Obituary - The Baton Rouge Advocate; 9/29/2021
Emelia "Me-Min" Chabert Pitre left this life as quietly and nobly as she lived for 95 years. COVID-19 claimed her on a beautiful sunny day, September 25, 2021, only a few weeks after Hurricane Ida dropped a large tree upon her beloved simple home in the Cajun French village of Cut Off, Louisiana. Me-Min was a child of the Great Depression, born October 19, 1925, in Cut Off. She was the third child and eldest daughter of Charles Chabert and Elia Terrebonne. She spoke French as a first language, learned English at school, and came of age during World War II. She graduated from Cut Off High School and rejected an offer of scholarship to Southwest Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Instead, she attended Spencer Business College in New Orleans, where her typing was too slow for secretarial work, so she completed training as a bookkeeper. Upon the end of the war in 1945, she married her inimitable sweetheart, Loulan Pitre. She raised four sons, but she always regretted the loss of her only daughter, Kathleen, who lived three days. Most of all she believed in simplicity and frugality. She carried herself with an elegance more commonly accompanied by wealth or fame, neither of which interested her. She refused ornamentation and would never throw away food, not even a small quantity of rice. Her steady, quiet intelligence provided a worthy counterpoint to her more demonstrative husband. She would pose philosophical queries as serious as "What is money but paper?" and as light-hearted as "What's a pun, son?" In 1970, she stubbornly accepted demotion from employment by the United States Census for refusing to distort the count. She then founded a small business selling stationery and wedding invitations. Her method for cooking gumbo and her definition of "Cajun" were featured by the New York Times in 1976, and she frequently acted in her son's films, but only because he asked. Later she became the Chief Financial Officer/bookkeeper of her son's internet business and film distribution company, where she learned to use a computer but amusingly referred to it as "they." She told her boys-Holland, Wayne, Glen, and Loulan Jr.-that they could do whatever they wished despite humble resources. She sought neither to push nor to dampen her four sons' ambitions and wanderings. She was loyal to them as they each obtained bachelor's degrees and more: the first an M.D., the second another M.D., the third an honorary Ph.D. and a knighthood from France, and the youngest son a J.D. She always welcomed them home with open arms and interrupted every departure with "But you just got here." She was even more loyal (sometimes to her sons' confusion) to Loulan Sr., her provocative husband for 65 years. She was kind and patient, traits memorable to all who knew her. Her passing is a huge loss, but her life a greater inspiration. Me-Min was preceded in death by her husband, Loulan, and is survived by four sons, Holland Pitre, MD and wife Melanie, Wayne Pitre, MD and wife Marie, Glen Pitre and wife Michelle Benoit, and former State Representative Loulan Pitre, Jr., JD and wife Tiffany; by seven grandchildren, Gannon, Laura, Jason, Emilie, Mathieu, Loulan III, and namesake Ellen Emelia; by three great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Audrey, and Marigny; and by two sisters, Nina Bourg and Dora Curole. The family will mourn privately and defer a service until a later date. In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation in the name of Emelia Chabert Pitre to your choice of the LSU Foundation or the Harvard College Fund.
