Obituaries:  Mrs. Johnnie Belle Vandegaer, Sabine Parish       V-532
Source:  Sabine Index, Many, La., Aug 22, 2001
Submitted by: Carl Dilbeck
              carlrad@earthlink.net




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Mrs. Johnnie Belle Vandegaer (Photo)

  Funeral services for Mrs. Johnnie Belle Vandegaer were held at
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Saturday, Aug. 18, at 10
a.m. Officiating was father John Pardue. Burial followed in the
church cemetery. Pallbearers were J. J. Blake III, Bill Andries,
Andy Tarver, John S. Picket Jr., Pete Abington, Robert Ammons,
Matt Tarver, and Joe Boydstun. Honorary pallbearer was Hunter
Tarver.

  Mr. Vandegaer, 100, died at her Vandegaer Lane home on Thursday,
Aug. 16.

  A beloved Many resident, she was the widow of John Baptiste
Vandegaer, who died in 1980. He was the son of William H. and
Maybelle Buvens Vandegaer, who were among the original settlers
of Many.

  A 1918 graduate of Many High, she attended Louisiana State
Normal College in Natchitoches. She also earned college credit at
Centenary College in Shreveport.

  Mrs. Vandegaer was a teacher in the Sabine Parish School System;
studied to be a nurse at Schumpert Sanitarium, and worked in the
family business, Vandegaer and Vandegaer Abstractors for a number
of years. She also worked with her husband in his business,
Vandegaer Insurance.

  In 1936, she was named Acting Postmaster in Many. She also
worked as a reception clerk in the local F.E.R.A. office, and the
Assistant Chief Clerk at the war Pricing and Rationing Board.

  She was a charter member, and past president of the American
Legion Auxiliary #172, and the Many Book Club. She served as the
Home Service Chairman of the American Red Cross for seven years.

  Survivors include a host of cousins and friends, and very
special friends, Mary Garner, and Sister Philomene Fitzgerald.

  Warren Meadows, Many, La.