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June 28, 1937 — September 1, 2020
Mary Monceaux Comeaux Snodgrass, 83, a resident of Morgan City, passed away Tuesday, September 1, 2020, at Franklin Foundation Hospital.
Mary was born June 28, 1937, in Abbeville, the daughter of Alex Monceaux and Ella Gaspard Monceaux.
Mary served St. Mary Parish as a bus driver for 26 years. She loved her family dearly and enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mary loved humming birds, reading and cooking. If the T.V. was on, you could catch Mary watching a Christmas movie, no matter the time of the year; Hallmark was also Mary’s favorite.
She will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her son, Byron Comeaux and wife Rhonda of Bayou Vista; two daughters, Pamela “Pam” Arnette of Morgan City, and Chantel Fontenot and husband Chad of Bayou Vista; stepson, Donald “Don” Snodgrass Jr.; stepdaughter, Jana Wesley; one sister, Linda Abshire of Rayne, Louisiana; nine grandchildren, Jennifer, Jamey, Brandon, Kenneth, Jonathan, Ricky, Chasity, Caitlyn and Carissa; five step-grandchildren, Jake, Don III, Whitney, Brandy and Scarlet; and 19 great-grandchildren.
Mary was preceded in death by her first husband, Luther Ray Comeaux; second husband, Donald Snodgrass Sr.; son, Ricky Comeaux; and brother-in-law, Tony Abshire.
Due to restrictions with limited gatherings, current guidelines allow for 100 people in attendance for the visitation and service at the funeral home. Masks are required upon entering the funeral home.
Funeral services will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, September 3, 2020, at Twin City Funeral Home with Deacon Randell Jennings officiating. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until the time of services. After services Mary will be laid to rest in St. Joseph Cemetery Mausoleum.

A Trump Boat Parade will be held Saturday in Lake Palourde in Morgan City from 10 a.m. to noon.
Those interested in participating will meet at the judge’s stand, and the boats will circle the lake along La. 70 until noon.
All boats, including house boats, are wel-comed.
For more information, email trump2020parade@gmail.com.

A man riding a gasoline-power bicycle pedaled his way into an arrest, said Morgan City Police Chief James F. Blair.
—Myron Hatch, 47, Terrebonne Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 5:27 p.m. Monday on charges of resisting and officer with false information and traffic laws apply to a person riding a bicycle, plus a warrant for three counts of failure to appear.
Narcotic detectives with the Morgan City Police Department observed Hatch riding a gas-powered bicycle weaving in and out of traffic. Investigators were aware of active warrants for his arrest through the 16th District Court.
Investigators conducted a traffic stop. Hatch attempted to conceal his identity and gave investigators a false name. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.
Blair also reported these arrests:
—Vintrell Boyd, 38, Bourbon Street, Thibodeaux, was arrested at 5:02 p.m. Monday on warrants for two counts of domestic battery.
Boyd was located at the Patterson Police Department and placed under arrest on active warrants held by the Morgan City Police Department. He was transferred to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.
—Daniel Ray McNeal, 42, Halsey Street, Morgan City, was arrested at 6:15 p.m. Monday on a charge of remaining after forbidden and a warrant for remaining after forbidden.
Officers were called to an La. 182 address about McNeal being at the address and was previously barred from the property. They located McNeal on the property. A warrant check revealed the Morgan City Police Department held an active warrant for his arrest. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.
—Morris R. Barley, 56, Carrol Drive, Morgan City, was arrested at 6:22 p.m. Monday on charges of turning movements and required signals and possession of crack cocaine.
Narcotic detectives with the Morgan City Police Department observed a traffic violation in the area of Federal Avenue and Brashear Avenue. A traffic stop was conducted, and the driver was identified as Barley.
During the traffic stop, Morgan City Police Department K-9 Dally was deployed around the exterior of the vehicle. K-9 Dally gave an odor response to the presence of illegal narcotics. Investigators located suspect crack cocaine during the search of the vehicle. Barley was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.
—Harpreet Singh, 40, Victor II, Boulevard, Morgan City, was arrested at 8:23 p.m. Monday on a charge of simple battery.
Officers were called to an address on La. 182 for a disturbance. They learned Singh had committed a battery on another individual at the same address. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.
—Ronald Joseph Davis, 57, Clements, Morgan City, was arrested at 8:26 p.m. Monday on a charge of turning movements and signals required, driving under suspension and possession of crack cocaine.
Narcotic detectives with the Morgan City Police Department observed a traffic violation in the area Railroad Avenue and Federal Avenue. A traffic stop was conducted, and the driver was identified as Davis.
A computer check revealed his driver’s license was under suspension. During the traffic stop, Morgan City Police Department K-9 Dally was deployed around the exterior of the vehicle. K-9 Dally gave an odor response to the presence of illegal narcotics. Investigators located suspect crack cocaine during the search of the vehicle.
He was placed under arrest and transported to the Morgan City Police Department for booking and incarceration.
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise reported this arrest:
—Jared Paul Duplechin, 43, Saturn Road, Bayou Vista, was arrested at 9:21 a.m. Monday on a charge of theft.
Duplechin was released on a summons to appear on November 2, 2020.
Assumption Parish Sheriff Leland Falcon reported this arrest:
—Alex W. Washington, 30, of La. 1, Labadieville, was arrested Sunday on a charge of aggravated assault.
On Aug. 21, deputies responded to the call for service in which the complainant advised that Washington had threatened to shoot him. The threat was in connection with a domestic matter.
Based on the information presented, deputies applied for and were granted an arrest warrant for Washington. The accused had already departed the scene. The warrant was placed into the national data base.
On Sunday, Washington was arrested in Terrebonne Parish.
Washington was transported to Assumption Parish on Monday and booked into the Assumption Parish Detention Center pending a bond hearing.

