Louis Joseph Abshire

Louis Joseph Abshire, Sr., 97, a native of Kaplan, La. and resident of Amelia, La., passed away on Thursday, May 4, 2023.

Louis is survived by his sons, Louis Abshire, Jr. (Mary Ann) and Dalton Abshire (Patsy); his daughters, Ginger A. Brown (Charlie) and Kathie A. Crochet (Gordon); his sister, Lola Verrett (Raymond); his brother-in-law, Sheldon Guillory; his grandchildren, Donovan Abshire, Cindy Martin, Bonnie Fryou, Angie Kulka, Chantel Robinson, Dawn Stone, Brandi Threeton, Gordon Crochet, Jr., Erica Abshire, Dalton Abshire, Jr., and Janet Eaton; 19 great-grandchildren.

Louis was proceeded in death by his wife, Anna Mae Verrett Abshire; his parents, Wiley Abshire and Emily LeJeune Abshire; his sisters, Laura Simon, Inez Griffin, Hilda LeBlanc, Olive Hines and Lula Gaudet; his brother, Wiley “Joseph” Abshire, Jr.; his sister-in-law, Rose Mary Guillory; his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Alfred and Marie Verrett.

Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend a visitation for Louis on Monday, May 8, 2023 at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Amelia, Louisiana beginning at 9:00a.m. until the rosary at 10:30a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 11:00a.m. Interment will follow in St. Andrew Cemetery in Amelia, Louisiana.

He was born, lived, and worked in the rice field communities of South Central Louisiana. On his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Navy.

Just before he was sent to the Philippines (where he served until the end of WWII), he met and married Anna Mae Verrett, his faithful wife of seventy-four years, until her death in 2019.

Upon his return from the Philippines and discharge from the Navy, he worked in a lumber mill and then as a machinist in Amelia, Louisiana.

Although he demonstrated great skill as a machinist, his love of carpentry, furniture building, and home construction, led him to work for a local home-building contractor.

He worked as a carpentry foreman for that same contractor for many years; then, eventually started a small home contracting business of his own.

After heart surgery in 1986, he divested of his business and built and operated a small hardware store in Bayou O’Lourse, Louisiana, eventually selling that and then building and operating a small apartment complex near his home in Amelia, where he retired.

Louis's  family would like to thank the staff and workers at Audubon Health & Rehab in Thibodaux for the kind and loving care they gave him for the last 9 months of his life and for the many years of wonderful care by Dr. Robert Blereau and his staff.