DELCAMBRE — Homer Stelly has spent his entire adult life serving his country and community, and he has no plans of surrendering that passion anytime soon.

After serving more than four decades in the National Guard, retired Command Sgt. Maj. Homer Stelly, a proud Delcambre resident, is using his military experience — specifically from his time serving in Iraq and Haiti — to serve his adopted town as street commissioner.

“Whether it’s trying to deal with people like we did in Iraq or we’re trying to help people like we did in Haiti, everything ties up to the military because I always reflect back to a situation in the military,” said Stelly, who served 41 years in the National Guard. “I have patience. If I can persuade a person to meet me halfway, we can solve any problem in the world.”

As street commissioner, Stelly, 61, is responsible for road conditions in Delcambre such as flooding, road damage, residential trash removal and assisting people with general concerns. He said he receives calls daily that range from water issues to gas issues and much more.

“Mostly, it’s to hear any customer that’s got a complaint,” Stelly said. “In the meantime, we try to improve the town’s look and operating conditions.”

With the help of Mayor Pam Blakely, Stelly has created an organized system of tracking requests.

“A lot of complaints were things that did not get done in this town,” Blakely said. “So, together, with the clerks, we came up with this process: you call-in city hall, you give your complaint and then she [the clerk] sends an email to him. He gets it and so it’s all documented.”

An organized process to handle issues is nothing new to Stelly.

In 2010, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, killing between 220,000 and 300,000 people. Another 300,000 were injured and more than 1.5 million Haitians were displaced. Two weeks after the disaster, Stelly deployed to Haiti for six months with an advance party to assess the area and record what they would need to assist Haitians, as well as find a location for base camp.

“To arrive in a country where an earthquake just hit… to a country where they don’t have the capabilities that we do back here in the U.S… they were dependent on outside sources to help,” Stelly said. “We built some schools and medical clinics. We did a medical exercise where we saw about 70,000 to 80,000 Haitians.”

Stelly also served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 with a battalion from Abbeville, his hometown. He said experiences in Haiti and Iraq were “totally different.”

“It was the beginning of the war. It was very tense,” Stelly described. “We lost some soldiers. You’re on high alert the entire time you’re out there.”

But it was his time working in Haiti that really opened Stelly’s eyes to his passion for people and for aiding others. There, he strengthened that impulse.

“Where you and I take a bottle of water, we got half a bottle left and throw it away for a fresh one. We take it for granted because we can get a fresh one anytime we want to,” he said. “In Haiti, that half bottle of water might last that person a whole week. That was my eye opener.”

Stelly retired from the National Guard on September 30, 2015, and assumed the role of street commissioner in 2017, after Blakely — who has known him for over 30 years — was elected mayor. 

“Homer is so good to work with,” said Blakely. “He talks to people. He doesn’t get angry or upset. You can talk to him. He’s military, so you know they have a focus. They have a plan. His first thing is his country. He’s proud and he follows that through with everything he does.”

That vast experience of serving his country has even helped him discover his favorite hobby: DJing local events in Delcambre. 

The president of the Shrimp Festival Association in Delcambre, who was also Stelly’s platoon sergeant, needed a DJ after another was a no show. Remembering Stelly’s love for music, he called him and asked if he could play his records for the audience.

“He was in a bind so he called me and I went that night with my little system, my 30 records I had,” Stelly said. “I went out there and started playing. I was nervous, sweating and everything.”

Since then, for the past 38 years, Stelly has served as a DJ for the Delcambre Shrimp Festival. He said he loves DJing so much because it gives him the same satisfaction he feels when helping citizens as street commissioner or as a member of the military.

“I feel good when I do this, when I help people. I like to see people laugh,” he said passionately. “I see this person and these people, they’re smiling and laughing. They’re dancing because I’m playing a song they like. It’s me trying to please everyone so they can be happy and have a good time.”