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May 16, 1942 ~ January 14, 2020

ABBEVILLE — Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, January 17, 2020 at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville honoring the life of Travis Joseph Callahan, 77, who died Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at Abbeville General Hospital. He will be laid to rest at St. Paul Cemetery with Deacon William "Billy" Vincent officiating the services.
Pallbearers will be Ivey Callahan, Matthew Callahan, Alaina Callahan, Scott Callahan and Bryan Callahan. Honorary pallbearers will be Harry Callahan, Murphy Vincent and Gerald Gaspard.
A graduate of Abbeville High School, Travis married his sweetheart, Diana Vincent.  They began their 58-year marriage while Travis served as a helicopter mechanic in the U.S. Army.  Soon they would welcome a son and five years later, they would bring home a daughter.  After having learned to fly, Travis became a talented flight instructor and shared his love of the skies for eleven years.  He accumulated more than 10,000 hours in the air. He took great pride in all his students but especially those that continued to fly in the military or make a career in aviation.  Later, he would return to aviation mechanics and progress to become the Director of Aviation for Omega Protein.  After twenty-eight years, he retired in 2010 to work in his cherished garden.  A caring, Christian man, Travis served for the American Legion and enjoyed researching genealogy.
Travis is survived by his wife of 58 years, Diana Vincent Callahan; daughter, Alaina Callahan; son, Ivey Callahan and his wife Donna; four grandchildren, Katherine Naron and her husband Virgil, Rebecca LeBlanc and her husband Anthony, Kimberly Callahan, and Matthew Callahan; great grandchildren, Gabriel, Erica, Blake, Landon, Bentley, Jada, Chloe, and Aubrey; and brother, Harry Callahan and his wife Gloria.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ivey Callahan and the former Winnie Bodin.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Friday, January 17, 2020 from 10:00 AM until time of services. A rosary being prayed at 11:00 AM.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

CROWLEY — Kenneth Gravois, LSU AgCenter sugarcane specialist, said the muddy 2018 harvest affected the recent sugarcane crop with reduced cane tonnage.
“It was a light crop,” Gravois said. “Anytime you have a muddy harvest in the previous year, you have a hangover effect into the next year.”
The average yield was 30 tons per acre statewide, compared to 39 tons the previous year.
“That was a record tonnage last year,” he said.
The average sugar extraction of 222 pounds of sugar per ton of cane was a slight improvement over last year when the average was 219 pounds, he said.
This crop was below average. And for the most part harvest conditions were dry, and planting was accomplished in good conditions.
“We’re going to be optimistic for next year,” Gravois said.
2019 sugarcane acreage totaled 482,300, compared to 459,000 acres in 2018. Gravois expects acreage to increase for 2020, possibly as much as 490,000 acres, as more land is put into cane production to the west and north.
Blair Hebert, LSU AgCenter agent for sugarcane in the Bayou Teche area, said fields were badly damaged in 2018 during the muddy harvest.
Hurricane Barry damaged the cane worse than was initially thought with the tops of cane plants broken. The early freeze put halted sugar production in the plants, he said.
“This is one of those tough years that Mother Nature didn’t give us much to work with,” Hebert said. “Overall, this is not going to go down as a good-yielding year.”
Hebert credited the breeding programs of the American Sugar Cane League, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the LSU AgCenter for developing cold-tolerant varieties that withstood the freeze.
A hard cold snap would help suppress disease, insects and weeds, he said.
Even though tonnage was down, most farmers were satisfied with the outcome, said Matt Foster, AgCenter agent for sugarcane in Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist and Terrebonne parishes.
“Some of them wish it could have been a little better,” Foster said.
Last year, he said, acreage went unplanted because of wet conditions. This year the ground also was wet at the start of planting, but farmers managed to get seed cane in the ground.
“Some people were planting and harvesting at the same time,” Foster said.
The muddy harvest of 2018 can be blamed for the tonnage decrease. “I think the cane was trying to recover from the muddy conditions,” he said.

February 21, 1929 ~ January 14, 2020

KAPLAN — Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan honoring the life of Thomas Earl Darby, 90, who died Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at Maison du Monde Living Center. He will be laid to rest at Nunez Baptist Cemetery with Reverend Kyle Coates officiating the services.
He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Velta Trahan Darby of Abbeville; his son, Michael Darby of Abbeville; his two daughters, Debi Darby of Erath and Brenda D. Hebert of Abbeville; his four grandsons, Brandon Darby, Brice Darby, Joshua Hebert and his wife, Nikki, and Jamel Darby; his five great grandchildren, Lani Darby, Caylee Hebert, Colin Hebert, Carley Gary, McKenzie Darby, and Bailey Darby; his three sisters, Earline D. Suire of Kaplan, Goldie D. Heard of Gueydan, and Roberta D. Mire of Morgan City; his four brothers, Curtis Darby of Texas, Robert Darby of Morgan City, Doisey Darby of Sulphur, and Earl Darby of Abbeville; and his special friend and caregiver, Coy Stephens, Jr. of Abbeville.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Lionel Darby and the former Ella Lege; his daughter, Jane Marie Darby; his sisters, Hazel D. Patterson, Beverly D. Myers, and Joyce D. Hebert; and his brothers, Kenneth Darby and Raymond Darby.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 from 11:00 AM until 9:00 PM; Thursday, January 16, 2020 from 8:00 AM until the time of the services at 10:00 AM.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276 [Service Information 225-5276]. Condolences may be sent to the Darby family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.

July 23, 1936 ~ January 14, 2020

ABBEVILLE — Our beloved mother, grandmother and great grandmother Lucy Mae Gaspard Meaux, 83, gained her angel wings on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at 2:52 AM at Eunice Manor Nursing Home with family at her bedside, after an extended illness. She was born on July 23, 1936 in Abbeville, Louisiana to Fedlis and Cora Broussard Gaspard.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at Vincent Funeral Home – Abbeville, burial will immediatley folow at St. Paul Cemetery with Deacon William “Billy” Vincent officiating the services.
She is survived by five of her children, Rebecca M. Broussard of Abbeville, Willis P Meaux, Jr. of Abbeville, Rachael M. Boudreaux and her husband Jessy of Eunice, H. Rene Meaux of Madisonville, Ricky L. Meaux of Kaplan; daughter-in-law, Allison B Meaux of Erath; brother Fedlis Gaspard, Jr. Also left behind to cherish his memory are his twelve grandchildren, Christine Fields, Bridget Lapointe, Derek Broussard, Amber Broussard, Katherine Myers, Athena Larson, Louis Dryer, Jr, April Meaux, Heath Meaux, Gabriella Meaux, Jenna Meaux and Michael Meaux; and eleven great grandchildren.
She is preceded in death by her spouse of 60 years, Willis Paul Meaux; son, Allen J Meaux; parents, Fedlis Gaspard and Cora Broussard Gaspard; and four brothers, Calvin Gaspard, Carrol Gaspard, Jimmie Gaspard and Ronald Gaspard.
A gathering of family and friends will be at Vincent Funeral Home - Abbeville, 209 S. St. Charles St., on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 from 3:00 PM until 8:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 6:30 PM; The funeral home will reopen Thursday, January 16, 2020 from 8:00 AM until time of services.
The family would like to thank the entire staff of Eunice Manor Nursing, for the wonderful care and compassion. As well as the staff of Hope Hospice. Our journey to Mom gaining her wings was definitely made easier with their guidance and compassion.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.