Scholarship Fund Established by Bishop Speyrer

Scholarship fund memorializes Msgr. F. H. Gouaux


LAKE CHARLES -- A special fund honoring a well-known priest who served half of his priestly ministry in four parishes of what is now the Diocese of Lake Charles has been established with the Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana.   The fund, which will honor the memory of Msgr. Fernand H. Gouaux, was begun with an initial contribution from the Most Reverend Jude Speyrer, Bishop-emeritus of the Diocese. Bishop Speyrer and Msgr. Gouaux were close friends  in school and also served together in the 1960s at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Lake Arthur.
  
Grants from the fund, to be known as the Bishop Jude Speyrer Fund in Honor of Monsignor Gouaux, will not be made until the principal reaches $1 million. At that time financial assistance will provide for ordained clergy of the Diocese of Lake Charles to seek advanced degrees in church studies.
  
In addition, the Bishop has made provisions that at his death the property near Carencro where he resides, will be sold with proceeds going into the Fund as well. Over 30 years ago Bishop Speyrer and Msgr. Gouaux began paying on a house and land where they had hoped to retire together.
  
“He and I bought this house long before there was a Diocese of Lake Charles, in 1977 or 1978,” Bishop Speyrer said. “After we purchased the place we used it together once or twice a month, on our days off. In the country east of Carencro the place wasn’t all that far from where we were then stationed, 10 or 12 miles from Lafayette, at most.
  
“We agreed to leave it to each other, to whoever survived," the Bishop continued. “Our intention, after our deaths was to give it to the Diocese, the diocese in those days, being Lafayette. It was to be done with the expectation that the Bishop would need a quiet place in the country.”

It wasn’t until recently that Bishop Speyrer realized what little usefulness the place would have for the Bishop of Lake Charles. “When you are almost two hours away it’s no ‘hop, skip and a jump’,” he continued. “So I thought, just sell the place and put the money to good use and remember Msgr. Gouaux by establishing this memorial.
   
“The purpose of the fund for the Diocese of Lake Charles is to continue building on the benefits we experienced when our three students (Msgr. Jace Eskind, Bonnie Landry, and Father Bert Borel) returned from Canada with degrees in Canon Law,” he said “There will always be a need for similar specialized degrees.”
 
The Bishop reminisced about his own time studying abroad. He graduated from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. “I remember gratefully the advantages I had doing my theology abroad,” he said. “I thought what an advantage it would be to expose the clergy in future years to similar contacts, and give these priests the benefit of an education abroad, of travel, and perhaps of picking up a language or two. A serious degree will take a couple of years and, if  there long enough, you will learn the language.”
  
The discussion between Bishop Speyrer and the Diocese occurred in the time between Bishop Edward Braxton and the appointment of Bishop Glen John Provost, when Msgr. Harry D. Greig served as Administrator.  “Msgr. Greig formally accepted my proposal but we knew that only after a Bishop was appointed could it be finalized,” Bishop Speyrer said.
  
“The Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana came to my attention through a press release from the United Way,” the Bishop noted. The release described how the Baton Rouge Area Foundation intended to help develop a comparable entity in the Calcasieu area. “I had heard of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which successfully oversees more than $500 million invested for charitable purposes. I thought this vehicle would be a good way to get started.” 
  
The fact that a local Foundation was being established made it even more appropriate.  The Bishop also knows that his seed money is far from enough.
 
“The Gouaux Fund will not consist exclusively of money from the sale of the property,” he continued. “Msgr. Gouaux served in eight parishes in his lifetime, four of them in the area of the Diocese of Lake Charles. I think his memory is still alive in these parishes. I invite his former parishioners to support this. He was greatly loved wherever he went."
  
Within the geographic region of the Diocese of Lake Charles, Msgr. Gouaux served in Lake Arthur as assistant pastor and Administrator pro tem. Later he became pastor of Bell City, St. Margaret in Lake Charles and Our Lady Help of Christians in Jennings. Msgr. Gouaux, who was ordained in 1956, died in December 1985.  “He was such a good priest, he served well, was loved wherever he went and did a fine job,” the Bishop said.
 
Noting that there might not always be candidates for advanced degrees, with this fund there “will always be money for their studies. In fact, if you don’t have anybody in the program for four or five years, nothing is lost, the money continues to accumulate. We hope the Fund will generate about $50,000 a year once the principal peaks at $1 million.”
 
Those interested in making a contribution to the Bishop Jude Speyrer Fund in Honor of Monsignor Gouaux, may contact the Diocese of Lake Charles, 439-7400, Extension 307, or Lisa Verrette, President/CEO, Community Foundation of Southwest Louisiana, P.O. Box 3125, Lake Charles, LA 70602 or 337-491-6688.