J. Albert Guilbeau

1924 - 2018

J. Albert Guilbeau

Carencro - Funeral services will be held Thursday, August 23, 2018 at an 11:00 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Carencro for J. Albert Guilbeau.

Interment will be in St. Peter Roman Catholic Cemetery in Carencro. Rev. Mark Ledoux, pastor of St. Peter Roman Catholic Church, will celebrate the mass. Readers will be Isabella Guilbeau and Chloe Guilbeau. Giftbearers will be Ann Guillory, Renee Guilbeau, Anna Noel, Paul Landry, Joe Hanks and Clair Gautreaux.

On Monday, August 20, 2018, we lost a wonderful, kind, loyal and loving man, J. Albert Guilbeau at the age of 93. Albert was born on September 28, 1924, to the late Dr. Eric E. Guilbeau Sr. and Marie Azalea (Guidry) Guilbeau of Carencro, Louisiana. Albert grew up in the small farming community of Carencro during the height of the Great Depression—a time before air conditioning and television. His family gathered on the front porch each evening to hear fascinating stories about Tante Rase, Albert's great-grandmother from Coulee Croche, who ruled the family home with kindness, efficiency, justice, and firmness. Tante Rase was the family matriarch; she made certain that all of her grandchildren received an excellent education. Tante Rase employed a tutor from France who helped educate her grandchildren. She would often read stories in French from Alexandre Dumas, one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Some of his more popular novels were: The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Three Musketeers, which were family favorites. Tante Rase died in 1893, but her family continued talking about her long after her death.

Albert graduated from Carencro High School in 1941, before there was a 12th grade. His graduation class was named the "Pearl Harbor" class due to the bombings, which took place a few months earlier. After high school, Albert was too young for military service, so he hired on with Southern Pacific Railroad and worked in Texas. However, on his 18th birthday, Albert enlisted in the U. S. Navy. After receiving his wings and with supreme confidence of youth, Albert piloted a Douglas SBD (Ship Borne Dive-Bomber) Dauntless dive-bomber. He was part of that select group of Americans known as the greatest generation ever known to mankind. In 1945, shortly before the end of World War II, Albert and the love of his life, Eva Delle Prejean, daughter of Walter and Inez (Melancon) Prejean of Carencro were married at St. Pierre Catholic Church in Carencro, Louisiana, with Father Viel officiating. After the war, Albert was honorably discharged and returned home where he built a home in Lafayette.

Albert was extremely proud of his heritage and always enjoyed speaking French, which was one of the reasons while a student at SLI, today's UL, Albert choose French as a minor. One of Albert's favorite teachers was a Miss Fourcade, a French teacher from Paris, France. She was fond of and used several of the greatest French novels to assist in teaching French to her American students. One of Albert's favorites was Les Misérables written by Victor Hugo, which at the time was one of the greatest 19th century French novels. The novel described the history of France, its architecture and urban design of Paris, politics, moral philosophy, justice, religion, and romance. This book had everything; it was a teacher's dream! Albert's French class spent an entire semester on the novel. Each student read several paragraphs in Les Misérables each day. There were other great French novels that Albert also enjoyed.

After completing his Geology degree, Albert worked for Superior Oil Company as a roughneck, then in their land department. He began his own wire line company and became an independent geologist and land man. Albert retired from the oil industry in 1966 and began breeding, training, and racing horses. Albert was an avid reader, historian, stamp collector, and outdoorsman. He was a die-hard Carencro, LSU, and UL sports fan, and he enjoyed many other hobbies, which also included raising Angus cattle. On his farm he grew sweet potatoes and com, and he had numerous fig and orange trees. His favorite flowers were Azaleas, which are still present at his home today. Some of the Azaleas given to him are 150-years old.

Albert was a longtime parishioner of St. Pierre Catholic Church in Carencro where he and his wife were baptized and later married. During his lifetime, Albert was always ambitious, patriotic, and an advocate of hard work and fair dealings with everyone. He was also very much interested in good government in local, state, and national politics. Sometime in the late fifties Albert made an unsuccessful attempt at running for Mayor of Lafayette. But that never stopped Albert; he had a long and fulfilling life. Albert was truly a special person, always easy-going and could make you laugh with his many stories about life, which was his hallmark. He was a kind, generous, humble and loving man, a dedicated husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Albert will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.

Albert is survived by his five children: Suzanne Guillory and her husband, Lee J. (Buddy) Jr. of Lafayette, LA and their three children: Christopher and wife, Jami, Cameron and Maggie; Robert Walter (Biker Bob) and his wife, Cheryll Williams, of Lafayette and four children: Amie and Eric, their mother Susan LeBlanc; Renee and Karl (Cheryll Williams Guilbeau's children); Simone Myhand and her husband, Brett, of Carencro, LA and their three children: Jesse Myhand and his wife, Jadie, Anna Marie and her husband, Marc Noel, and Joseph Myhand; David Guilbeau of Lafayette, LA and his two children: Gabriel and Dahlton; Cecile Gauthreaux and her husband, Randy of Addis, LA and their four children: Walter, Grant, Clark, Claire and her husband, Ryan Schoppe; a sister, Cecile and her husband, E. J. Feyard, also of Carencro, LA; grandchildren, great grandchildren, lots of nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of longtime friends that loved Albert and will certainly miss him dearly.

Albert was preceded in death by his wife of seventy-one years, Eva Delle Prejean Guilbeau; his parents, the late Dr. Eric E. Guilbeau, Sr. and Marie Azalea (Guidry) Guilbeau of Carencro, Louisiana; and two brothers, the late Dr. Eric E. Guilbeau Jr and Carroll Guilbeau of Carencro.

The family requests visiting be observed from 9:00 a.m. Thursday until service time on Thursday.

Pallbearers will be Karl "Bud" Guilbeau, Joseph Myhand, David Guillory, Walter Gauthreaux, Grant Gauthreaux, and Clark Gauthreaux.

Melancon Funeral Home, Evangeline Memorial Gardens Chapel, 4117 N. University Ave., Carencro, (337) 896-3232, is in charge of arrangements.