Funeral services for Albert “Rabbit” Manuel, 85, will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 17, 2014, at Hixson Funeral Home of Lake Charles. Visitation is from 11:30 a.m. until time of service. Burial will be at Consolata Cemetery following the service. The Reverend Msgrs. Charles J. Dubois, Jace F. Eskind J.C.L, and Harry D. Greig will officiate the Memorial Service.
Rabbit died Sunday, June 15, 2014, at a local hospital. Born August 31, 1928, in the Black Bayou area, he was a lifelong resident of Lake Charles. Rabbit graduated from LaGrange High School and holds a B.S. in history from McNeese State College. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged. Rabbit joined the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office as a deputy in 1954, was appointed chief deputy in 1965 by Sheriff H. A. Reid Jr., became sheriff in 1980 upon the death of Sheriff Reid, and retired later that year. After his retirement from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, he worked part time for the Ward 3 Marshal’s Office, and later returned to the sheriff’s office, working part time until retiring in 2009.
Rabbit was inducted into the McNeese State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980. He was one of the top boxers for McNeese during its junior college days, losing only one match in his entire career and knocking out LSU’s undefeated NCAA champion Doug Elwood.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Collette Broussard Manuel, formerly of Welsh; his daughter, Michelle Lowe, and husband Peter of Kingwood, Texas; two granddaughters, Catherine Harwood Lowe and Emilie Collette Lowe; a sister, Bert Rains of Lake Charles; one aunt, Ethel Fontenot; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by two brothers, three sisters, and by his parents, Joseph and Alice Guillory Manuel of Lake Charles.
The family thanks Peter Karam M.D., the staff of Memorial Hospital, and the staff of The Guardian House for their care.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Rabbit’s memory to the charity of one’s choice.
Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.hixsonfuneralhomes.com
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