FINAL SALUTE — Q&A ABOUT THE LATE LEE FOURNET with CARROL CHATAIGNIER & THE REV. ED DEGEYTER

Published 8:00 am Friday, January 11, 2019

Retired chief of police remembered for acts of kindness

The late Lee Fournet was born August 21, 1926 in Donaldsonville moving at the age of 7 to St. Martinville. He died at 92 in New Iberia and was remembered by family and friends, with honors and a final salute by the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Navy representatives, at a memorial service Monday afternoon. Fournet served as New Iberia’s chief of police for 18 years before retiring in 1982. He was then chosen to be the 9-1-1 coordinator for the city of New Iberia, services that were unavailable to the community prior to his involvement and leadership in local law enforcement. 

Fournet was also a wonderful family man. His kids talked about his calm demeanor and how they never saw him angry. His wife of 69 years, Doris, died two years ago. Another well-known Teche Area resident, as is their son Ernie Fournet and his wife Kathryn. Ernie is one of four children born to the Fournets, who also had eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He spent his retirement with them, enjoyed his wonderful sense of humor, as well as cooking sewing, attending sporting and school events — and doing whatever Doris told him to do.  

The Rev. Ed Degeyter officiated the funeral, his eulogy was given by his brother-in-law, who called him Uncle Lee. Carrol Chataignier provided the information for today’s story. The attendees for a 92-year-old’s funeral are often few, but the words shared there are relatable to all in the Teche Area who knew him or had their lives affected by him — whether or not they knew it. 

What are some of the things Lee Fournet was known for during his lifetime?

In addition to having an incredible career in law enforcement, he was known to many as a Jack-of-all-trades. He was an accomplished plumber, carpenter, electrician and studied architecture at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and at USL, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He learned a lot of these skills through odd jobs, usually arranged for him by his father who worked at the bakery in St. Martinville. Fournet was responsible for keeping the tires of his father’s bus road-ready every night. His least favorite job was crawling under houses and replumbing the majority of houses in St. Martinville. 

His “know-how” instincts touched the community, but most people would not be aware of his work, right?

His ability to build things was often put to use by Doris and his sister-in-law, Hope. He was regularly asked to help Doris and Hope build the framework for the elaborate Mardi Gras costumes for which Hope was known for. 

Tell us more about Fournet’s professional career.

Lee was dedicated to serving others. That drove him to enlist in the U.S. Navy during World War II. His assignment and duty station were as an aviation ordinance man in the Everglades. His duties included aligning the machine guns on Hellcat fighter planes. He laughed telling the story about first being introduced to rockets as weapons to be launched from the planes. One of the rockets launched prematurely and destroyed a building right off the runway. 

Lee began his career in law enforcement with the Louisiana State Police in 1948 and continued his service with the Louisiana National Guard until 1951 when he joined the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Department. He was the chief criminal investigator until 1964. That year he became chief of police for the New Iberia Police Department. He served 18 years. During his time as chief, he led the department through significant changes and improvements, one was building the force to almost triple the size to better serve the citizens of New Iberia. 

During his time as chief, he received many awards and letters of appreciation, can you tell us about any he particularly cherished?

Nov. 30, 1978, he received a letter that read, “Dear Chief Fournet. I want to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to you for the kind of assistance rendered to me during my recent trip to New Iberia. My brief visit was most enjoyable, and I look forward to returning. Again, many thanks for your help. Sincerely, Ronald Reagan.” This was while Reagan was campaigning for the Republican nomination. 

In what ways did he affect the people who knew him?

Lee was always a positive influence on all of us. He inspired several of the family members, sons Ernie and Kerry, my brother Mike and myself, to pursue careers in law enforcement. Ernie retired from the NIPD, Kerry from the Boulder County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado, Mike from the Federal Prison System in Texas and I retired from the Colorado State Patrol. Who knows how many countless others were inspired by him. 

Father Degeyter, how long have you known Lee Fournet?

The blessing is to have known Lee Fournet in a personal way. I met him when I was about 4 years old. We lived across the street from the courthouse. I had no idea how young he was at the time, but he was about 20. I remember a gentle spirit, it was as true now as then.

Starting the service, Degeyter said, “In St. John’s gospel Jesus said, ‘Everything that the father gives me, will come to me and I will not reject anyone who comes to me because I came to do not my own will, but the One who sent me. We don’t know what to say, so we turn to scripture and read responsively the 23rd Psalm.  

What we are doing today we can say in two words, celebrating and remembering. The point of celebration is our faith and what it is all about, to be able to know in our heart of hearts, we can’t do this alone. I need all the help I can get. People turn to all sorts of people and things for help. The better choice is to turn to the Lord for all kinds of help and come to know a loving God.

Degeyter said there are good cops and bad cops and Lee was a good cop in the investigative division and on the front end with modern techniques like taking fingerprints, which was then cutting edge.  

I remember not only knowing him but respecting him. He gave his whole life to public service, holding things together and making things work. We celebrate faith, Lee and the promise that one day God will take us up into his kingdom. There is a sense of sorrow and loss today, but it is not that we don’t know what has come of him, because he is in heaven and that is a great place to be, in the presence of our God.