Emelia "Me-Min" Chabert Pitre left this life as quietly and nobly as she lived for 95 years. COVID-19 claimed her on a beautiful sunny day, September 25, 2021, only a few weeks after Hurricane Ida dropped a large tree upon her beloved simple home in the Cajun French village of Cut Off, Louisiana. Me-Min was a child of the Great Depression, born October 19, 1925, in Cut Off. She was the third child and eldest daughter of Charles Chabert and Elia Terrebonne. She spoke French as a first language, learned English at school, and came of age during World War II. She graduated from Cut Off High School and rejected an offer of scholarship to Southwest Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Instead, she attended Spencer Business College in New Orleans, where her typing was too slow for secretarial work, so she completed training as a bookkeeper. Upon the end of the war in 1945, she married her inimitable sweetheart, Loulan Pitre. She raised four sons, but she always regretted the loss of her only daughter, Kathleen, who lived three days. Most of all she believed in simplicity and frugality. She carried herself with an elegance more commonly accompanied by wealth or fame, neither of which interested her. She refused ornamentation and would never throw away food, not even a small quantity of rice. Her steady, quiet intelligence provided a worthy counterpoint to her more demonstrative husband. She would pose philosophical queries as serious as "What is money but paper?" and as light-hearted as "What's a pun, son?" In 1970, she stubbornly accepted demotion from employment by the United States Census for refusing to distort the count. She then founded a small business selling stationery and wedding invitations. Her method for cooking gumbo and her definition of "Cajun" were featured by the New York Times in 1976, and she frequently acted in her son's films, but only because he asked. Later she became the Chief Financial Officer/bookkeeper of her son's internet business and film distribution company, where she learned to use a computer but amusingly referred to it as "they." She told her boys-Holland, Wayne, Glen, and Loulan Jr.-that they could do whatever they wished despite humble resources. She sought neither to push nor to dampen her four sons' ambitions and wanderings. She was loyal to them as they each obtained bachelor's degrees and more: the first an M.D., the second another M.D., the third an honorary Ph.D. and a knighthood from France, and the youngest son a J.D. She always welcomed them home with open arms and interrupted every departure with "But you just got here." She was even more loyal (sometimes to her sons' confusion) to Loulan Sr., her provocative husband for 65 years. She was kind and patient, traits memorable to all who knew her. Her passing is a huge loss, but her life a greater inspiration. Me-Min was preceded in death by her husband, Loulan, and is survived by four sons, Holland Pitre, MD and wife Melanie, Wayne Pitre, MD and wife Marie, Glen Pitre and wife Michelle Benoit, and former State Representative Loulan Pitre, Jr., JD and wife Tiffany; by seven grandchildren, Gannon, Laura, Jason, Emilie, Mathieu, Loulan III, and namesake Ellen Emelia; by three great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Audrey, and Marigny; and by two sisters, Nina Bourg and Dora Curole. The family will mourn privately and defer a service until a later date. In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation in the name of Emelia Chabert Pitre to your choice of the LSU Foundation or the Harvard College Fund.
Obituary - The Baton Rouge Advocate; 9/29/2021
Emelia "Me-Min" Chabert Pitre left this life as quietly and nobly as she lived for 95 years. COVID-19 claimed her on a beautiful sunny day, September 25, 2021, only a few weeks after Hurricane Ida dropped a large tree upon her beloved simple home in the Cajun French village of Cut Off, Louisiana. Me-Min was a child of the Great Depression, born October 19, 1925, in Cut Off. She was the third child and eldest daughter of Charles Chabert and Elia Terrebonne. She spoke French as a first language, learned English at school, and came of age during World War II. She graduated from Cut Off High School and rejected an offer of scholarship to Southwest Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Instead, she attended Spencer Business College in New Orleans, where her typing was too slow for secretarial work, so she completed training as a bookkeeper. Upon the end of the war in 1945, she married her inimitable sweetheart, Loulan Pitre. She raised four sons, but she always regretted the loss of her only daughter, Kathleen, who lived three days. Most of all she believed in simplicity and frugality. She carried herself with an elegance more commonly accompanied by wealth or fame, neither of which interested her. She refused ornamentation and would never throw away food, not even a small quantity of rice. Her steady, quiet intelligence provided a worthy counterpoint to her more demonstrative husband. She would pose philosophical queries as serious as "What is money but paper?" and as light-hearted as "What's a pun, son?" In 1970, she stubbornly accepted demotion from employment by the United States Census for refusing to distort the count. She then founded a small business selling stationery and wedding invitations. Her method for cooking gumbo and her definition of "Cajun" were featured by the New York Times in 1976, and she frequently acted in her son's films, but only because he asked. Later she became the Chief Financial Officer/bookkeeper of her son's internet business and film distribution company, where she learned to use a computer but amusingly referred to it as "they." She told her boys-Holland, Wayne, Glen, and Loulan Jr.-that they could do whatever they wished despite humble resources. She sought neither to push nor to dampen her four sons' ambitions and wanderings. She was loyal to them as they each obtained bachelor's degrees and more: the first an M.D., the second another M.D., the third an honorary Ph.D. and a knighthood from France, and the youngest son a J.D. She always welcomed them home with open arms and interrupted every departure with "But you just got here." She was even more loyal (sometimes to her sons' confusion) to Loulan Sr., her provocative husband for 65 years. She was kind and patient, traits memorable to all who knew her. Her passing is a huge loss, but her life a greater inspiration. Me-Min was preceded in death by her husband, Loulan, and is survived by four sons, Holland Pitre, MD and wife Melanie, Wayne Pitre, MD and wife Marie, Glen Pitre and wife Michelle Benoit, and former State Representative Loulan Pitre, Jr., JD and wife Tiffany; by seven grandchildren, Gannon, Laura, Jason, Emilie, Mathieu, Loulan III, and namesake Ellen Emelia; by three great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Audrey, and Marigny; and by two sisters, Nina Bourg and Dora Curole. The family will mourn privately and defer a service until a later date. In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation in the name of Emelia Chabert Pitre to your choice of the LSU Foundation or the Harvard College Fund.
