A Funeral Service will be celebrated Tuesday, July 9, 2019, at 11:00 am at Fountain Memorial Funeral Home in Lafayette for Dr. Charles Joseph Faulk, 95, who passed away Thursday, July 4th, at his residence in Lafayette. Visitation will be observed on Monday, July 8th, from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm and resumes Tuesday, July 9th, at 8:00 am until the time of service, at Fountain Memorial Funeral Home. A rosary will be recited Monday, July 8th, at 7:00 pm at Fountain Memorial Funeral Home. Interment will follow in Fountain Memorial Cemetery. Father Gilbert Dutel, Pastor of St. Edmond Roman Catholic Church in Lafayette, will officiate. Dr. Faulk was a member of St. Edmond Parish where he has served as a lay minister since 1981. During these years he has conducted communion services at nursing homes including Heritage Manor, Lafayette Guest House, Lafayette Health Care Center, Our Lady of the Oaks, Oakwood Village Nursing Home, Acadiana Nursing Home, Amelia Manor, Cornerstone North and South, Garden View Assisted Living, Kingsley Place, Maison de Lafayette and Magnolia Place. Additionally, he brought the Eucharist to patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center for 15 years. He was well known for the care he gave to his children and to the mentally challenged who attended religious education classes in his home. Volunteering in various capacities in Lafayette at places like the Radiology Department at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, St. Edmond Parish Council, helping the challenged and the elderly as he did for more than 10 years for an elderly couple, Claude and Emerite Hebert from Scott, was an important part of his life. For all these efforts he received the Sertoma Service to Mankind Award in 1985. Dr. Faulk was a native of Cameron Parish who graduated from Grand Lake High School as valedictorian in 1940. He attended LSU in Baton Rouge where he received three degrees. In 1943, he was drafted into the United States Army Ordnance Corps. He served at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds where he was appointed as Second Lieutenant after officer's training school. He served 40 months in the European and Asiatic theaters. He spent two months in the Philippines and 10 months in Japan. Prior to this he had served in Germany, Luxembourg and France. In 1946, he was returned to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas where he was discharged from service. He later joined the American Veterans of World War II (AMVETS) where he served as state commander for one year in 1960. He became a member of the Knights of Columbus where he remained in Council 1286. He held the Fourth Degree. Dr. Faulk met and married his lovely wife, Leatrice Joyce Fontenot shortly after his return to Lake Charles. Soon after that he returned to LSU to complete his education earning a B.S., M.Ed. and ED.D. His final degree was awarded in 1961. Before this date he had served as an elementary and secondary teacher as principal and parish and state supervisor of elementary education. He had served as an assistant professor at McNeese State University and as professor of education and head in the special education department at USL, now ULL. After 39.3 years of service he retired from USL to become principal of Saint Mary Learning Center. Following this, when the school was moved to Our Lady of Fatima School, he served as an administrator of Special Education. The next year he served as resource room teacher at Sts. Leo-Seton Elementary. He taught there for six years as a 6th grade teacher and as a mathematics teacher for 7th grade. Leaving Sts. Leo-Seton, he was employed as a Corrections Officer at the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center. He remained there another five and a half years. As soon as he resigned from there, he was asked to be a University Supervisor of student and academic interns for ULL. He held this position until December of 2012. Dr. Faulk was acknowledged for his leadership abilities. He was listed in Leaders in Education and Academic Therapy publications. In 1975, he was recognized as an outstanding teacher of exceptional children. At one point in time, he was editor of two USL self-study reports for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). It was during this time that Governor Edwin Edwards appointed him to serve as an advocate for the developmentally disabled for a three-year period. From 1957 until 1961 he served as the Louisiana director for the accreditation of elementary schools. He published articles in Louisiana schools including the Boardman Childhood Education, the Arithmetic Teacher and the Slow Learner Workshop. He has written pamphlets published by Row-Peterson and Company and The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1978, he wrote "Successful Methods for Teaching Slow Learners," which was used as a textbook at USL. After publishing the above mentioned articles, he