Franklin Mayor Eugene Foulcard described the city’s condition following Laura’s lashing as, “good,” thanking God for the storm having pushed further west than originally forecast, saving Franklin otherwise potentially significant inflicted damage.
“We had a couple of instances of localized flooding at Eastwood Drive, and out at Hazelwood,” Foulcard stated, “with a little water along the Blakesley Subdivision. Thank God nobody got water in their apartments or homes, as far as went reported to City Hall.”
He conjectured that once the new flood gates are installed, within the next two or three months, along the Charenton Canal past the Baldwin Bridge, “Franklin will be sealed off totally,” furthering that with such a flood mitigation structure in place already, Franklin would have seen zero flooding at Eastwood, and in the Blakesley and Hazelwood subdivisions.
“Other than that,” he said, “we held out extremely well. We didn’t have any tree damage, and really didn’t have to clear out anything from the streets. So, we made out really well and we are very thankful. The Franklin Fire Chief, (Chuck Bourgeois) did a marvelous job of protecting everything south of the railroad tracks. Pecan Acres was adequately protected, as well as Willow Street was adequately protected by the flood gates. The flood gates and levee system south of Franklin really did its part. They (Franklin Fire Department) shored-up the levee system with a little dam near the Gulf Craft and Metal Shark area to stop that flow of water from coming off the Charenton Canal.
“Hats off to all the City personnel: Chief Beverly and the police department, Chief Bourgeois and the fire department, Jeremy Smith with the public works department, and Bernard Daniels with the utilities department.
“Those guys did an extremely good job of safeguarding and protecting the city and all its citizens.”
Foulcard concluded by saying that he would be remiss if he didn’t mention the administrative personnel and city council members at the command station who manned the station night and day during the storm, adding, “They were all in the gap making sure we had everything we needed. It was a team effort. We are all a machine with everyone providing structure and support, as a steady hand at the till.”
Baldwin Mayor Abel “Phil” Prejean’s report for Baldwin’s post-Laura situation was much the same as Foulcard’s.
“One small section of town lost power, but it was brought back by 1 p.m. the next day,” Prejean reported. “None of the roads were blocked. We were prepared and had everything ready to go.
“The Choupique, where the new gates are, once you close the gates, it makes a bowl where some rainwater collected, but we had pumps going for that. None of the water got in any houses, only yards.
“The flood gates worked well. Otherwise, the water would have flooded that area.
“I thought we did very well.”
St. Mary Parish Sheriff Hanagriff said “everything worked and went according to plan. Of course our initial concern was Marco, and that turned to nothing. We just got very, very lucky. I can’t stress that enough.”
Persisting issues were high water. “This storm followed a path similar to (Hurricane Ike in 2008). It didn’t get to Rita level…we’re also very fortunate that there wasn’t a lot of rain associated with it. There was a lot of flooding with Ike, the big key factor here which w saved everybody from Ike especially with that structure not being in place in Bayou Teche yet, was that we didn’t get a tremendous amount of rain, and the bar pit (near the Ver-dunville landing) took on a lot of water.”
“The flow of lilies in the Teche…nobody could understand what was going on, why wasn’t the water going to Ike levels. That was the reason. The bar pits were low and all that water was still in the bar pits.”
The storm surge was a major concern. “The winds and the rains weren’t that big an issue, it was the surge that we were worried about.”
He concluded that the Bayou Teche structure will be in place soon, and design designs are ongoing to place levees around Metal Shark Boats.
St. Mary Parish Office of Emergency Preparedness Director David Naquin said late last week that the parish was still accessing areas.
So far, though, the parish appears to have escaped serious harm, and levees and flood structures as well as preventative measures all worked as they should.
Concerns after Laura passed were cars making wakes on street. “You think you can drive through a neighborhood,” Naquin said, “but the wake of your car will put more water in a guy’s house, and that’s just not right.”
He said areas such as Eastwood Subdivision in Franklin were battling water, while a portion of Burns Point was blocked-off.
Most of Laura’s impact was on the parish’s west end.
Naquin said he had not had any reports of water in homes or businesses, but he does expect some damage in the Cypremort Point areas, where storm surge was about what it produced in Ike.
“It didn’t get quite as high as Rita, but it was higher than they thought it would be,” he said.
Naquin also said homes in Louisa, off Kelly Canal and in the Vacherie, Ashton, Glencoe and Four Corners areas that all have had water before, they probably will have water again.
St. Mary Parish Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said Thursday he received reports of water rising on areas west of the Charenton Canal that are not protected by levees.
He also reported there was some water in another area south of La. 317 in the Gordy Levees area in parts where there no levee, but he said that wasn’t unexpected and has happened before.
Flood protection measures along the Charenton Canal on Industry Road also worked as planned.
“Although it did get some leaking, that wasn’t unexpected. What we were trying to do is block off a major flow there, and we were successful,” Matte said, adding the water appears as if it is starting to recede.
Laura brought St. Mary Parish maximum sustained winds be-tween 35 and 45 mph, with some gusts higher.
While there were 3,000 power outages, Naquin said about 50% had been restored by 2 p.m. Thursday by crews who had less than a full day to work.
Further east, the Atchafalaya River was estimated to rise to 7 feet, but it peaked at 6.44 feet, Naquin said.
“It’s not flowing out yet, but it’s pretty close,” he said. “We monitor a few things on the river that indicate to us it’s not going to get any higher, and it’s going to be going out before long.”