Emelia "Me-Min" Chabert Pitre left this life as quietly and nobly as she lived for 95 years. COVID-19 claimed her on a beautiful sunny day, September 25, 2021, only a few weeks after Hurricane Ida dropped a large tree upon her beloved simple home in the Cajun French village of Cut Off, Louisiana. Me-Min was a child of the Great Depression, born October 19, 1925, in Cut Off. She was the third child and eldest daughter of Charles Chabert and Elia Terrebonne. She spoke French as a first language, learned English at school, and came of age during World War II. She graduated from Cut Off High School and rejected an offer of scholarship to Southwest Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Instead, she attended Spencer Business College in New Orleans, where her typing was too slow for secretarial work, so she completed training as a bookkeeper. Upon the end of the war in 1945, she married her inimitable sweetheart, Loulan Pitre. She raised four sons, but she always regretted the loss of her only daughter, Kathleen, who lived three days. Most of all she believed in simplicity and frugality. She carried herself with an elegance more commonly accompanied by wealth or fame, neither of which interested her. She refused ornamentation and would never throw away food, not even a small quantity of rice. Her steady, quiet intelligence provided a worthy counterpoint to her more demonstrative husband. She would pose philosophical queries as serious as "What is money but paper?" and as light-hearted as "What's a pun, son?" In 1970, she stubbornly accepted demotion from employment by the United States Census for refusing to distort the count. She then founded a small business selling stationery and wedding invitations. Her method for cooking gumbo and her definition of "Cajun" were featured by the New York Times in 1976, and she frequently acted in her son's films, but only because he asked. Later she became the Chief Financial Officer/bookkeeper of her son's internet business and film distribution company, where she learned to use a computer but amusingly referred to it as "they." She told her boys-Holland, Wayne, Glen, and Loulan Jr.-that they could do whatever they wished despite humble resources. She sought neither to push nor to dampen her four sons' ambitions and wanderings. She was loyal to them as they each obtained bachelor's degrees and more: the first an M.D., the second another M.D., the third an honorary Ph.D. and a knighthood from France, and the youngest son a J.D. She always welcomed them home with open arms and interrupted every departure with "But you just got here." She was even more loyal (sometimes to her sons' confusion) to Loulan Sr., her provocative husband for 65 years. She was kind and patient, traits memorable to all who knew her. Her passing is a huge loss, but her life a greater inspiration. Me-Min was preceded in death by her husband, Loulan, and is survived by four sons, Holland Pitre, MD and wife Melanie, Wayne Pitre, MD and wife Marie, Glen Pitre and wife Michelle Benoit, and former State Representative Loulan Pitre, Jr., JD and wife Tiffany; by seven grandchildren, Gannon, Laura, Jason, Emilie, Mathieu, Loulan III, and namesake Ellen Emelia; by three great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Audrey, and Marigny; and by two sisters, Nina Bourg and Dora Curole. The family will mourn privately and defer a service until a later date. In lieu of flowers, you may send a donation in the name of Emelia Chabert Pitre to your choice of the LSU Foundation or the Harvard College Fund.
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