Owen A. Gauthier

Owen passed away Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2008. He was born Jan. 10, 1927, in Arabie, the eldest son of Winnie Laborde and Leon Sumpter Gauthier. He attended Dufroc Elementary School, then started Catholic High School in the third grade, graduating in 1944. He attended LSU, where he was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. Owen was a veteran of the Naval Air Corps, having served during World War II and the Korean War, and met and married his wife, Margo, while serving at Moffet Field in California. They celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007. He is survived by his wife, Margaret Lathrop Fletcher Gauthier; his daughter, Catherine Lowry Gauthier Edic and husband Kevin, of Omaha, Neb., and their three sons, Dr. Corey Glen Edic, of Omaha, Keith Ray Edic and his wife, Jana, of Cross Junction, Va., and Shane Ray Edic and his wife, Katie, and their daughter, Addison Riley Edic, of Lincoln, Neb.; three sons, Mark Lathrop Gauthier and his wife, Belynda Langston Gauthier, and their children, Jesse Langston Gauthier and Emily Lathrop Gauthier, of Baton Rouge, Leon Fletcher Gauthier and his children, Derrick Allen Gauthier, Daniel Fletcher Gauthier and Erin Elizabeth Gauthier, and their mother, Nancy Howard Gauthier, of Palm Coast, Fla., and John Cromwell Gauthier, of Baton Rouge; his two eldest grandchildren, Karina Gauthier Martin and her husband, Tony, of Richmond, Va., Owen Anthony Gauthier II and their mother, Thea Woodring Gauthier, of Baton Rouge; his brother, Dr. Donald James Gauthier and his wife, Margie, of Baton Rouge; brothers and sisters-in-law, Edward V. Fetzer, Ted and Evelyn Fletcher, Bev and Pete Comstock, and Lee and Dick Adams; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his eldest son, Gregory Owen Gauthier; his sisters, Gerry Oxford and Nell Fetzer; his parents; and his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Emily Lathrop and Edgar Lowry Fletcher. He was a partner with Goodwin Gauthier Insurance Agency until his retirement, state president of the Professional Insurance Agents of Louisiana, president of Baton Rouge Insurance Exchange. member of the City Parish Council, chairman of Parish Executive Committee, board member of the Airport Commission and the Housing Authority, served on the National Board of Marketing Management Inc., and a longtime member of the Baton Rouge Country Club, the Baton Rouge JC's and the Lakeshore Lions Club. Visitation at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd., on Saturday, Jan. 5, from 9 a.m. until memorial service in the funeral home chapel at 11 a.m., conducted by the Rev. Vic Messina of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the LSU Alumni Association, the American Heart Association or Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. The family wishes to express their thanks to the wonderful people at Landmark for all their care during his illness, especially Loretta, Ricky and Bonny, and to all his many friends who came to see him so often.