Richard GoulaA Memorial Mass will be celebrated on May 13, 2017 at 11:00 am in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette, Louisiana for Richard Anthony Goula who died on April 7, 2017.

The Eulogy will be given by Mr. Bill Miller before the Memorial Mass begins. Maestro Mariusz Smolij and the Acadiana Symphony will provide liturgical music. Tom Niel, Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral, along with Linda Malin, soloist, Ben Blanchet, soloist, and vocalists Dave Domingue and Sharon and David LaBarbera will also provide music. The Rev. Msgr. Keith J. DeRouen, Pastor of Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Opelousas will celebrate the Mass and Virginia Stuller will read the readings.

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Category: Remembrances

Frank E. Chowning, 87, died in Little Rock, AR, on Friday, November 20, 1981, and was buried on Saturday, November 21.  Born in Rison, AR, he graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1922.  He served as a US Army lieutenant in France during World War I.  He practiced law in Little Rock for 52 years.An avid irisarian, Frank was a member of the Society for Louisiana Irises (SLI) for many years.  He served as President in 1961 and was recipient of the society’s Service Award that year.  His success in the area of hybridizing is evidenced by the fact that four of his irises have won the Mary Swords DeBaillon Award – ‘Dixie Deb’ (1967), ‘This I Love’ (1979), ‘Ann Chowning’ (1980) and ‘Bryce Leigh’ (1981). He is survived by his wife, Bryce Leigh, son Robert E. and daughter, Martha Ann, and stepdaughter, Bryce Reveley. (Author unknown)

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Jules Patin, 65, died on Monday, October 26, 1981, and was buried in New Orleans on Wednesday, October 28, 1981.  A native of New Orleans, he had been a resident of Lafayette for the past 27 years.  He had been manager of Glazer Wholesale Drug Company for over 25 years, and at the time of his death was associated with Pan American Imports.  He served as an officer in the US Air force during World War II. He was an active member of several horticultural societies and served as President of the Society for Louisiana Irises (SLI) in 1960.  He was the recipient of the SLI Service Award in 1964.  A hybridizer of Louisiana Irises, he received a number of awards at the annual SLI iris shows.He is survived by his wife, the former Carolyn Fahrmann of Lafayette; two daughters, Mrs. Thomas (Gay Ann) Brasher of San Jose, CA, and Mrs. Daniel (Patrice Cheri) O’Connel of Anchorage, Alaska; and three grandchildren.

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Joseph K. Mertzweiller, who served the Society for Louisiana Irises as president, board member, chairman of the Scientific Committee and long­time chairman of the Publication Committee, passed away on June 26, 1997 at his residence in Baton Rouge.

He was born in New Orleans in 1920 and grew up in the area. In 1941 he graduated from Loyola University with a degree in chemistry. He obtained a Master's degree from the University of Detroit in 1943.

He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. In 1946 he married the former Helene Reid of Fall River, Mass. He retired in the mid-1980s after spending almost 40 years with Exxon Research Laboratories in Baton Rouge.

Interested in horticulture since his boyhood, Mertzweiller became involved in Louisiana Irises when he met Professor Claude Davis in 1953 and, through him, Professor Ira Nelson. He became interested in hybridizing Louisiana irises and later developed a special interest in tetraploid Louisianas.

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AlbertDetwilerBert Detwiler 1919 - 2014 Albert C. "Bert" Detwiler was the fourth of six children born to J. Homer and Blanche (Shaffer) Detwiler. All were born in the same house in Jeannette, PA. Bert was born on March 28, 1919 in Jeannette, PA., and died of complications following surgery on December 30, 2014, in Tucson, AZ. He was 95. After a short stint as circulation manager of the local newspaper, Bert at age 23 became the manager of three theaters in Latrobe, PA, in 1942. Bert married his high-school sweetheart, Joan Valentine Skidmore, on April 23, 1940, in Indiana, PA. In 1944 Bert volunteered for service in WWII.

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An early member of the Society, Mrs. V.B. Evans of Ferriday, Louisiana, died in June 1991. Mrs. Evans had served on the Board of Directors and on various committees during the early years. 
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The iris world lost a valued friend and leader on Monday, June 10, 1991 when Oren E. Campbell of North little Rock, Arkansas died. Oren and his wife, Sue, were charter members of the Central Arkansas Iris Society, and he had served as both CAIS President and Regional Vice President of the American Iris Society, and was an AlS Master Judge (retired).
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Mrs. Barbara Deremiah of 4122 E. San Amiguel, Phoenix, AZ, died on June 2, 1981, after a long illness.  Barbara was considered the leader of the Phoenix area for promotion of Louisiana Irises and grew guest plants from many of the hybridizers.  Her garde, with the help of her family and friends, was on tour this spring and will be on tour again in 1982.  Her gardening friends want hybridizers to be assured there were excellent records kept on the guest irises and the garden will continue to be maintained by her family and iris friends.
Despite her health, Barbara came to Lafayette for the Society's annual meeting in 1980 and 1981.  Her account of a swamp trip in 1980 was published in the September 1980 Newsletter.
Barbara is survived by her husband and three teenage children.
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Each year we lose another of our longtime members until there are few of these members left. We regret the death on July 1, 1989 of one of our oldest and most colorful members, Calvin Blue. Calvin and his wife Inez joined the Society in 1945, soon after it was organized. They with their young daughter Susie came to all the Society functions and were always on hand to greet out-of-towners at the Friday night supper of the annual meeting.
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We were all saddened by the death of Rudolph "Rudi" Fuchs on June 8. Although primarily a grower of bearded irises, Rudi had become interested in Louisianas and spurias and grew most of the popular varieties. He had not missed an American Iris Society Convention since the 1974 one in Roanoke, VA and, despite his heart condition, he attended the May 1985 Convention in Indianapolis. 
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We regret the loss of one of our Charter Members, Mrs. Chester C. (Hattie) Clark of Shreveport, LA.
 
Hattie died in March 1985.  Her beautiful garden was on tour for the 1951 AIS convention in Shreveport, LA.  Although she was in her 90's, she still worked in her garden and grew many Louisiana irises as well as daylilies, roses, hostas and beautiful green house plants.
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Jean Collins of New Zealand, who has belonged to our Society off and on for many years.  She ran a nursery specializing in beardless irises, including the Louisiana irises.
She had served as Secretary-Treasurer of the New Zealand Iris Society from 1972 to 1982.
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