Linda Marie Suire

Abbeville - A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, November 7, 2022, at 3:00 pm in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Erath for Linda Marie Guilbeaux Suire, age 97, who passed away peacefully at her residence on Sunday, October 30, 2022, in Abbeville. Reverend Clinton Sensat of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church will officiate. Visitation will be held on Monday, November 7, 2022, from 1:30 pm until the time of service in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. A Rosary will be recited by the Ladies Altar Society on Monday, November 7, 2022, at 2:00 pm in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Internment will take place in the Our Lady of the Lake Cemetery in Delcambre. Linda was born on March 1, 1925, to the late Azard Guilbeaux and Odile nee Hulin. Her first life experiences were influenced by the Great Depression. Momma learned to conserve and not to waste a drop or a bite. She learned how to save and manage without material things and make due at an early age. These lessons passed on have not been forgotten. I know firsthand of her taking someone else’s trash and turning it into a treasure, or keeping 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 fields and 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 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 skills as a carpenter and later builder/contractor, Momma was busy raising her brood and teaching us ethical values. We were taught that we were as a 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 “telling the truth”; 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 near the rear end. She believed in granting freedoms and independence as soon as you measured up to the mark. She would sew our clothes, make her Sunday hats for church, and perform all the other 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; too bad if you were inpatient, you waited till everyone was present. We would spend summer days collecting figs, blackberries, oranges, and pears for Momma to preserve as jellies and jams, so we could make our own fast foods. When we got older, she managed to squeeze in enough time to get a part-time job selling fabric at a department store. Our mother was a strong and honest woman who was devoted to her family. Today I have come to realize how fortunate we were to have 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, so NO!”. Thank you, Mother. Taking care of you was an honor and a privilege. Linda is survived by her six children, Herman, Russell (Lizette), Cheryl Hebert (Dalton), Pervis Jr. (Marie), Bryan (Roxanne), and Robert (Sheila); 21 grandchildren; 47 great-grandchildren; and 26 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Pervis; her parents, Azard and Odile; her daughter, Linda Anne; her daughter-in-law, Theresa; and her son-in-law, Otis. Cypress Funeral Home & Crematory, 206 W. Lafayette St., Maurice, LA 70555, (337) 740-3123, is in charge of arrangements.

Linda Marie Suire

March 1, 1925 - October 30, 2022