Lenes “Pat” Thibodeaux, a legend in the New Iberia sports and recreation community, passed away Friday, Aug. 26.

Pat, 71, retired from the New Iberia Parks and Recreation Department as Program Coordinator, but stayed on part-time to assist with keeping his beloved Parks and Rec programs going strong.

To honor Pat’s legacy and decades of dedicated service to the City of New Iberia, The Daily Iberian contacted several of his friends and colleagues to share their memories of Pat and his years with Parks and Rec.

Heather Dominique, New Iberia Park Director:

“Pat was Parks and Rec. We always joked about who would stay at the department the longest. He loved softball and the adult programs. One of the things that I can honestly say is that Pat was a happy person. There weren’t many times that you could find him upset or disappointed. He also made things happen, especially the three programs that he held very close to his heart: the Grid Quiz, the Festival of Live Oaks BBQ Cookoff and the Softball Hall of Fame banquet and games. Those are his three signatures, that’s his legacy that he leaves behind for people to remember him by.

He was a happy guy and he was a funny guy. His wife said that he was in the hospital and still joking around, which everybody will say is just like Pat.

He retired as the Program Coordinator, but he stayed on part-time. I always appreciated him doing that. It gave him flexibility and the home-work balance. At first we kind of joked about him leaving us. He would always call me Ma and I would call him Pa, and he would say, ‘Ma, I’m not going anywhere for a couple of years.’ 2019 came and he was still there, and he never left. Recreation was in his blood.”

Pat Dayton, Former New Iberia Parks and Rec Director:

“Pat and I worked together for 10 years at the Recreation department. I hired him to be my Assistant Director and we worked together very closely. He was as dedicated to recreation as anybody I’ve ever known. It was just something that he was all into, he gave it everything that he had. He worked hard to make the sports programs and facilities the best that they could be. The Bank Street park was his baby.

His enduring legacies to the park would be keeping the Grid Quiz going and the Softball Hall of Fame. He got that started and it’s continued on and if you talk to anybody who is a member, they will tell you how much it means to everybody. That was his baby, he got it started and kept it going for all these years.

He and I played together in basketball, softball, volleyball and bowling. Pat was a real competitor in all the sports. He overcame a physical; challenge that most people would never attempt. He not only played all of those sports, he played them really well.

I spent 32 years in Parks and Recreation, and Pat was probably my best hire during that whole time. He was a lot more than an Assistant Director, we became really good friends and he was like a brother to me.”

Lloyd Verret:

“Pat was a person that was respected and appreciated by everyone that knew him. He was an easy-going guy that was good to be around.

I’ve been involved in the softball program since the ‘60s, and New Iberia had as good a softball program as anywhere in the state. We were so competitive and we had so many different types of leagues, teams would come from all over the Southern US to play in tournaments on Bank Street. Pat was involved in all of that. He was reasonable for getting these programs together.

Pat was just that type of a person, he was a good man and he’s definitely going to be missed. He was good at what he did and everybody liked him.”

Dustin Suire, New Iberia City Councilman, District 6:

“Twenty years ago I met Pat through softball. I played softball for a number of years, as did my father and the rest of my family. They all knew Pat and were pretty close. Pat was very passionate about that. Softball is pretty much unheard of in New Iberia right now, but that’s all due to COVID. He was honored to become a member of the USSSA Hall of Fame as well as the Parks and Recreation Hall of Fame.

He worked hard to keep the Hall of Fame going as a way to honor others that played and spent their years on those fields. He was very optimistic when you came to him with any new ideas. He helped me out a lot when we came up with a plan to revitalize Bank Street park. He was passionate about it and helped out tremendously.

It wasn’t just softball either, he was very hands-on when it came to the Festival of the Live Oaks. He kind of ran the show with Heather (Dominique) for the BBQ Cook Off. He worked hard all year long to get teams and sponsors to make the event the best it could be. He was very dedicated and it was always about others, not himself.

He made a big impression on a lot of people and touched a lot of people’s lives, even though that wasn’t what he was trying to do. That was Pat, he just loved being around the ballparks. Pat made a lot of friends throughout the state with softball, so he’s going to be missed. He was a staple in the Park and Recreation department.”

Family and friends are encouraged to share their condolences and memories of Pat by visiting his memorial page at www.evangelinenewiberia.com

Evangeline Funeral Home of New Iberia is in charge of arrangements.