New Iberia - Graveside services will be held at 1:30 pm on Friday, January 26, 2018, at Holy Family Cemetery in New Iberia for James E. “Jimmy” Lolan, 93, who passed away on Saturday, January 20, 2018, in New Iberia.
Deacon Patrick Burke will officiate.
A gathering of family and friends will be Friday from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm at Pellerin Funeral Home.
Mr. Lolan was born and raised in Alexandria and graduated from Bolton High School. He was then drafted into the U.S. Navy in June 1943. After completing storekeepers school in San Diego, he was sent to Hawaii, where he spent twenty eight months as a yeoman on the U.S.S. YMS-101, a minesweeper based at Pearl Harbor. When World War II ended, he accompanied his ship to the Philippines where he received his orders to return to the states to be discharged from active duty. On his first day home, a friend introduced him to Katie Jackson, his future wife.
He and Katie were married on July 20, 1947 and settled in Alexandria. In 1949 he accepted an offer to become the manager of J.S. Davis Paint and Wallpaper on Main Street in New Iberia. When the owner died in 1963, he and Katie bought the paint store and renamed it Davis Paint and Wallpaper. He was known for his ability to match paint and stain colors before there were computers to do it. Once he was asked by Masury Paint Company to develop formulas for a new color deck after distributors complained that the computer generated formulas did not match the paint chips. He loved his job and his customers, and he was reluctant to retire from the business in 1998.
He was a passionate fisherman. In the 50s and 60s, he and his fishing partners spent almost every Sunday exploring the Atchafalaya Basin and the marshes of Acadiana looking for the best fishing spot. They were generally very successful.
During his final brief illness, he assured family, friends, and health care workers that he had enjoyed a good long life and that he was a very lucky guy. His friends and family know that they were the lucky ones to have had him in their lives.
Survivors include his sons, Samuel Lolan and wife Linda of New Iberia, Wayne Lolan and wife Pam of New Orleans; daughter, Deborah Lolan of New Iberia; grandchildren, Adrianne Lolan Frischhertz and husband Ryan of New Orleans, Caleb Lolan and wife Blair of Broussard, Austin Lolan of Baton Rouge, Andre Lolan of New Orleans; great grandchildren, Susanna Frischhertz, Catherine Ellen "Ellie" Frischhertz, and Lucy Langley Lolan; siblings, Frances Stewart of Alexandria, Ruby McGehee of Plano, Texas, and Benny Lolan of Alexandria.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Catherine “Katie” Jackson Lolan, son, Ralph Lolan, father, Samuel J. Lolan, Sr., mother, Rose Coullard Lolan, siblings, S.J. Lolan, Jr., Jeanette Gilmore, Dorothy Daughtry, and Murray Lewis Lolan.
Pallbearers will be Sam Lolan, Wayne Lolan, Caleb Lolan, Austin Lolan, Andre Lolan, and Ryan Frischhertz. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Shadows on the Teche, 317 E. Main St., New Iberia, LA 70560, or Hospice of Acadiana, 2600 Johnston St. #200, Lafayette, LA 70506.
The family would like to give special thanks to Pam Romero, Hospice of Acadiana, and Dr. Jose Mata.
Pellerin Funeral Home, 502 Jefferson Terrace Blvd., New Iberia, LA 70560, 337.365.3331 is in charge of arrangements.
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