A Mass of Christian Burial for Evelyn Fairbanks will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 29, 2023 at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church with the Rev. Stephen Scott Chemino officiating.  Arrangements are under the direction of Hixson-Ducote Funeral Home of Bunkie.

Evelyn Marie Gremillion Fairbanks was the eldest child of George Pierre Gremillion and Eloise Rita Brouillette of Bunkie. Born on July 28, 1951 at Knoll Infirmary in Bunkie, Evelyn entered the eternal gates of Heaven on May 26, 2023 after taking her last earthly breath, right where she belonged, here in Avoyelles Parish.

In this very church, St. Anthony's, was where Evelyn received every Holy Sacrament: her rites of Baptism, First Holy Communion, and Confirmation into the Catholic Faith.

Evelyn was a devoted Catholic, who—like her Mother and Father before her—felt a deep connection with Christ our Lord and His Holy Church. You should understand that no other consideration was more important to her—her Faith alone sustained her even through her darkest hours.  We should all feel blessed by knowing this.

Her daughters: Angelle Mathers and husband, Justin, of Charlotte, North Carolina; and Maureen O'Neal and husband, Kelly, of Shreveport, Louisiana, grieve her earthly death, as will her most treasured gift of all, her grandchildren: Kade and Konnor O'Neal, and Piper Mathers.

Her beloved siblings, sister Georgia Anne Bain, of Bunkie, and brother Paul Gremillion (whom she affectionately referred to as Peter) and his wife, Ann, Evelyn's adored sister-in-law, also of Bunkie, will forever be part of Evelyn's long and faithful legacy.

Her nieces, Jennifer, Maggie, Catherine, and Emily; her nephews, Will and David, along with their spouses and their children, were all very special to her life, and she felt proud to be their "Aunt Evie."

Though she lived most of her life in Natchez, Mississippi, where she cultivated many dear friendships, loved, and was loved by many, Evelyn's final wish was to be back home, here in Bunkie, where she would forever rest with the land where she was grown and the people from where she came.

(Psalm 73:26)

"Though my flesh and my heart faileth: God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever"