Lula Mae Aube Duhon

Abbeville—Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, August 6, 2022 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Lula Mae Aube Duhon, 98, who died Tuesday, July 26, 2022 at Cedar Crest Memory Care.  She will be laid to rest at St. Mary Magdalen Cemetery with Deacon Francis Cao officiating the services.

Lula Mae Aube Duhon came into this world on September 15, 1923, in Kaplan, and went to be with her Lord and Savior on July 26, 2022, in Lafayette.  The only daughter of Theodore Aube and Leah Simon Aube, she grew up in the community of Meaux on her family’s land.  From humble beginnings in a small Meaux farmhouse, she graduated Meaux High School and attended vocational school for secretarial training in Abbeville.  She worked in Abbeville at West Bros Department Store, then went to work briefly at Stauffer’s Clothing Store, where in 1946, she met her future husband and life partner, Henry “Black” Duhon.  They were married on New Year’s Eve of 1946.  A move to Lafayette in 1959 came along with a new job at SLI, which soon became the University of Southwestern Louisiana in the College of Agriculture.  Lula worked for many professors over her 25 years at the university as one of the secretaries within Agriculture and Plant Sciences.  She was awarded an Honorary State Farmers Degree by the Louisiana Association of Nurserymen for her years of support for LAN and the various functions and conventions.  She made many lifelong friends spanning multiple generations of faculty and staff.  One of her greatest personal passions was helping the thousands of students that walked through Lee Hall whether they were Agriculture majors or not.  Miss Lou helped with getting them into classes when there were scheduling challenges, provided some motherly guidance, and many times just life lessons and counseling.  She always seemed to be able to make time for the students.  For many years after her retirement in 1984, she would show up to work at Fall or Spring Registration – if for nothing else just to be in the University around all the staff and students again.

A lot of people loved “Miss Lou” for the effort she put into each relationship.  Her retirement years were spent enjoying times at the Meaux farm and going crabbing and crawfishing.  In her prime, very few crabs or crawfish ever considered themselves “safe” while those seasons were in effect!  Lula loved people and Lula loved taking care of people.  Many times, over the years after Black passed, she would just drive around to visit friends or folks that couldn’t get out as easily.  She was a devoted member of St. Jules Catholic Church until moving into assisted living in Abbeville.  She enjoyed her retirement years with Black and her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  Her final years were spent living at Eastridge Assisted Living in Abbeville and then at Cedar Crest Memory Care in Lafayette.  Her words to us years ago, while she still had a sound mind, still echo with us: “I have had a full, long life.  I have had beautiful family and friends.  My time is done and I am ready when my Lord is ready for me.”

She is survived by her daughter, Kay Duhon Hesterly of Lafayette; son, John Duhon and his wife, Andrea Scott Duhon of Frisco, TX; granddaughter, Piper Hesterly Browne and her husband, Justin Browne of Austin, TX; grandson, Joseph Hesterly and his fiancé, Merritt Longman of Lafayette; great grandchildren, Emme, Hollis, and Edie Browne of Austin, TX; and step-grandsons, Matthew and Christian Scott of Frisco, TX.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Henry “Black” Duhon; parents, Theodore Aube and Leah Simon Aube; two brothers, Weston Aube of Thibodeaux, and Lousay Aube of Meaux; and son-in-law, John Hesterly of Lafayette.

The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Saturday, August 6, 2022 from 8:30 AM until time of services.  A rosary being prayed at 10:15 AM.

The family wishes to thank her caregivers, sitters, nurses, and doctors who provided loving hands to Lula for the last few years.  We sincerely appreciate the staffs of Eastridge Assisted Living, Cedar Crest Memory Care, and Right-At-Home for giving her care and comfort.  A huge “thank you” and heartfelt hugs to the nurses (Johanna, Mr. Reece, and Alexis) from Traditions Hospice, as you are truly angels here on Earth.  May God bless all of you for the work you do. The family also wishes to express appreciation to Charlotte LeBlanc, who spent many days checking in on Lula. Finally, the family wishes to give our deepest appreciation to Right-At-Home sitters Heather Kidder, Monique Roberts and Dasha, who were her primary sitters for a while.  These wonderful souls bonded with Lula and got her through many tough times, along with a lot of her joy and laughter the past year or so.  You ladies kept her going, kept her moving, kept her soul alive – words cannot give justice to our level of gratitude.  We would like to give a heartfelt thanks to Shawn Melnyk, from Cedar Crest.  You had a special bond with Lula and gave her a boost every day when she needed it most.  We will never forget all of you, our special extended family.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to either one of Lula’s passionate causes made her memory to University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Alumni Association, 600 E. Saint Mary Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70503 or St. Jules Catholic Church, 116 Saint Jules St., Lafayette, LA 70506.