TERREBONNE and LAFOURCHE Parishes, La. OBITUARIY for BERNARD, ROBERT "BOB" JAMES Submitted by: Louis Lavedan Source: Ordoyne Funeral home, Thibodaux, La. Died: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 ============================================================================= Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/copyright.shtml ============================================================================= BERNARD, ROBERT "BOB" JAMES September 16, 1926 - November 30, 2016 ========== A photo is available for this file. Please go to http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafourche/obits/dateobits/2016/f1611.htm and click on the name of interest. ========== Robert “Bob” James Bernard, 90, a native and resident of Thibodaux, died on Wednesday, November 30, 2016. Visitation is from 9:00 a.m. until funeral time Friday, December 2, at First Presbyterian Church of Thibodaux. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday at the church. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery. He was the third son of Wallace Zenon Bernard and Emma Estelle Roland Bernard, born Sept. 16, 1926, in a cypress shotgun house on Ardoyne Plantation. His father was an overseer and he grew up on Ardoyne, Rienzi and Coulon plantations. His mother died when he was 13. “The Wizard of Oz” was playing at the Grand Theater, and he could never watch that movie again without thinking of his mother. At the age of 16, he struck out on his own, first working on the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port pipeline, and later joining the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 17. He served on Guam near the end of World War II. He returned to pipelining after the war, and his job took him across the United States and into Canada. Pipelining gave him the nickname “Frenchie.” In 1950, while working in southeastern Ohio, he met his match in a dark-haired, blue- eyed beauty named Arlene Buckley in McConnellsville, Ohio. They were wed in Wharton, Texas, on Nov. 13, 1950. It was a union that lasted almost 64 years, until her death on Sept. 18, 2014. Bob, as he was known when he wasn’t on the pipeline, and Arlene had five children between 1951 and 1969. They settled in Thibodaux in 1964 when they bought their home there. He quit pipelining for good in 1970 and went to work as a pipefitter at several refineries around Baton Rouge before landing a job as foreman of the spool shop at Brown & Root in Belle Chase, a job he held until his retirement in 1989. He was featured in Time Magazine as a “Louisiana Brown Builder” in a series of ads Brown & Root published in the mid-1970s. He was a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church of Thibodaux and served as an elder in his retirement years. He joined Assumption Lodge #307 F&AM in 1965 and served as its Worshipful Master in 1976, “Spirit of ’76.” He also served as treasurer of the lodge, which was renamed to honor his late friend and mentor Walter Irving Lanier. He was also at one time a member of the Baton Rouge Scottish Rite Consistory and Jerusalem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in New Orleans. Bob loved to fish, preferring sac a lait and perch above all others, and shared his passion for the sport with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was known for the tomatoes from his garden and the abundant harvest of his Satsuma trees. Generations of kids called him Uncle Bob. He could play “Chicken in the Bread Pan” with a hammer. A lifelong Democrat, he proudly cast his final vote in a presidential election for Hillary Clinton. As he liked to say, “If you don’t like it, drag up.” He is survived by his five children, Wanda Talbot and her husband Denis, Robert Jr. and his wife Marlene, Eddie “Bush” Bernard, Angie Hebert Bridier and her husband Gary Bridier, and Nanette Duncan and her husband Jared Duncan III; 10 grandchildren, Denis Jr. (Dana), Corey (Catherine) and Benjamin (Belinda) Talbot, Melissa (Louis) Voiron, Lynette (Brian) Talbot, Leslie (Rob) Richard, Alysa (Andrew) Hebert, Derek Hebert, and Grant (Emily) and Zach Duncan; two step grandchildren, Alan (Lauren) and Jonathan Bridier; 17 great-grandchildren, Brittani (Joey) Harman, Kate (Drake) Blanchard, Cody Talbot, Dylan Ordoyne, Corey Talbot Jr., Hayze Talbot, Adrienne Talbot, Kacy Talbot, Grace Voiron, Matthew Voiron, Maddie Talbot, Allie and Kayla Richard, Emma and Zoe Adams, River and Quinn Hebert, and Maya Lee Hebert; three step great-grandchildren, Stella, Parker and Isabelle Bridier; and great-great grandson Jacob Harman; brother, Jules W. Bernard of Knoxville, Tenn.; brother-in-law Bill (Debbie) Bowles of Thornville, Ohio; and sisters-in-law Louise Bernard and Earleen Bernard of Thibodaux. He was preceded in death by his wife, Arlene Juanita Buckley Bernard; son-in- law, Darren Hebert; parents, Wallace Zenon and Emma Estelle Roland Bernard; sister Florence Estelle “Titter” Bright; brothers Wallace “June” Jr., John “Bollie” and Arthur “Red” Bernard; aunt Pearl Roland Long; and grandparents, William F. and Ophelia Mire Bernard, and John Bryan and Fannie Bonney Roland. Donations to First Presbyterian Church of Thibodaux are preferred. U.S. Marine Corps ======================