Annie Margaret Trahan Chachere's Obituary
Annie Margaret Trahan Chachere died Sunday, July 11, at Fayetteville City Hospital, nine months after her hundredth birthday.
Annie Trahan was born October 17, 1909, in Lafayette, LA, the fifth of seven children of Narcisse Joseph Trahan and Emelie Hortense Suarez Trahan. She attended the public schools of Lafayette and graduated from high school in 1927. She attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), majoring in elementary education, from 1927-1929. She taught in Vidrine, LA 1929-1933, and then in Hackberry, Cameron Parish, from 1933-1935. She resigned in April 1935 when she married John Elliott Chachere of Opelousas, LA.
The couple lived in several small Louisiana towns, finally in Lafayette, where their children grew up. She was active in school and church organizations and directed the Children’s Carnival, a Lafayette Carnival ball sponsored by the Catholic Daughters of America.
When she was in her sixties, she was active in the Charismatic Renewal in the Catholic Church, and traveled to conferences and meetings in Jerusalem and in California and other locations in the US. Following the death of her husband, she moved to Hobbs, NM, where she was a lay leader in several churches. She later moved to northern New Mexico and then to Arkansas in 2005. In 2009 she celebrated her centennial birthday at a large family party where she sang and danced the Charleston. In 2010, when she was one hundred years old, she was elected queen of the Mardi Gras celebration at Fayetteville City Hospital, where she resided.
She is survived by a sister, Cecil Larcade of Opelousas, LA, three daughters, Ethel Simpson of Fayetteville, Gail (Mrs. Thomas) Hartman of Albuquerque, and Connie (Mrs. James) Gustafson of Houston, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
A graveside service will be conducted in Opelousas on August 7. Memorial donations may be made to Fayetteville City Hospital, 221 S. School St., Fayetteville, AR 72701.
Visitation Date Time None Visitation Location Service Date Time August 7, 2010 Service Location Opelousas, LA
What’s your fondest memory of Annie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Annie?
Share a story where Annie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Annie you’ll never forget.
How did Annie make you smile?