Erath " A Mass of Christian Burial will be held for Mr. Johnnie Wiltz Suire, 89, at 10:00AM on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church with Father Mike Arnaud officiating. Visitation will be on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 from 4:00PM until 8:00PM with a recitation of the Rosary by Tim LeBlanc, Jr. at 6:30PM. Visitation will resume on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 from 8:00AM until service time. Interment will follow in Our Lady of Lourdes Mausoleum. A native and resident of Erath, Johnnie passed away at 5:30AM on Monday, May 10, 2010 at Abbeville General Hospital. He was a 1937 graduate of Erath High School and attended LSU and graduated from SLI with a BS in General Agriculture. He was in the U.S. Army from 1942-1946 where he was a Basic Training Instructor, Camo Tech and taught French soldiers the English language, and he was stationed in Guam in the Army Air Corps. Johnnie returned home to attend USL Masters Program + 30 in Education for Administration and Supervision. He was a school teacher at Veterans Administration in adult education, Vets on the farm training, the Assistant Principal in Henry, taught Math in Erath and was the 1st Principal of Dozier Elementary after segregation. He was a member of the American Legion, member of La. and Vermilion Parish Teachers association, a Grand Marshall for the Erath 4th of July Celebration, and was inducted into the Living Legends Hall of Fame. Erath High School honored him twice as Grand Marshall of their Homecoming parade. As part of a CODOFIL program, he was asked to study the French language in France. Johnnie was most well known for his unique ability to explain and teach math and amazed all of his students with math tricks, shortcuts and his ability to add faster than a calculator. He touched the lives of countess students and will be sadly missed. He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Florine Montey Suire of Erath; his only daughter, Rickey Suire Domingues and husband Edward of New Iberia; two granddaughters, Mary Domingues LeBlanc and husband Tim, Jr. of New Iberia and Jeanne Domingues Turner of Lafayette; six grandchildren, T.J. LeBlanc III, Madeline LeBlanc, Jake LeBlanc and Peter LeBlanc, all of New Iberia, and Charles Ed Turner and Christopher Blaine Turner, both of Lafayette. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jean and Telia Nunez Suire; and his brother, Edwin Suire. Serving as pallbearers will be T.J. LeBlanc III, Jake LeBlanc, Peter LeBlanc, Charles Ed Turner, Blaine Turner, Marcus Hebert, Lovelace Touchet and Tim LeBlanc, Jr. Honorary pallbearers will be Tony Hebert, David Sonnier, Dr. Michael Foreman, Chris Salvo and Harold Primeaux. The family would like to extend a special thanks to Hester Smith, Lovelace Touchet, Russell Suire and the staff at Dr. Ronnie Lahaskys office. David Funeral Home of Erath, 209 E. Putnam St., (337) 937-0405, is in charge of the arrangements.
