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Gregory Paul Ibert of Franklin, La. passed away in the evening hours of Friday, July 3, 2020.
Greg was born in Franklin on July 16, 1965 and was the youngest of four children born to Chris and Leona Ibert. A lifelong resident of Franklin, Greg was the fifth-generation owner of Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc. for the past 31 years.
He had a passion for serving his community and churches, and leading his family to continuously grow in their faith. He had a strong devotion to the Rosary, the Divine Mercy, and his patron saint, Saint Philomena. He maintained an hour at the adoration chapel for over 15 years, made his Cursillo in 2017, and was an active member of the men’s Franklin Ultreya group.
Greg enjoyed any sport or activity that his kids were interested in, and always made sure that they were equipped to succeed in anything that they did – even when that meant a gym and music studio in the living room. He especially enjoyed the hours spent supporting his daughter, Grace, in barrel racing, watching his son, Chris, play his guitar on stage, and cheering on his son, Daniel and his baseball team through many world series tournaments.
In support of his love for LSU baseball, his family encourages everyone to wear purple or gold to his services.
Greg is survived by his wife of 31 years, Melissa Ibert; his daughter, Grace Ibert and her significant other Preston Denn; his sons Chris Ibert and Daniel Ibert; his mother, Leona Sinitiere Ibert Comer; his sisters, Meri Curry and her significant other Kerry Diamond, and Mandy Landry and her husband Dale Landry; his sister-in-law Patti Ibert; his mother-in-law, Joyce Daniel; his brother-in-law, Jimmie Daniel II and his wife Tiffany Daniel; his nieces, Blaire Landry Brown and her husband Eric Brown, Christina Landry Hidalgo and her husband Hugh Hidalgo, Aprill Curry Payton and her husband Michael Payton, and Sarah Daniel; his nephews, Jared Landy and his wife Allison Landry, Trey Ibert, Kirk Curry and his wife Brittany Curry, Jimmie Daniel III, and Jacob Daniel; his dogs, Sadie, Cooper, and Presley; as well as a host of great nieces, great nephews, cousins, godchildren, family, and friends.
He was preceded in death by his father, Herbert Chris Ibert; his brother, Herbert Chris Ibert II; his father-in-law, Jimmie Daniel; and his brother-in-law, Kirk Curry.
Funeral services were held Tuesday, July 14, 2020, at the Church of the Assumption during a 2:30 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial. Following the Mass he was laid to rest in the Ibert Family plot in the Franklin Cemetery. Father Joel Faulk was the Celebrant for the Mass and conducted the services. Serving as pallbearers were Preston Denn, Dustin Rogers, Clint Judice, Heath “Bucky” Lovell, Gregory Schwab, and Dustin Saucier.
A private family gathering was held at Ibert’s Mortuary. The family received friends for the public visitation on Tuesday at the Church of the Assumption beginning at 9:30 a.m. with eulogies beginning at 2 p.m.
Family and friends may view the obituary online by visiting www.iberts.com and are encouraged to share their condolences, cherished memories, love, and support for the family.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, La. 70538, (337) 828-5426.

The Franklin Police Department received a matching grant of $2,500 from Centerpoint Energy, which will be used to upgrade the department’s two-way radio communications systems to a voice-activated throat microphone communication system for each officer. The matching funds will also cover portable road hazard signs for each unit.

“A Celebratory Tribute to the African American Woman” was performed at the Grevemberg House Museum’s front porch Thursday, and livestreamed on Soulful Productions’ Facebook page.
The play featured a scene from “The Forgotten Healer” by Ed “Tiger” Verdin, and was composed otherwise of songs, a speech, poetry, and a dance routine, all in celebration of the African American female’s historic perspective in the U.S.
Verdin was the director and lighting and sound technician for the 45-minute show, and said that Thursday’s performance was the second time the cast had fully reprised the show, and the third time they had performed it.
The cast was comprised of: Bria Burrell, Fallon Mitchell, Tiffany Dupas, LaDaisha Bowles-Webber, Shani P. Nelson, Kyla Prevost and Renita Nelson.
Burell opened the show with a rendition of “Ain’t I A Woman?” an extemporaneous speech delivered at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio, on May 29, 1851 by American abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth.
Mitchell was next, as Dr. Emma Wakefield-Paillet, Louisiana’s first African American female doctor, through excerpts from Verdin’s “The Forgotten Healer.”
Verdin said of his play, “Dr. Phoebe Hayes, of the Iberia African American Historical Society, and Susan Dorsey loved my work on my 9/11 play, and they commissioned me to write the play on Dr. Wakefield’s life.
“Dr. Wakefield’s history had been erased and forgotten and wasn’t uncovered until Dr. Hayes remembered her mother and grandmother speaking of a black, female doctor from New Iberia. But, any time she researched it she could never find (confirmation of) it.
“She called the State and they said, ‘No, she didn’t practice medicine,” and Dr. Hayes was like, ‘I think she did practice medicine,’ having found a two-inch by two-inch ad that she (Wakefield) had taken out in the Times-Democrat in New Orleans, when she moved her practice. So, she (Hayes) took it to the State, and the rest is history.”
Following Mitchell was Dupas, who sang “Strange Fruit,” popularized by Billie Holliday, and reportedly written by Jewish communist teacher and civil rights activist from the Bronx, Abel Meeropol, who wrote it first as a poem, then later as a song.
Next, in sequential historical order came Bowles-Webber with a rendition of Maya Angelou’s poem, “Equality,” and after that was Nelson performing “Feeling Good,” by Nina Simone.
Original choreography was presented by Prevost, a senior at Franklin High School, and the show closed with Renita Nelson’s rendition of “I Know Where I’ve Been,” from the Broadway musical, “Hair Spray.”
The cast remarked in unanimous agreement after their performance that their individual parts are as relevant to their personal experiences today as the art is reflective of the times in which it was produced.
The show was sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Health-Bureau of Minority Health Access, Louisiana State Representative Vincent St.Blanc and 105.9KBZE.
It can be viewed by visiting Soulful Productions’ Facebook page.

The Internal Revenue Service today reminds taxpayers that they have until the postponed due date of July 15, 2020, to file an extension for their 2019 federal tax return. The extension gives taxpayers until Oct. 15 to file, but taxes owed are due by July 15.
The July 15 due date generally applies to all taxpayers who have an income tax filing or payment deadline falling on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020. Taxpayers and tax professionals should continue to use electronic options. The IRS encourages taxpayers to file electronically. Doing so, whether through e-file or IRS Free File, reduces tax return errors, as the tax software does the calculations, flags common errors and prompts taxpayers for missing information. Free File Fillable Forms means there is a free option for everyone.
Here’s how to get an extension of time to file
Individual taxpayers who need additional time to file beyond the July 15 deadline can request a filing extension to Oct. 15 in one of two ways:
--Filing Form 4868 through their tax professional, tax software or using Free File on IRS.gov.
--Submitting an electronic payment with Direct Pay, Electronic Federal Tax Payment System or by debit, credit card or digital wallet options and selecting Form 4868 or extension as the payment type. The automatic extension of time to file will process when taxpayers pay all or part of their taxes, electronically, by the July 15 due date.
Businesses that need additional time to file income tax returns must file Form 7004, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File Certain Business Income Tax, Information, and Other Returns.