Community first

The needs of the community is what was always most important to Gervis LaFleur.
“I never knew anyone that was more interested in the welfare of the people in his community and less interested in himself than Gervis,” Edwin Edwards said. “He never once asked me for a thing for himself. When he asked for something it was always something that would benefit the community. That’s the type of man he was.”
The city of Ville Platte is in mourning this week due to the passing of LaFleur, the prominent civil rights icon and social advocate. LaFleur died in Baton Rouge on Monday after battling an illness the past few months. LaFleur was 82.
Information concerning LaFleur’s funeral is currently being finalized.
“I join others in mourning the passing of a friend, mentor, and leader,” EPSB Title I Supervisor Grace Vidrine Sibley said. “Mr. Gervis LaFleur was a pillar in the Ville Platte community. He was well-known for his passion of educating children in conjunction with the Evangeline Community Action Agency (ECAA) and Head Start program. For decades, he fulfilled his vision as a child advocate and mentor to young adults.”
“This is a tremendous loss to both the city of Ville Platte and Evangeline Parish,” said Ville Platte Mayor Jennifer Vidrine, who was Gervis’ niece. “Gervis was a pioneer and a historian of change. At ECAA he dedicated over 50 years of his life helping the poor, the disabled, the elderly and the disadvantaged. He was always fighting a fight for change and equality for all.”
The Korean War veteran would find his voice helping his community and bringing whites and blacks together during the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s and early 1970’s.
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) in 1964, which helped create agencies like ECAA, which LaFleur joined a year later. LaFleur would spend decades as the ECAA’s Executive Director which aided the community with Food for Families and Head Start programs, as well as other initiatives that helped educate children and fight poverty.
The Rev. M.L. Thomas, former pastor of Ninth Baptist Church and New Hope Baptist Church, realized from the first time he was introduced to LaFleur that he would go on to be instrumental in the community.
“I knew Gervis from the early part of his life through the end,” the 93-year-old Thomas said. “I served as guest speaker at his elementary graduation and handed him his certificate. At that moment, I realized he was destined for great things in life.”
LaFleur, who earned the nickname “Governor” for his work with lawmakers, quickly developed a reputation for being the go-to leader in the community when it came to solving problems between both the white and black communities, as well as how to promote positive change within the African-American community.
“He was an extraordinary man,” said Judge John D. Saunders, a longtime friend of LaFleur’s. “He as much anyone, and more than most, bridged the gap between the races in Evangeline Parish in the years when that needed to be done. He walked in the white and black community and he walked tall.”
Added Thomas, “He was a hard-working, intelligent, caring, and ambitious person who willingly followed God’s guiding light as he led people to acquire and exceed their goals. My behind-the-scene friend was an excellent problem solver. He either answered problems himself or orchestrated resolving solutions to people’s problems.”
LaFleur had developed a reputation for being passionate about civic goals, but he was just as dedicated to resolving issues. Those closest to him speak of how he always found a way to get the job done.
Take for example getting adequate equipment for the Ville Platte Boxing Club, which he founded in 1960. That club produced several Golden Glove champions and Junior Olympians, but initially it lacked equipment and didn’t even have a ring for the young men to box inside of. LaFleur simply brought his own two pair of gloves and made a ring of folding chairs at the old Southside Center, before eventually getting an actual ring.
Eventually LaFleur obtained the necessary equipment after calling up and having a discussion with a U.S. Army sergeant at Fort Polk in Leesville.
“Gervis didn’t give up,” said Yves Wilson, who was one of the young boys that boxed in the club and later grew up to coach there. “He said he was going to get some equipment. So he called someone at Fort Polk and I could hear him keep saying ‘Yes, Sergeant.’ After he hung up, he said come on let’s go. So we drove to Fort Polk and we came back with loads of boxing equipment, punching bags, weights, and gloves. The entire back of his truck was filled.”
Wilson also fondly remembers how LaFleur used discipline to mold those young boys into men at the boxing club.
“He just didn’t instill in us how to be boxers but he taught us how to be men,” Wilson said. “He always preached discipline. I remember that I had this fight once in Ville Platte and this boy had beat me. I didn’t want to accept it that I had lost the fight. So I just pushed him away and left the ring. Gervis called me in the office the next day and I will never forget what he told me. He said ‘Let me tell you something. Don’t you ever do what you did in that ring again. You got to learn how to accept losing and winning. You walk out that ring a champion whether you win or lose.”
As instrumental as LaFleur was in the serious task of social change, and educating young minds, he was also known for the joy he had for life, his family, God and his fellow man.
“He always lived life to the fullest and enjoyed telling jokes,” Thomas remembered. “My friend possessed a spirit like Enoch who ‘walked with God’ for the welfare of his people: spirit-filled, spirit quickened, and in step with God. He was willing to go through floods of affliction, tribulation, deserts of loneliness, and mountains of adversity for the welfare of his people.”
LaFleur also loved to laugh and have a good laugh at his friend’s expense.
“Gervis was very active in my campaign in 1983,” Gov. Edwards remembered. “I was running against David Treen and Gervis was in charge of getting people out to vote in Ville Platte and there was only one voting machine in that district. So the election came and I got all of the votes in that district except for two.
“So I jokingly asked Gervis “how did we lose two votes?
He said, “We just put that on there because that way no one could say the machine was broken. All I can tell you is that he was a loyal and dependable friend.”
For those who knew, admired and loved LaFleur, they admit that his passing will leave a significant hole in the community, one that will be difficult to fill.
“He was a splendid fella,” Saunders said. “He left fingerprints on the community that will last a long time. Hopefully some one in the community will step up and take his place but it will take a very large man to do that.”
“Although he will be greatly missed,” said Sibley, who was hired by LaFleur to sell refreshments at MLK Community Center in the 1960s. “His legacy of service will never be forgotten as reflected in the many lives that he has touched and the family he leaves who shares his passion of public service.”