Wofford Folse has left a lasting legacy on the community and the people of New Iberia for the things he did for them.

Born and raised in the Teche Area, Folse was known for feeding people and entertaining them. As the owner for the French House for more than 20 years in New Iberia, Folse always enjoyed making others happy.

Wendy Gelpi watched her father throughout his life, always doing for others and enjoys remembering the man he was and the moments he made.

“He always enjoyed entertaining,” Gelpi said.

Gelpi, who was born in New Iberia, moved to Morgan City before eventually settling down in New Orleans at the age of 10. She recounts one specific memory she had in the eight grade that summed up her father.

She and her classmates were on a field trip to visit the Shadows-on-the-Teche and they stopped at her dad’s restaurant for lunch. It was much more than that for her, as she saw her dad doing for others, as she did throughout her life.

“He literally did lunch for the entire field trip,” Gelpi said. “We stopped there and he did fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, little salads and desserts.”

But that wasn’t the first instance for Gelpi, seeing how much her father loved being that rock for so many. And because of that, the family knew everyone around town.

“Daddy never met a stranger,” Gelpi said. “He would meet all kinds of people and they were from all walks of life.”

Folse had one of his friends, Billy Richardson, a New Iberia native, who was an award-winning artist from California, and he was treated the same just like so many others he encountered throughout his life.

“He treated him the same just like the guy that was his friend that was the butcher,” Gelpi said. “Daddy loved people. He loved people.”

It wasn’t an uncommon thing for Gelpi to come home and see four or five people staying over, playing pool, eating over for dinner.

But that’s the man and father Gelpi knew him to be, the kind of person who always wanted to be there for you, whenever you needed him to be.

“He would help people all the time,” Gelpi said. “Daddy helped all kinds of people.”

After he passed away suddenly in 2013 from a heart attack, Gelpi said she put “I did it my way” on his tombstone, not because of a love for Frank Sinatra, but because her father helped out so many and he did it his way.

“We told him, ‘Daddy, you can’t do this and you can’t do (that)’ but he did whatever he wanted, so that’s how that worked,” Gelpi said.

Gelpi said her dad was the type of man to give the shirt off his back, because if he could help others, he would.

“And if he was able to help them, he would help them,” Gelpi said.

Folse was a father-figure for so many, teaching them lessons about life, whether that’s how to manage money, or how to go about doing something the right way.

His daughters, Gelpi, Dayna and Kathy, all learned the lessons he was taught in the kitchen. Their father’s legacy for this area is still talked about today, most notably that of The French House.

“I’m glad people remember him so fondly, especially the restaurant,” Gelpi said. “It meant a lot for so many people because all of their memorable events from times past took place there.”

From then to now, Folse, according to Gelpi, was able to create moments in everyone’s lifetime.

“He helped people create good memories,” Gelpi said. “And I am happy people remember him so fondly.”