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Eunice, LA
It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that the family of Richard Douglas LeDoux, Sr., Lt. Col., USAF (Retired) announces his passing on Saturday, April 28, 2018 at Eunice Manor at the age of 88. A Celebration of Life will be celebrated at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, May 01, 2018 at Ardoin's Funeral Home in Eunice. 

Burial will follow in the LeDoux Cemetery with Deacon Gary Gaudin. 

Born December 17, 1929, Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois, to Staff Sergeant Francis LeDoux and Pearl T. LeDoux. Because his father was a career military man Richard grew up moving to his father's duty stations at Nicols Field, Philippine Islands; Kelly Field, San Antoinio, Texas; Post Field, Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Mitchell Field, Hempstead, Long Island, New York.

On December 12, 1941, five days short of his twelfth birthday, he left New York by train for his parent's home town of Eunice, Louisiana, where he lived for the next eleven years. He graduated from Eunice High School in 1948 and Southwestern Louisiana Institute in 1952 with a BS Degree and as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

He married Bertha Lee "Teadie" Manuel on February 15, 1952 and together they went to his first duty station which was Air Force Pilot Training at Kinston Air Base, North Carolina. Their first daughter Jeanne Denise, was born at Marine Corps Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, on December 10, 1952. They next went to Greenville Air Force Base, Mississippi for his second six months of pilot training and then to Gary Air Force Base, San Marcos, Texas where he completed the Air Force Helicopter Pilot School. Then he went on to Korea as a rescue pilot. While he was in Korea their second daughter, Suzanne Angelique, was born on August 02, 1954. Upon his return from Korea, he attended the Aircraft Maintenance Officer's school at Chanute AFB, Rantoul, Illinois, and graduated with a Flight Test Maintenance Officer's specialty. 

Next he and Bertha and by now their two daughters were stationed at Sewart AFB, Tennesse where he was first assigned to a Helicopter and then a C-130 squadron. While at Sewart AFB, Richard, Junior was born on April 20, 1959, shortly after his birth Richard, Sr. and his family were transferred to Japan for a three year tour. By the time Richard, Sr. had been in the Air Force for twenty years, he had served six and a half years overseas in the Far East and Southeast Asia in the countries of Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. The last five years of his time in the Air Force was spent in Southern California overseeing flight testing and development of the "Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Program" for the Air Force.

In addition to his BS degree from SLI and a year and half in pilot training and helicopter training, while in the service he also completed a year-long Aircraft Maintenance Officer School, Squadron Officer's School, The Industrial College of The Armed Forces and while preparing for his dissertation for his Master's degree in Political Science was sent to Thailand as a helicopter instructor rendering him a thesis short of a Master's Degree.

After retiring from the Air Force, Richard, Sr. became "Jack of all Trades" giving flight instructions to fledgling flight students, aerial application ("crop dusting"), teaching at LSUE, managing the grounds and stables of quarter horse race track, repairing small tools and electrical and pneumatic equipment and advising the city administrators on disaster preparedness. However his greatest passion was for organizing and overseeing a rural water system that encompassed a one hundred and forty square mile area.

He is survived by his three children, Jeanne Gray, Suzanne Mumphrey and husband, Scott and Dik LeDoux and wife Debi; six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Bertha Lee "Teadie" Manuel LeDoux and his son-in-law, Daniel Gray.

At the request of the family, visitation will be held at Ardoin's Funeral Home in Eunice on Tuesday, May 01, 2018 from 10:00 am until time of services.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Veteran's Association, Wounded Warriors or any service organization that benefits veterans.

Military Timeline
1952 (fall): Active duty at Stallings Air Base in Kinston, NC
1953 (Dec):  Helicopter Pilot rraining, Gary AFB, San Marcos, TX
1954:  Korea, then the Artic Circle flying a helicopter in support of survey crews who were doing the locating of sites for the construction of DEW (Distant Early Warning radar sites) line locations.  Upon his return he supported the 82nd Airborne and re-supplying radio relay sites in the southeastern states.
Fort Churchill in Manitoba working on the Mid-Canadian Early Warning Radar line for three months.
Aircraft Maintenance Officer's school, Chanute AFB, Rantoul, IL (a year long course)
Sewart AFB, Smyrna, TN
Maintenance Officer for a C-130 squadron
1960:  C-130 squadron, Japan
1963:  Sewart AFB, Smyrna, TN
1965 (six months):  Instruct young Thai Air Force officers in helicopters.
Point Mugu Naval Air Station near Oxnard, California. Flight testing on the drone program, aka Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program. (18 months)
Ryan Aircraft plant, San Diego, CA.
1971:  Korea (1 yr)
1972:  England, AFB, Alexandria. Special assistant to the base commander.

In his 20 years of service, Dick served 6.5 years in the Far East and Southeast Asia and was otherwise away from home and family two-thirds of the time.

Wilda Anna Martel died at a Tampa hospital on October 29, 2016. She was born in Eunice, LA to Gervis P. "Slim" Martel and Ellenor Fontenot on April 23, 1935.

She is survived by her half-sister, Sandra Martel Roger and husband Nick of Tampa; three stepsiblings; one half-nephew; and four half-grand nephews and nieces.

Wilda Anna was preceded in death by her parents Gervis and Ellenor; her loving stepmother and caretaker, Lillian Martel; her caretaker and great-grandmother, Ernestine Aguillard Savoy; her half-brothers, Rawland and John Martel; and her half-niece, Tara Spicer Mramor.

