John Malcolm Calzada

Services will be conducted by Msgr. Greig at St. Patrick Church in Sweetlake on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. Burial will follow the service at Chenier Purdue Cemetery in Creole. Visitation will be from 1:00 p.m. until the time of service on Tuesday.

John was born in New Orleans, lived in Gretna, graduated from Gretna High School and then he moved to St. Tammany Parish before moving to Grand Lake in 1997.

He believed in the “American Dream” and started working early in life at the Continental Can Co. followed by Chevron Chemical Co., Avondale Shipyard and Equitable Shipyard. He was proud to supervise refurbishing of the American Queen and Delta Queen Steamboats. He was both a licensed Real Estate Broker and a General Contractor. He built the Pearl River Library, Mandeville Firehouse, and Franklin Primary School Cafeteria.

“Mr. John” served on the Cameron Parish Library Board of Trustees from 2000 to 2011. He was instrumental in rebuilding and restructuring the library system to bring services to each area of the parish.

He will be remembered by friends and family as a devoted husband and loving father as well as a great storyteller of American history, life and folklore which he enjoyed sharing with everyone he met. He also enjoyed LSU and Saints football and he proudly belonged to the NRA.

He leaves to cherish his memory his wife of 30 years, Janet Wiegmann Calzada; three sons, Sam, John Jr., and Raymond Calzada; sister, Iona C. Walter and husband Richard; nephews, Charles and Scott Essmeier; niece, Ann E. Lillie and husband Drew and their children, Catherine and Andrew; and four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother and father, Iona Dubreuil and Samuel Frederick Calzada; and grandchildren, Sadie, Kellie, and Sammy Calzada.

The family wishes to thank his nurse, Gene Poe and his caretaker, Leslie Hebert for their care and friendship. They also wish to thank his long-time caretakers, Dr. Chris Thompson, Dr. Akbar Khan, Dr. J. Jancuska and Dr. Varela. Words of comfort may be expressed with the family at www.hixsonfuneralhomes.com.