Born: 13 May 1938 ~ Norco, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
Died: 15 September 2008 ~ Destrehan, Louisiana
Buried: 19 September 2008
St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church Mausoleum
Destrehan, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana
Obituary
(as appearing in the New Orleans Times-Picayune; September 17, 2008)
Fay Walker Louque, born May 13, 1938, died September 15, 2008. Age 70. Beloved wife of Warren J. Louque. Mother of Kim Marie Louque and Hollie Louque Ericksen of Destrehan, La. Mother-in-law of Kevin Ericksen and grandmother of Ashley and Matthew Ericksen. Sister of Catherine Walker Dufresne of Norco, Diane Walker Johnson of Cumming, Ga., the late Walter A. Walker and Howard J. Walker, Jr. Daughter of the late Howard J. Walker, Sr. and Verlie Cecile Richoux Walker. Fay was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Vieux Carré Chapter; United Daughters of the Confederacy, Dave Crockett Chapter; River Road Historical Society; New Orleans Genealogical Society; Louisiana Genealogical Society; La Société des Cajuns; French Settlement Historical Society; St. Charles Borromeo Church and Perpetual Adoration Chapel. Founder of the Destrehan Descendants Guild and charter member of Friends of the St. Charles Library and Founder of the German Coast Historical and Genealogical Society. Fay retired from the St. Charles Parish Library after 21 years; she remained an active Genealogist and Historian until her death. A native of Norco, La. and resident of Destrehan, La. for 46 years. Visitation on Thursday, September 18, 2008 from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm and Friday, September 19, 2008 from 10:00 am until time of Christian Burial from St. Charles Borromeo Church, 13396 River Road, Destrehan, La. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:00 noon with Fr. Monsignor Harry Bugler officiating. Burial will follow in the St. Charles Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, Masses preferred or donation may be made to St. Charles Borromeo Church Building Fund, P. O. Box 428, Destrehan, La.70047 Funeral arrangements under the direction of OF H. C. ALEXANDER FUNERAL HOME, Norco, La.
Louque’s Legacy Will Be Shared
Contributed by Judy Creekmore (New Orleans Times-Picayune)
Decades of research will go to good causes
Many times, information and ties to the past are lost when someone dies. Families are unaware that boxes of old newspaper clippings, decades of periodicals, unidentified photographs and hand-scribbled notes might be important to others.
Collecting history can take decades of research. But, a life-time of work–a labor of love–can be discarded as easily as setting a trash can on the curb.
Since the 1970s, many families in the River Parishes have actively sought information about their families’ roles in history. Beginning genealogists and historians often called on Fay Walker Louque of Destrehan, for information.
“Fay always shared information and people borrowed the material she had,” said Warren Louque, her husband of 51 years. “It made Fay happy to help them learn who their families were and how they got to the United States.”
Fay Louque died in September, but her collection, accumulated over more than 50 years, will continue to be available through various organizations, as she requested.
“She was interested in so many things — our family history, the history of the church, of the parish, and Destrehan Manor,” Warren Louque said. “She said that she would leave a list of where everything should go, but I haven’t founded the list yet. She was so meticulous that I know where most of it goes, but it will take me five years to go through all of it.”
Fay Louque’s office is filled with genealogical records and several rolls of family genealogies, including a 12-foot long chart of the Destrehan family. Boxes of historical documents cover the floor and filled bookcases line the walls. Books overflow into the hallway.
Warren Louque began the sorting process by clipping articles about family, friends, World War II veterans, local educators and prominent people from five storage containers of newspapers. There is another box of clippings about people he doesn’t recognize, and he plans to call on other local historians for help.
Much of Fay Louque’s material will be dispersed among organizations like the new Red Church Library and Museum, Destrehan Plantation, the German-Acadian Coast Historical and Genealogical Society and St. Charles Parish Library.
Surrounded by his wife’s work, Louque recalls stories about their efforts to locate various records.
“We had so many good times. One year we drove from one corner of Louisiana to the other visiting churches and cemeteries,” he said. “We got lost once in the Gulf and thought we’d never find our way home,” he said. “I told my friends that I was the only person with a new truck that already had 100,000 miles on it.”
Among the archives are family mementos that Louque plans to keep, like the black and white wedding portrait of his wife that he discovered in a file.
He also discovered the dresses his mother and her mother wore for their wedding in 1957, along with his wife’s wedding gown. There also are files on each of their children and grandchildren, and a large record book filled with her Roux, Richoux and Walker genealogy.
After researching her ancestors, Fay Louque became interested in the Louque family of Paulina.
“She began asking my grandma a lot of questions, and granmda and grandpa didn’t agree on where the family came from,” Louque said. “One said France, the other said Germany. Fay traced the family back 13 generations and found that we came from Venice, Italy, and the name was originally spelled ‘Luca.’ A Luca ancestor jumped ship in St. John Parish and the family name was eventually changed to Louque.”
Louque said that his wife played among the tombstones at St. Charles Borromeo Cemetery when she attended the church’s school. After they married she gave tours of the cemetery for many years.
A course she taught on genealogy for St. Charles Parish community education in the 1970s was the foundation of the German-Acadian Coast Historical & Genealogical Society. Her most recent work was on the St. Charles Parish bicentennial book.
“For Fay, history and genealogy started as a hobby, but it grew into a major deal,” Louque said. “She left us a legacy and it will be here for anyone who wants to use it.”