She will join all her heavenly family in a reunion as God promised in Micah 4:6-7. "I will make the lame (people with disabilities) my remnant…" They are God's chosen ones, his remnants.

Funeral arrangements will be handled by Quirk & Son Funeral Home in Eunice. Interment will be in Savoy
Cemetery. A Memorial Service will be held in Eunice in March of 2017.

At the time of her birth Ellenor Fontenot and her husband Gervis Martel knew that she was God's special gift. Wilda Anna Martel was born in April 1935. Her father, 23 years old at the time and working at what men did at that age for family income. It was three years after Huey Long completed his Governorship term and was now a U.S. Senator. Huey Long was planning to challenge F.D. Roosevelt for the Presidency until his assassination in September 1935. All people were struggling to make ends meet during the depression. It was going to become more challenging for this Martel family.
 
Gervis and Ellenor married in 1931. They were probably unaware that they were 2nd cousins. Their common ancestry is Pierre Savoy (1832-1876) and Eugenie Miller (1836-1924). Eugenie Miller is a descendant of Jacob Miller and Anne Marie Thaison/Theigen.
 
Wilda Anna was almost 2 1/2 years old when her mother Ellenor died in December 1937.  Ellenor was two months shy of 22 years old. Gervis probably had help while attending to a sick wife and an infant daughter. Ellenor's father and mother, David Fontenot and Anna Savoy probably lived nearby. Anna's mother, Ernestine Aguillard Savoy was also nearby. Ernestine's husband, Julien, Wilda Anna's great grandfather, died in 1933.
 
Savoy Cemetery, Eunice, is the final resting place for all persons mentioned in this family. Wilda Anna's great grandmother, died in 1964. Prior to his death in 1994, Gervis made plans for Wilda Anna's burial. Her eternal resting place is between him and her great grandmother; Tante Ernestine. That  was what she was called by family member. My mother introduced me to her in the mid-1950s. It was courtesy at that time  to call her "Tante"  because my step-father Gervis called her "Tante". I did not know it at the time but Tante Ernestine was my half 3rd cousin once removed. Our common ancestry is Pierre Placide Savoy and Abelaide Babineaux.
 
Very near Ernestine's tomb is her daughter Anna Savoy Fontenot and Anna’s husband David A. Fontenot. Ellenor Fontenot, their daughter is buried nearby. Ellenor's obituary printed in the Eunice News clearly states that she was married to Gervis Martel. We may never know why Ellenor’s headstone excluded her married name - Martel.
 
My step-father Gervis never talked about the difficulties encountered after his 1st wife's death nor the challenges he faced prior to his enlistment in the U.S. Navy in October 1942. He was honorably discharged in September 1945. Many young men in his age group felt a responsibility to defend their country in WW II.
 
Gervis made pay grade E-6, 1st Class Petty Officer, Carpenter's Mate, during his 3 year hitch. The USS Carina, on which Gervis served most of his enlistment, a cargo ship, supported the Pacific Fleet. It was hit by the enemy several times. A Carpenter's Mate was responsible for the ship's repair while at sea. The USS Carina received three battle stars for WW II service, thus it saw battle action with the enemy on more than one occasion. With the skills learned in the Navy, Gervis worked as a carpenter after his discharge.
 
Wilda Anna was cared for and living in Tante Ernestine's old farm house near Eunice when I first met her in the 1950's. It was out in the country. The house seemed very large with a huge fire place. There was a walkway to the kitchen, a smaller building near the large house. My mother, Mary Lillian Naquin, married Gervis, known as "Slim" to many, in 1948, shortly after her divorce from my father, Murphy Miller, Sr.
 
Also in the 1950's Gervis was offered employment with a Tampa firm that manufactured and installed retail store decor and floor display units. He purchased property near Brandon, FL where the family relocated in 1957. Wilda Anna was still in LA. After Gervis and Lillian became FL residents, Wilda Anna too was relocated to FL. She was in a State home in Marianne, FL, then Acadia, FL. She later resided in a Fort Myers home serving people with developmental disabilities for about 45 years. Wilda Anna relocated to Tampa for health reasons in 2006.
 
Gervis Martel and family came often to visit family in LA. His brother Dewey owned the Shell station on Hwy 190. In June 1957 the Gervis Martel family stayed with Dewey and his wife Rose Sittig as Hurricane Audrey delivered its destruction to Eunice. Vellion "Popsi" Martel and his wife Virginia LeDoux were included in the family visits. Prior to their deaths, Gervis' father Etienne and his twin brother Theogene, attended a family gathering in 1952.
 
At 81.5 years old, Wilda Anna will be laid to rest in Savoy Cemetery, Eunice, LA.  Her earthly struggles are over. She will join all her family in a heavenly reunion as God promised in Micah 4:6-7 (NIRV). " 'The time is coming when I will gather those who are disabled,' announces the LORD. 'I will bring together those who were taken away as prisoners. I will gather those I have allowed to suffer. I will make the disabled my faithful people. I will make those who were driven away from their homes a strong nation. I will rule over them on Mount Zion. I will be their King from that time on and forever.' " They are God's chosen ones, his remnants.

More information on the Martel Family of Louisiana can be found on Lulu.com.