Obituary: Bonnie Blue Maillet, USL Athletic Administrative Assistant

Click here for the complete obituary. Our condolences to Keith and the entire Maillet family.

Bonnie Blue Maillet, age 81, passed away peacefully at her home on Thursday, January 15, 2026, surrounded by her loving family. Bonnie Blue was born on May 14, 1944, in Atlanta, Texas, and was so named as her mother’s maiden name was Blue. Bonnie spent her childhood in Texas before moving to Marksville, Louisiana, to be with her mother and stepfather. There, she met the love of her life, Keith Maillet. Bonnie loved to tell the story of how they met. They were introduced by Keith’s cousin at a Marksville festival. When Keith asked if she wanted to walk around, she said, “Sure.” Years later she’d add, “and we’ve been walking around ever since.”

Bonnie was a local leader and global force in the oil service industry. While small in stature, Bonnie was larger than life in many ways. She worked with legendary coaches Whitey Urban and Beryl Shipley in the athletic department at the University of Louisiana (then USL). Bonnie had a strong work ethic and fierce determination to succeed. She was a trailblazer in the oil field from the 1970s into the early 2000s. She started out in oilfield sales before establishing her own business, Boysenblue/Celtec International, Inc., selling drilling fluid additives. A woman-owned business in the oil industry was nearly unheard of at the time. Boysenblue forged productive alliances domestically and world wide, from Venezuela to Nigeria, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia. Bodyguards were necessary when Bonnie Blue made some of those trips. Near the end of her career, she successfully negotiated a major contract with Saudi-Aramco, the world’s largest oil company. Boysenblue received numerous awards and accolades for its contributions to the local community.

Whip smart and quick witted, Bonnie Blue always had a clever, if not somewhat bawdy, expression at hand. She loved to say that although she was born in Texas, she was “Cajun by injection!” One day her guileless sister and a dear friend visiting from Texas questioned the legality of cock fighting after spying a pen of roosters behind a grocery outside Lafayette. Bonnie replied in her best Cajun patois, “Oh baby, don’t you know, in Louisiana the law is for the tourists!?”

Bonnie Blue is preceded in death by her brother, Ken Michael Daniel, Sr.

She is survived by her beloved husband of 61 years, Keith Maillet, sister, Terry Moreau, of Houston, Texas, sons, Gordon Maillet, and Barry Maillet of Lafayette, five grandchildren, Simone, Collin, Lauren, Zachary and Paige, five great-grandsons, Mark, Luke, Beau, Luca and Cade, along with many nieces, nephews and cousins.

The family is deeply grateful to Mrs. Pat Briscoe for her decades of compassionate and dedicated service to Bonnie and Keith.

Arrangements are being made by Cypress Funeral Home & Crematory, 206 W. Lafayette, St., Maurice, LA, 70555. Visitation will be on Thursday, January 22, 2026, starting at 10:00 a.m., a rosary will be prayed at 12:00 Noon, followed by a 1:00 p.m. Service.