ST. MARY PARISH, LA. 

Obituary for: DUPLECHAIN, CHRIS TAVILE

Submitted by: Louis Lavedan. 

Source: St.Mary and Franklin Banner-Tribune, St. Mary, La.

Published Oct 4, 2010

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DUPLECHAIN, CHRIS TAVILE

Funeral Services will be held at an 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial on Tuesday, 
October 5, 2010 at St. Mary Church for Chris Tavile Duplechain, 85, who passed 
away on October 3, 2010 at 7:30 a.m. at his residence.

Very Reverend Robie Robichaux of Lafayette will be Celebrant of the Mass and 
will conduct the funeral services. Burial will take place in Calvary Cemetery.

Mr. Duplechain, a resident of Lafayette, was the son of the late Francois 
Duplechain of Durald, Louisiana and the former Corice Rozas Duplechain of 
Durald. 

Chris was a member of St. Mary Church. He attended SLI, was president of the 
Newman Club in 1949, was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and attended 
one year at the University of Nottingham, England, and graduated as outstanding 
student of the year in 1951. He was listed in Who's Who in 1950. Following 
graduation, he took up broadcasting as the first French newscaster at KEUN radio 
station in Eunice. 

From there he opened and managed KVPI in Ville Platte, where he met his wife, 
Laura Lou Soileau. In 1961, he moved his family to Franklin and put KFRA Radio 
on the air with the assistance of engineer, John Pitre; where Chris was vice 
president and general manager of the station until his retirement in 1983. 

He was active in civic organizations and received numerous awards throughout his 
life, in Ville Platte, he was president of the Lions Club, the Ville Platte 
Chamber of Commerce, and was awarded citizen of the year in 1956. He received 
the service award in the field of conservation education through radio 
broadcasting. 

In Franklin, he was a member of the Rotary Club, and was an officer in the 
Louisiana Association of Broadcasters. He received the outstanding service to 
community award during hurricanes Hilda and Betsy. He was a member of the 
Society for the Advancement of Good English. 

Following his retirement, he worked as a front man with Habitat for Humanity 
providing housing for the under privileged. He served as president of AARP in 
Lafayette in 1990. 

Chris had a variety of interests throughout his lifetime. He was a beekeeper, a 
gardener, a wine maker, a wood worker, a harmonica player, a music lover, and he 
loved jigsaw puzzles. As a young man, he built a model, to scale, of his 
childhood home while recovering from an illness. This model is currently 
displayed at the Liberty Museum in Eunice, LA. He served as lector at St Mary's 
Catholic Church and also a member of the Seniors Group.

Chris accomplished much throughout his life in spite of a lifelong battle with 
Osteomylitis. He was a faithful husband and wonderful father and a friend to 
many. He will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Laura Lou Soileau Duplechain of 
Lafayette; three daughters, Virginia Duplechain Kelly of Lafayette, Christine 
Kimmel and husband, Gary, of Greentown, IN, and Sandra West and husband, Troy, 
of Alexandria; one son, Michael Timothy Duplechain and wife, Marcia, of 
Hendersonville, NC; eight grandchildren, Tiffany Kelly Chiarulli and husband, 
Eugene, of Youngsville, Amanda Kimmel of Dallas, TX, Airman Marlin Kimmel of 
Beale Air Force Base, CA, Luke Kimmel of Greentown, IN, Christopher West, 
Zachary West, Spencer West and David West, all of Alexandria; and his 
godchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Esther Blanchard and 
Lorena Boone; and six brothers, Thanes, Cleveland, Claude, Murphy, Dallas, and 
L.J. Duplechain.

The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Delhomme Funeral Home of 
Lafayette on Monday, October 4, 2010, from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. and on Tuesday 
from 8 a.m. until the time of service. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. in the 
funeral home Monday evening.

Delhomme Funeral Home, 1011 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette, LA, is in charge of 
funeral arrangements.

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