Anna Monica – Ripples

He was known as “Father Steve” LeBlanc when he was pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Reserve. But, especially in Garyville, we have known him only as “Etienne” since he came to teach religion more than 40 years ago. The years have passed – the memories remain. That is why a few of his friends from our area, Ruth LeBoeuf Gauthier, Edna LeBoeuf Gautreaux, with son Jim and I found ourselves enjoying another event held in his honor in Dulac last weekend; this time, a transfer to another church.

Etienne was a young seminarian when he first arrived in this area. He and several other seminarians not only taught religion to the youth from St. Hubert’s Church, but got involved with the parish’s activities, like church fairs, and became friendly with parish families. Ours was one of them, and many a night the young seminarians left our house to return to the church rectory a little later than then pastor, Father Bentz, would have liked. They kept it quiet and Father Bentz at peace, though, by entering the rectory through a window. That worked out well until they had to climb in with enough grace as they carried in my mom’s borrowed coffee pot, too, so they could have coffee in the morning.

And, as far as I can remember, my sister, Maria, and her cousins, was not allowed to wear anything too short when they went somewhere for snowballs. To this day, I don’t question Etienne’s moral judgment on the shorts, but I would like to know if he has tried slipping through any windows in his own house lately.

One of Etienne’s “homes away from home” has been the Gauthier residence (Ruth and the late Ed) in Baton Rouge, a tradition which began in Garyville. This Raceland native keeps his friends close and his friends follow his movements. Through the years, Ruth and I spent a number of days answering his call to visit for some occasion or other at St. Benedict’s or Notre Dame Seminary long before he was ordained and it was Ruth who bravely introduced us to driving in the mountains and on interstates on our little vacation jaunts. At that time, all cars didn’t have air conditioners and Ruth had one manually installed in hers. It was Etienne’s job to maintain the temperature and he was fascinated with it.

We did attend the ordinations and first masses of other seminarians whom we had befriended because of Etienne as well as his own and, in 1996, Father Etienne LeBlanc celebrated his Silver Jubilee in Morgan City where he was pastor for 13 years. His friends were invited for that occasion, too, which was a beautiful, memorable event. We were filled with pride for this simple and sincere young man from down on the bayou that we had known for so long.

Last year, parishioners of Holy Family Parish in Dulac threw a big birthday party for their pastor. Those people are really good about parties because they repeated it last Sunday to give Etienne a good send-off as he departs to become pastor at Annunziata, just a few miles down the street, in Houma. I asked Etienne why he was going through this whole transfer process for only a short distance, actually just swapping places with the incoming pastor. “It’s called holy obedience,” he replied. His new church parish is quite a bit larger than the one he is leaving and is more into the city of Houma than the present. He has already adjusted.

Sunday’s goodbye send-off was at the Grand Caillou Recreation Center, and the entire town seemed to be there. A Zydeco-type band called “The Treaters” provided music for dancing, and dance they did. The band and other entertainers were excellent. Etienne wore a Hawaiian shirt and didn’t object when his fans added a lei and grass skirt to his attire. They say that he is a good sport – obviously!

Parishioners of Holy Family Church have such a high opinion of Father LeBlanc. They continually commented to us about how much he has done for their parish; how much life he has brought to it; how he been so instrumental in keeping them together and getting things done. I had not realized how strong and Indian influence the town has and how warm and accepting they are. Mrs. Virginia Verdin has always been there to support her pastor while coordinating the parish’s activities and also spearheaded this party. Shrimp stew, chicken stew, potato salad, etc., cooked as only those in this fishing area can, satisfied a very, very long line of people at lunch which followed Etienne’s ten o’clock “goodbye” mass.

The recreation center seemed filled to capacity and never to empty of people, lots of family people. The dancing and merriment went on for hours. I was truly fascinated with “The Alligator Waltz” which they did as easily as the line dances. I want to learn that!

At the party, I met this lady in the rest room who was excited about her one-year wedding anniversary. Both she and her present husband had been widowed; he after 54 years of marriage and she after 48 years. They were happy and she pointed him out to me. There really is a lot of life on the bayou!

We reminisced as Jim drove us home. It was just another little jaunt to share memories with a dear friend; just another little “Alligator Waltz” through Etienne’s remarkable life.

ANNA MONICA, a native and resident of Garyville, has her column published each Saturday.