Obituary: Jeannine Abshire Sibille, Former USL Faculty Member

Funeral services will be held on Monday April 29, 2024 at the 10AM Mass of Christian Burial at St. Mary Mother of the Church in Lafayette for Jeannine Abshire Sibille, age 94, who passed away on Monday, April 22, 2024 at her daughter’s residence in Lafayette.
The family requests that visitation be observed in St. Mary Mother of the Church on Monday, April 29, 2024, from 9AM until time of services. Interment will be held in Holy Mary Mother of God Cemetery. Reverend Michael Richard, JCL, will be the Celebrant of the Funeral Mass and will officiate at the services. Reverend Cedric Sonnier and Very Reverend Thomas Voorhies, VF, will serve as Con-Celebrants of the Mass.
Marie Jeannine Gertrude Abshire was born in Kaplan, LA, on November 14, 1929 to Randall Ulrich and Lydia Meaux Abshire. After attending Kaplan Elementary and Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, she received her Secretarial Certificate at St. Mary’s Dominican College in New Orleans. Jeannine then moved to Lafayette to finish her Bachelor of Science in Business Education at UL (SLI at the time). While she began her teaching career, she received her Master’s Degree in Education from LSU. She taught 4th grade, then business classes in Vermillion Parish high schools and later at the USL College of Commerce.
While teaching at SLI, Jeannine met Jim Sibille on a blind date; they married in 1959. As they began to raise their 3 girls, Jeannine taught part-time, and eventually left teaching to manage the business her husband had established, Sibille Business Machines. Her life was full as a working mother, but she was active in her church, found time to volunteer, accompanied cancer patients to Lourdes Sanctuaire in France, delivered dinners for Meals on Wheels, and devotedly cared for her own mother for 20 years. She eschewed racism and discrimination of any kind, risking ridicule and friendships by offering rides to all the Kaplan women who taught at schools in Gueydan, regardless of their race or where they taught. She loved her Catholic faith, Mardi Gras, dressing up, dining out, dancing with Jim, a nice glass of Chardonnay (but just one!), and spending lots of time with her beloved grandchildren. She enjoyed traveling with her husband for both business and pleasure, and she is remembered as a loving wife, mother, Mimi, and friend.
Jeannine was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America, the Order of Malta, the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, and a parishioner at St. Mary Church for 50 years. She was also a member of L’Heure d’Amites, L’Avenir, and the Sunshine Foundation, the Lafayette Town House, and a founding member of the Krewe of the Troubadours, where she chaired the Queen’s Committee for decades. She served on the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association Board for the Academy of the Sacred Heart and was awarded the school’s Tres Bien Award in 2008.
Survivors include three daughters, Judy Sibille Snow and her husband Bill, Kay Sibille Rees and her husband Dan, and Brenda Sibille Piccione and her husband Kirk; eight grandchildren, Rob Snow, Scott Snow, Nicholas Rees and his wife Ashley, Bonnie Rees, Joe Piccione II, Marie Piccione, Francesca Piccione, and Nat Piccione; and one great-grandchild, Andrew James Rees.
Jeannine is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 52 years, James Conrad Sibille; her parents; grandson, Daniel James Rees; and three brothers, Lionel Abshire, Donald Abshire, and Anthony Benson Abshire.
The family would like to thank the devoted women who lovingly cared for Jeannine over the past five years: her longtime friend and confidante Rena Bernard, Lisa Baudoin, Vickie Romero, Hope Dunlop, Lacey Zeno, and Rosa Cormier.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Acadiana or the Academy of the Sacred Heart in her memory.
View the obituary and guestbook online at www.mourning.com
Martin & Castille Funeral Home – DOWNTOWN, 330 St. Landry Street, Lafayette, Louisiana 70506, 337-234-2311

Posted in the Athletic Network news at www.athleticnetwork.net on April 30, 2024.
Athletic Network Footnote: Jeannine returned to an instructor’s position in the USL College of Commerce from August 22, 1986 – March 3, 1989.
Our condolences are offered to her family and friends.

Peace, Ed Dugas
athleticnetwork@louisiana.edu