Vernon Anthony Abadie, master lather and plasterer, dies at age 74
Times Picayune 05-21-2010
Submitted By NOVA

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Vernon Anthony Abadie, a master lather and plasterer whose work was spotlighted in a 2002 show
at the New Orleans Museum of Art, died Monday of lung cancer. He was 74.

Mr. Abadie, a lifelong resident of New Orleans, also was a general contractor, and he died in
the home he built.

He was one of the artisans featured in the NOMA exhibition "Raised to the Trade: Creole Building
Arts of New Orleans," which focused on often-overlooked building crafts -- carpentry, masonry,
iron work, lathing and plastering -- and explained how much of New Orleans' famous architecture
was created by black and Creole tradesmen who passed their skills from generation to generation
to the present day.

Although Mr. Abadie also worked as a plasterer, the show focused on his contributions as a
lather.

John Michael Vlach wrote in the exhibition catalog: "The art of the plasterer is encountered
most often on interior walls and ceilings and grows out of the partnership that plasterers
maintain with lathers.

When carpenters frame the walls of a house, they only outline its spaces. Rooms appear only
after walls and ceilings bear finished surfaces. This critical transformation begins when the
lathers arrive to cover the studs and joists with splints of wood that will in turn support a
coat of plaster."

He quoted Mr. Abadie as saying, "The lather has to form everything in preparation for the
plastering work" and adding, "Our work was covered up. ... The plasterers always somewhat got
the glory."

Besides private homes, Mr. Abadie worked on major public buildings such as the Superdome, the
Aquarium of the Americas, the Rivergate, Louis Armstrong International Airport and renovations
at the U.S. Custom House.

His family said Mr. Abadie never retired. "He worked for more than 50 years in a business that
he loved, and he loved to see how others appreciated the results of his labor," they said.

Mr. Abadie graduated from McDonogh No. 35 High School and attended the University of New
Orleans. He was a member of Lathers Local Union No. 62 and an instructor and mentor of young
apprentices for more than 25 years.

He also was a Boy Scout leader, a Little League baseball coach at Joe Brown Park and an elder of
Faith Church. He established the Vernon Saints Die Hard Fan Club and was a member of the New
Orleans Saints Fans Advisory Board.

Survivors include his wife, Yvonne Price Abadie; two daughters, Rhoda Abadie-Farrar of Atlanta
and Rosalind Abadie Dupre; a brother, Ulysses Abadie Jr.; three sisters, Emily Connor, Agnes
"Elaine" August and Yvonne "Boogie" Parker; and six grandchildren.

A funeral will be held today at 11 a.m. at Apostolic Outreach Church, 8358 Lake Forest Blvd.
Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Mausoleum. Rhodes Funeral Home
is in charge of arrangements.