Jeanette Soileau Polson
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, October 16 at 10:00 am at St. Terrance Catholic Mission, Florien for Jeanette S. Polson. Her son, Fr. Mikel A. Polson, Pastor of St. Michael the Arch Angle Church in Crowley, Louisiana will preside.
Born July 25, 1936, in Ville Platte, Louisiana, as Marie Jeanette Soileau, to parents Ariel Soileau and Melicia Fontenot Soileau. She had six brothers, all deceased, all served in the United States military: Rodney, Horace, Vernel, Irving, Roy Ariel, and Joel. She is survived by one younger sister, Geneva Limoges of Ville Platte, Louisiana.
Jeanette and her husband, Buddy, were joined in holy matrimony on March 13, 1954 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ville Platte. They have eight children, Cynthia Pervola and her husband, Mario Dagenais, of Toledo Bend Reservoir (Many); Denise Ball of Carrolton, Texas; Melissa Dougherty and her husband, Rick, of Denham Springs; Nicolette Meade and her husband Jim, of Morris, Illinois; Monica Briers and her husband, David, of Thousand Oaks, California; Jack Polson and his wife, Beverly, of Franklin, Tennessee; Rev. Mikel Polson of Crowley, Louisiana; and Mark Polson and his wife Cindy, of Baton Rouge. Jeanette and Buddy have 19 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
She was a courageous woman; moving overseas with six young children to start a new life in Spain, where the family lived for ten years. In Spain she took on the nickname, Ama (translated as mother in the Basque language) with her own children, so today she is known as Ama to us all.
She cooked and danced like a true Cajun, sewed her children’s clothes and loved crafts and card games. When Jeanette retired as Director of Chez Hope, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, the battered women’s organization, they moved to the Toledo Bend Reservoir in 1990. There, she was a founding member of St. Terrance Catholic Church of Toledo Bend Reservoir and of St. Terrance Women’s Club, dedicated to helping the needy. She was a special minister of the Holy Eucharist and a lector at St. Terrance. She was active and a member of St. Vincent de Paul organization of both St. John Baptist Church of Many and St. Joseph’s Church of Zwolle. She had a big heart and was everyone’s friend wherever she went; waiting in line at the grocery store, sitting at the salon, or in the waiting room at a doctor’s office. Within minutes she’d make a new friend.
Jeanette and Buddy made several religious pilgrimages to Lourdes, France, to Mexico City, Mexico for the canonization of St. Juan Diego by Pope John Paul II, to Medjugorje for the apparitions of the blessed Virgin Mary (still happening to this day) and to Jerusalem to follow the footsteps of Jesus.
She shared her life with many and brought happiness, joy and relief wherever she went. Her life was truly a living prayer. Rest in peace dear woman and thanks to you and Jesus for sharing your life with us.
