Ronald Clayton Fontenot

Ronald C. Fontenot passed away in Baton Rouge on Sunday, Feb. 21, 2010, following a brief illness. He was 82, a resident of Baton Rouge and native of Mamou. He was a Navy veteran of World War II and a retired chemical engineer, formerly with Chevron Oronite Chemical Corp., GAF Corp. and Ethyl Corp. After retirement from Ethyl Corp. in 1992, he served as an energy consultant for Borden Chemical and Plastics Ltd., and subsequently was appointed to the faculty at LSU in Baton Rouge. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the USL in Lafayette in 1959 and a MBA degree in finance from LSU in 1965. He worked for one year as process engineer at Chevron, then six years as process design engineer and commercial development representative for Ethyl Corp. in R&D at Baton Rouge, Houston and Orangeburg. He later joined GAF Corp. in New York, where he served for four years as manager of General Development. He subsequently returned to Ethyl Corp., where he worked for 23 years as senior engineer, manager of fuel and power, manager of corporate energy, then as senior R&D adviser at various locations in Baton Rouge and Houston. During his career as a chemical engineer, he was a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, Industrial Energy Group, Petrochemical Energy Group, America Petroleum Institute Committee on Energy Efficiency, Chemical Market Resources Association, Chemical Manufacturers Association Committee on Energy and Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals. Honors bestowed included Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, Tau Beta Pi and Phi Kappa Phi. His volunteer activities included tax counseling for the elderly under AARP's TCE program and the IRS VITA program. His favorite hobbies included golf, contract bridge and fishing. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, L. Mae Fontenot; children, Deborah Skorupsky and husband Bob, Roxanne Stears and husband Jimmy, Joel Fontenot and wife Nancy and Peter Fontenot and wife Cindy; a sister, Ethelie Gahn; a brother, F. Frank Fontenot; 10 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Zeal and Mabel Dugas Fontenot; two brothers, Dr. James Fontenot and Richard Fontenot; daughter, Cinda Fusilier; and grandson, Tyler Fontenot. He was a member of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. Visitation at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd., on Wednesday, Feb. 24, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Visitation will resume on Thursday, Feb. 25, at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church, 445 Marquette Ave., from 9 a.m. until Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m., with the Rev. Miles D. Walsh, celebrant. Entombment in Greenoaks Memorial Park Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America.