A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 4 2025, at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in New Iberia, for Ruby Blanchard Dupre. Rite of Committal and Interment will follow at Holy Family Cemetery in New Iberia. Fr. David Furka will be the celebrant of the funeral Mass.
Serving as pallbearers will be her sons, Lon, Allen and Mark Dupre, her son-in-law Rory Oliver, and her grandsons, Sean Oliver and Michael Dupre.
Visitation will be held on Monday, February 3 from 3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a rosary recited at 6 p.m Led by the Men’s Rosary Group. Visiting hours will resume at the funeral home on Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. until the time of dismissal at 9:30 am.
Known by friends and family as Ruby Ray, Ruby was a resident of New Iberia and died peacefully at her home on January 29, 2025 after 86 blessed years.
Ruby is survived by her five children Lon Dupre (Diane) of Monett, Missouri, Lori Percle of New Iberia, Dr. Allen Dupre (Debbie) of Montgomery, Alabama, Alice Oliver (Rory) of New Iberia, and Mark Dupre (Michelle) of New Iberia. Ruby leaves behind her grandchildren Jennifer Dupre Stell (Jason), Scott Dupre, Alison Crochet (Alexander), Elisa Percle, Sara Dupre, Michael Dupre (Courtney), Sean Oliver (Amanda), C. J. Beaubouef, Dustin Tudor (Chelsea), Derek Tudor (Jennifer), Darrin Tudor (Hannah), Kelly Michelle Lewis, Allison Lewis, and 22 great-grandchildren. Ruby will be missed by her sisters-in-law, Sugie Blanchard and Norma Roy and their families, and special friends Claudette Eldridge, Jo Ann Eldridge, and Cynthia Dutil.
Ruby will rejoin with her beloved husband, Mayo James Dupre, her parents Raynold Blanchard (father), Ruby Pefferkorn Blanchard Bardwell (mother), her brother Charles Blanchard, and Luke Matthew Crochet (great-grandson).
Ruby was born February 22, 1938 in Opelousas, Louisiana. She graduated from the Academy of Immaculate Conception (AIC) and Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI) now known as University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Ruby had a passion for education and strived for the success of the students who walked into her elementary classrooms during her 39 years of teaching in Lafayette and Iberia Parishes. Ruby was always excited to edit her grandchildren’s school essays and reports and made sure their social studies and science fair projects were purposeful and of course, completed.
Ruby welcomed her and Mayo’s children and set about teaching them the importance of education, morality, and the value of dedication and honesty. She was a gentle, nurturing, and selfless person and listened to all without judgement. Her ability to plan aspects of life are now instilled in her children. All are successful in their chosen career paths, and they have retained the values instilled upon them, including a genuine appreciation of life. To the end, her children reminded Ruby that they were so proud of her as she was of them. Despite knowing that her days were limited, Ruby continued to share her motherly love for her family with expressions of love and hope for everyone in her family. Her smile is engraved in the hearts of her family. Her children will miss their mother, and her grandchildren will miss their Grandma and “Duby.”
Ruby loved playing bridge, bouree’, and rummy quite competitively at times, rose gardening with Mayo, and traveling with family and friends. Ruby had a special love for her granddaughter Elisa, a young woman with autism, who made every day with Ruby a beautiful one.
Ruby was deeply dedicated to her Catholic faith which led her to live each day to the fullest, and grateful to be a member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church.
The family would like to thank the many doctors and medical personnel for their excellent care, support, and friendship and the loving care of Hospice of Acadiana and special care by Jane Armstead, Natisha Marks, and a host of caregivers.
In remembrance of Ruby’s life and in lieu of flowers, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to St. Peter’s Catholic Church or Hospice of Acadiana.
Family and friends are encouraged to share their memories and condolences with the family by visiting Ruby’s memorial at www.evangelinenewiberia.com
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Evangeline Funeral Home of New Iberia.
