Apollinaire Paul Theriot Jr.

He was 92 years old when he passed peacefully on September 22, 2023, surrounded by his family at his home in Missouri City, TX. He was born on November 10, 1931, in Lafayette, Louisiana. He had a very blessed life, including time in the military and a successful engineering career that lasted over 30 years. But his greatest accomplishment and love was his family.

Paul graduated from Southwestern Louisiana University in 1965 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He served 4 years in the Air Force during the Korean War. He had a distinguished engineering career with many senior executive positions that took him across the U.S. and too many different countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Paul is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Kim, and his three children, Lynn Nguyen and her husband Vien, Michael Vu Theriot and his wife Cindy, and their youngest daughter, Claire Mestepey, and her husband Bobby, all residents of Houston. In addition, he is survived by his seven grandchildren: Patrick Nguyen and wife Kari, Kathleen Nguyen and husband Jon, Andrea Nguyen and husband Jimmy, Christopher Theriot, Kristyn Theriot, Dylan Theriot, and Nicholas Mestepey. He was a great-grandfather to Noelle Gong, Cove Stenstrom, and two-week-old Sennah Apollinaire Nguyen.

He had many adventures with his travels, work, and family. His favorite stories included traveling in Africa on a tiny crop duster plane with not only human passengers but live chickens. Paul was at the Rome airport in Italy during the 1970s terrorist attacks. He loved joking that he survived by thinking quickly and hiding in the women's restroom.

Paul was also instrumental in getting his wife's family out of Vietnam just before the fall of Saigon in April 1975. Paul's actions during that challenging time made an immeasurable difference in the lives of Kim's children and her extended families. Paul was a dedicated and loyal husband to his dear wife. After retirement, he helped grow one of the first resale shops in Houston. He encouraged and supported his wife's business because she enjoyed finding new treasures, and they were running out of room in their garage.

In later years, he enjoyed traveling with his family. There were many vacations with his wife, sisters-in-law, and their husbands. Paul especially adored trips with their children, who also inherited his love of exploring the world. But one of his favorite things to do was cook beside his wife and have their house full of family, food, and love. Paul especially enjoyed Cajun and French cooking. We will all miss some of his specialties including seafood gumbo, crawfish etouffee, jambalaya, red beans and rice, bouillabaisse, etc. Each year during Thanksgiving or Christmas, they would invite their children to dinner, promising it would be just a one-dish meal. Of course, it was always a traditional feast, never less than a four-course meal. And even though their treasured dining table would be fully extended out, it would be lovingly crowded, with Paul at the head of it.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.chapelofeternalpeace.com for the Theriot family.