Players Theatre at 200 S. State St., Abbeville, LA 70510, or by donating online at https://www.abbeyplayers.com/.
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.

ERATH — Funeral services for Earline Landry, 88, will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday July 16, 2022 in David Funeral Home of Erath with Deacon Tim Marcantel officiating.
Visitation will be held Saturday July 16, 2022 from 9 a.m. until time of services. Burial will follow in St. Marcellas Catholic Cemetery in Rynella LA.
Survivors include her nieces Mandy Richard (Monty), Mishala Terrebonne (Joshua), Sharon Hebert (Kelly), Janet Duhon (Chuck), Linda Huval (Tony), and Nadine Pourciaux (John); nephews Ritchie Richard (Rachel), Lance Richard (Jessica), Benjie Terrebonne (Kelly), Tommy Terrebonne (Monique), and Jimmy Broussard (Susan); and numerous great nieces and nephews.
Earline was preceded in death by her parents Emick and Rosella Delcambre Landry; sisters Verna L. Terrebonne, Claudette L. Romero, and Sue L. Broussard; nephew Robert Romero; and her niece Venessa Hebert.
Serving as pallbearers will be Jimmy Broussard, Lance Richard, Tommy Terrebonne, Benjie Terrebonne, Tate Terrebonne, and Sean Richard.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to a great-niece, Chanee R. Tomino, for all she did for Aunt Nin.
Condolences may be sent to the Landry family at www.davidfuneralhome.org
David Funeral Home 209 E. Putnam Erath 337-937-0405 is in charge of arrangements.