Ethel Bordelon

(October 12, 1912 - August 17, 2009)

Funeral services for Ethel Bordelon of Bordelonville will be held on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Bordelonville at 11:00am.

Visitations will take place at the St. Peter Church Hall in Bordelonville prior to the funeral mass beginning at 8:00am until 10:45am. Entombment will take place at the St. Peter Mausoleum.

Ethel Bordelon, age 96, passed away at the Bayou Chateau Nursing Center on Monday, August 17, 2009. She lived her entire life on Bayou des Glaises, and was one of the few remaining survivors of the great flood of 1927 which inundated all of the bayou area. Her memories of the flood were published on the 75th anniversary and can be read here below.

She is preceded in death by her; husband, Sanville Bordelon; parents, Wickliffe Juneau & Alice Laborde.

She is survived by her; daughter, Jean Bordelon Guillory of Bordelonville; son, Wayne J. Bordelon of Thibodaux; sister, Eola Chatelain of Bordelonville; brother, James Juneau of Crowley. She is also survived by five grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, & two great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements and services are under the directions of Escude Funeral Home.

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1927 Flood Recollections of Ethel Juneau Bordelon

Indeed I have many memories of the 1927 flood. I was 14 years old. My parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wickliffe Juneau of Bordelonville had seven children, one a small baby.

We owned our home and would raise chickens, pigs and cattle and had a big garden. When the water came, which was very fast, all we could manage to do was put a few small things in the attic, and put some of our furniture on boxes and shelves. Our car, a 1927 model, we drove on the front porch of our house. Of course the next day the water was up to the top.

Some of the chickens, pigs and our milk cow managed to be lead on the levee near our house before the water got too deep.

The following day the water covered all our furniture and everything we owned in the house and elsewhere.

We were taken to higher ground as soon as we could get our turn. The boats could only carry so many people. It was dark by the time our family got to go. We all waited our turn on this levee close to the house.

A good friend of my father's, Mr Preston Couvillon from Marksville was waiting at the landing to take us in. He had an empty store in Marksville across the street from the now John's Discount Store. He let us stay there until we were able to go back home which was at least 6 to 8 weeks. He and his wife gave us clothes and food. They were so good to us. Never will I forget those nice people.

I did miss all my friends and relatives who were all taken to camps In Mansura, but I managed to see them once in a while. Whenever I got to the camp, Mr. Joe Escude, who was in charge of all the camps, took me to the kitchen and would let me eat all I wanted. I remember he would slice me cheese and give me cooked prunes. I was always so hungry. I guess my poor parents were pinching the pennies because they knew what it would cost to repair all the damage and disaster they would soon have to do. I remember one Saturday afternoon, my dad gave me a nickel to go buy an ice cream cone. I walked to the corner drug store which was owned by Mr. Carnot Dupuy. He served me the ice cream in a dish and to my surprise when I went to pay for the ice cream, he says "Sorry darling, it’s 10 cents". I started to cry knowing I only had 5 cents. He quickly put his arm around my shoulders and asked if I was the little girl who lived in Mr. Preston's store, and, of course, my answer was yes.

He said that was alright, "Don't cry and keep your nickel". He would often call me after that when I was taking a walk pass his drug store and he gave me candies, etc. Did I like him!

Two days after we moved to Marksville. My dad went by boat to see about our home, etc., and I will never forget those eyes when he returned to tell my mother that everything we had was ruined. My daddy was a very hard worker and a good provider and to know all he had worked for was gone. We all cried and my mother made us all get on our knees and pray so that we could soon go back and start all over again. Thank God no one was sick the time we had to be away for such a disaster.

I remember when we returned we all had to help take out the rotten mattresses, etc. in the house and piled things outside to burn. I remember helping to pick parts of our fences all over to start repairing. But thank God we all got to work in a few years and we got back on our feet. My dad had an 18 acre farm. He butchered three times a week and would buy furs in the winter months. I could go on and on telling of the many memories and hardships we had during the 1927 high water. I know my parents spent many sleepless nights because, as I said, I was only 14 and I know how much I cried for some of my personal belongings and I knew I would never have them again. It was always so sad to see and hear all what our parents would tell and how much they would cry. So I do have many memories of the 1927 flood and will never forget as long as I live.