Brian Begue

Brian Bégué believed that life is a banquet. Pull up a chair and dig in. He also believed everyone has a story, one worth the telling and one worth the listening. His own story began on March 23, 1948, when he was born in New Orleans to Philip Emile Bégué and Simone Vivian Richerand. Two years later he was joined by his brother, Max Jean Bégué. As youngsters they lived in various old New Orleans neighborhoods filled with interesting and, of course, unique characters. They would appear again and again in Brian's stories throughout his life. His most treasured memories were those of the days he spent with his grandparents. His grandmother Katherine Krebs was editor of L'Abeille, the last French-language newspaper in the city, and the first woman in New Orleans to register to vote. His grandfather Hypolite Bégué owned a corner grocery down on Poland Avenue with an orchard in the backyard. This would be the source of Brian's lifelong love of the navel orange. Grandpère Hypolite, whose elder relative Hypolite was married to the extraordinary woman known as Madame Bégué (the creator of brunch), would send his grandson back to his father with the admonition, "My boy, my boy, if you do nothing else, learn to speak French and say our name right!" He did well on the latter, and not so much on the former. Brian attended Alcée Fortier and St. Martin's Episcopal School for high school. He did not attend his graduation. He went on to enroll at LSU, joined Kappa Alpha, and fulfilled his ROTC commitment for the usual reason: Vietnam. After graduation from LSU (which he did not attend), he enrolled in Tulane Law School. Upon graduation, which he did not attend, he went on a tour of Europe and brought home a backpack filled with stories. He began his service to the U. S. Army as a captain in the JAG Corps at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. He told his dad, "I'm not on the edge of the world, but I can see it from here." After his honorable discharge, he moved back to New Orleans and lived in the French Quarter. Finally! He hung out his shingle. No one noticed. Eventually he was hired as a public defender in Israel Augustine Jr.'s courtroom. He loved the work. And he adored his newborn daughter, Nicole Eugenie, born March 15, 1976. Eventually he decided to go out on his own, and it did not take long to attract new clients of all persuasions and perspectives. However, everything changed when Susie Guillory Phipps walked through his office door. Susie had applied for an official birth certificate to get a U.S. passport for a visit to France with her husband. When the document arrived, it designated her as a person of color. Having thought she was white her entire life, she decided to sue the state to correct the error. This was the work of Louisiana's infamous "race clerk." Brian was eager to take on the fight to stop the Jim Crow-era practice. The case attracted national and international interest and became a landmark case in ending state-sanctioned racist practices. Calvin Trillin, the award-winning journalist, covered the Phipps case for New Yorker magazine in April 1986. Brian, he wrote, was "a self-assured, confident man with a breezy manner and an office in a French Quarter courtyard." About this time, his wife, Karen Olivier, gave birth to a daughter, Gabrielle Olivier. Brian went on to build a successful practice driven by medical malpractice and personal injury cases, among others. He became a prosecutor for the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry and a few years later, General Counsel. He enjoyed the work for over 15 years, and he really enjoyed catching the bad guys. When he retired in 2018 he decided to take the course offered by the Friends of the Cabildo to become an official French Quarter walking tour guide. He was stunned by the difficulty and depth of the material. However, he persevered, passed his finals, and did not attend his graduation. But he did enjoy conducting his own tours Along the way, he and Max inherited the Bégué family's French Quarter buildings. But that's a story for another day. Brian's story ended on March 14, 2025, and he became the story. He was a big man, with a big heart, and wide-open arms. If you did not know him, we are sorry for your loss. Brian is survived by his wife Karen, daughters Gabrielle and Nicole, son-in-law Erik Winkowski and Nathaniel Hackmann, grandsons Alexander Hackmann and Wesley Winkowski, brother Max and his family, the Robert Dumont and René Olivier families, the Frank Richerand family, and many nieces and grand-nieces, nephews and grand-nephews. A gathering to remember Brian will be announced.