was the author of federally funded proposals for St. Martin Parish. He was an evaluator of the bilingual education program, of the gifted program in Vermilion parish and of the Natural History Museum and Planetarium. These experiences led to his being invited to serve on the national accreditation evaluation teams for Emory University, Ohio University, Sam Houston State College and Texas A&I University. He served as consultant to 42 school systems in Louisiana. During his teaching career he presented 72 professional papers in Louisiana and the south on special education and elementary mathematics topics. At USL, he developed and implemented a diagnostic program for the handicapped children. He supervised a remedial reading program for local children needing help in reading. For 15 years he headed the testing program. Dr. Faulk was the author of federally proposed and approved projects on educating the mentally challenged, on cultural enrichment and on sensitivity for integration. He was evaluator for a bilingual education program in St. Martin Parish and for a gifted program in Vermilion parish. He served in various capacities on editorial boards for Childhood Education and the Mathematics Teacher. He was editor of News and Views for Lake Charles City Schools and the St. Mary Learning Center Newsletter. He was a member of the Executive Boards of the Louisiana Council of Social Studies and for the Louisiana Unit of the Association of Student Teachers. Dr. Faulk served in many capacities as an officer such as the Vice-President of the Louisiana Association for Childhood Education, the Vice-President of the Louisiana Directors of Special Education and the Secretary-Treasurer for the Louisiana Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. He was the Secretary of the Louisiana Federation of the Council for Exceptional Children. He was the administrator for the special education department at Our Lady of Fatima School. Dr. Faulk has received numerous honors in education. He was awarded a scholarship at LSU as outstanding freshman going into the College of Education in 1941. He was listed in Leaders in Education in Academic Therapy publications and as an outstanding teacher of exceptional children in 1975. He was recognized as a competent authority to serve as an educational consultant in special education. He served in numerous capacities in his work with the Knights of Columbus. He held the 4th degree with the Bishop DuBourg Assembly. He served as a member of the St. Edmond parish council for three years. He has presented talks to the Catechetical Conference on "Faith and the Handicapped" and "Faith Sharing and the Mentally Handicapped." In the later years of his life, he served as a University Supervisor of Teacher interns at the elementary, special education and high school levels. Throughout his busy involvement in education, he did not neglect his wife and family of eight children. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Leatrice Joyce Fontenot; his children, Donna Lynn Faulk Lyons and her husband, Dr. Edward P. Lyons and their five children, Sheryl Lyons Esquire, Daniel Lyons, Brandon Lyons, Brent Lyons and Lauren Lyons, Charles Kimbol Faulk and his wife, Cynthia Ronsonet Faulk and their two children, Jason Faulk and Sarah Faulk, Vicki Faulk Wilkinson and her husband, Ken Wilkinson and their two children, Warren Wilkinson and April Wilkinson, Nancy Ruth Faulk DeRouen and her husband, Dean DeRouen and their five children, Joseph DeRouen, Jesse DeRouen, Amanda Martarona Comeaux, Kristine Martarona Argenbright and Meghan Martarona Borne, John Matthew Faulk and his wife, Linda Faulk and their two children, Tanya Richard and Jamie Richard, Mary Kathryn Faulk deSilva and her husband, James deSilva and their two children, Patrick deSilva and Emily deSilva, Elizabeth Ann Faulk Johnson and her husband, Thomas Johnson and their four children, Hannah Bean, Shannon Johnson Bayham, Mathew Bean and Thomas Johnson and David William Faulk and his daughter, Emma Kristine Faulk; numerous great-grandchildren and his sister, Laura Mae Trahan and her four children. He was preceded in death by his parents, Semar Paul Faulk and Frances Hebert Faulk; four brothers, Matthew Faulk, Asa Faulk, Edward Faulk and Laurence Lee Faulk; three sisters, Adia Faulk Granger, Olivia Faulk Demarets and Eva Faulk and one grandson, Charles Benjamin Faulk. The family wishes to thank the staff of NSI Hospice for the compassionate care given to Charles and his family. Memorial contributions may be made in Dr. Faulk's honor to the Lafayette Association for Retarded Citizens (LARC), 612 West Congress Street, Lafayette, LA 70506, 337-984-6110, www.lafayettelarc.org or to the Wounded Warriors Project, woundedwarriorproject.org. Online obituary and guestbook may be viewed at www.fountainmemorialfuneralhome.com. Fountain Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery, 1010 Pandora Street, 337-981-7098 is in charge of arrangements.