A Mass of Christian Burial for Jerry Villemarette will be held at 12:00 noon on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at St. Alphonse Catholic Church with Rev. Edwin Rodriguez officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Hixson-Ducote Funeral Home of Bunkie.

Jerry Villemarette was born on June 22, 1938 near Mansura, Louisiana. He died at his home on May 14, 2023.

His first language was French and he was intensely proud of that fact. He learned English in school in the New Orleans area where the teachers admonished him and his classmates for using French. He was able to overcome the language barrier and graduated from Marksville High School in 1957. People discouraged him from attending college, but those disheartening words only incentivized him. He attended USL then known as Southwestern Louisiana Institute of Liberal and Technical Learning and graduated from USL in 1961 with a degree in education. He continued his education and obtained a Master's Degree in Education from LSU in 1965.

He began teaching school in Larose, Louisiana then moved to Westwego before returning home to Avoyelles Parish in 1964. Prior to integration, he was assigned to George Washington Carver High School in Bunkie, Louisiana and was the first white person to teach at the school. While the assignment was intended to be an obstacle, it became a blessing. Jerry flourished at Carver and became a favorite of the faculty and students while providing comical relief throughout the day. He continued to teach at Carver for many years after integration. He also taught school at Marksville Middle before completing his career at Marksville Elementary. Having been a mischievous student himself, he was experienced in the methods and antics used by students to torment their teachers. As a consequence, most of the difficult students seemingly found their way into his class, but they could never complain that they were treated unfairly.

During his teaching career he became a licensed Funeral Director and worked for Melancon Funeral Home in Bunkie and for the last 23 years with Hixson-Ducote Funeral Home, where he was proud to work for his former student, Ray Ducote.

He loved manual labor and approached every task with the utmost ferocity and intensity. Small projects created the utmost anxiety in him and his response to those tasks was always extreme and excessive. He was happiest when working his garden, flower beds and attending to his manicured lawn. Doing it the hard way was the only way and anything less was failure.

He was a proud member of the Marksville Lion's Club and the Knights of Columbus.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Carmen Foster Villemarette, his son Chris Villemarette, daughter-in-law, Staci Knox Villemarette, four grandchildren, Caroline Addie Villemarette, Knox Cody Villemarette, Katherine Motichek and Meredith Motichek. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Jan Marie Villemarette.

Friends may visit on Wednesday, 9:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at Hixson-Ducote Funeral Home of Bunkie. A rosary will be recited at 10:30 a.m.

Pallbearers will include: Terrell Gaspard, Lenny Daigrepont, Ray Ducote, Clay Russell, Dexter Soileau, Johnny Rogers, Knox Villemarette, Craig Villemarette and Clyde Ducote.

Online condolences may be sent to www.hixson-ducote.com