Walter Charles Parlange

Walter Charles Parlange Jr. died Saturday, May 1, 2010, at his home, Parlange Plantation. He was 87. He was predeceased by his parents, Walter Charles Parlange and Paule Claire Brierre Parlange. Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Lucy Maltby Brandon; three children, Walter Charles Parlange III and wife, Gwin, Brandon Gerard Parlange, and Angèle Maltby Parlange; and grandchild, Carolyn Parlange. Mr. Parlange was born in New Orleans and lived at Parlange the majority of his life. His early school years were divided between New Roads and New Orleans, where he resided with his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Numa Brierre. He volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and was a B-17 bomber pilot stationed near Cambridge, England, at Nuthampsted. Mr. Parlange flew from England over Germany and completed 25 missions at a time when the average life of a B-17 bomber pilot and crew was 17 missions. On one mission, the plane was severely damaged and the crew crashlanded in Holland over the Zider Zee. The airmen thought surely that they would be captured by the Germans and taken to concentration camps, but they were rescued by the heroic Dutch underground, who saved them by hiding them in barns for several nights until they could rendezvous with the English. The Dutch underground risked their own lives and shared what little they had in the way of food. Later, the airmen were able to drop food packages over the vicinity of their air crash in hopes that the ones who saved them were able to benefit from the packages. The aviators owe their lives to the brave Dutch underground. Mr. Parlange was awarded the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity at LSU. His father, Walter Charles Parlange, had been a member at the University of Virginia and at Tulane. He graduated from LSU with a political science and history degree. He was the grandson of federal Judge Charles Parlange. After the war, Mr. Parlange returned to Parlange and managed the plantation with his father. They raised cotton, sugar cane and cattle. On Jan. 20, 1951, Mr. Parlange married at Grace Episcopal Church, St. Francisville, the former Lucy Maltby Brandon, of New Orleans, and Arcole Plantation, Pinckneyville, Miss. He served as a member of the Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury for 32 years, a record, and was its president for eight terms. He retired as president having never missed a meeting. Mr. Parlange was co-founder of the False River Waters Works with Mr. Morris Bergeron and Mr. Mix Vosburg and served as its president for 35 years. He was on the Board of Directors of the Bank of New Roads for 18 years. He was involved in a number of civic and historical organizations, including the American Legion and West Baton Rouge Historical Society and Museum. He was a member of St. Paul's Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, New Roads, and St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Morganza. Mr. Parlange was a member of the Boston Club, Society of Colonial Wars, Sons of the Revolution, War of 1812 and the Baton Rouge Assembly. His passions were politics, football, flying, cars and his family and friends. The family would like to thank Dr. Maurice Nassar, Dr. Edmund Tipton, Mrs. Hampton P. Stewart, the Rev. Don Brown, Mr. Joseph Jarreau, Darlene Couch, Mrs. Ray Pourciau, Alton Joseph, Leonard Edwards and all his beloved friends. Visitation at Rabenhorst Funeral Home, 825 Government St., Baton Rouge, on Tuesday, May 4, from 5 p.m. until memorial service at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Walter Charles Parlange Jr. may be made to St. Paul's Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 605 E. Main St., New Roads, LA 70760, St. Mary's Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 173, Morganza, LA 70759, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn., or Hospice of Baton Rouge, 9063 Siegen Lane, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA 70810.