Centenarian devoted her life to daughters, church

Telling time where to go, what to do
October 6, 2015
Judge rules against HTV in defamation case
October 8, 2015
Telling time where to go, what to do
October 6, 2015
Judge rules against HTV in defamation case
October 8, 2015

Amy Mire Foret was a loving, kind-hearted woman who was as tough as nails.

As a centenarian, living to be 101 years old, she lived a hard life and selflessly devoted it to her husband, daughters, and later on in life, to the church.


Amy was born on May 10, 1914. Her father, Seraphin J. Mire, owned a sugarcane farm. Her mother, Clelie Zeringue Mire, worked hard as the homemaker for the family of eight children.

The family endured the Great Depression on that farm. There was no electricity or indoor plumbing. They lived simply. They washed clothes by hand with bluing in the rinse to keep whites white. Clelie made the girls’ dresses out of feed sacks, but no matter how many times they were washed, the print did not fade. Amy’s parents often fed downtrodden souls who would knock on the door asking for something to eat. The Mires even lost a daughter to Typhoid.

Amy had to leave school in ninth grade to help her mother at home. In those days, school was considered a luxury, especially for women, said Janet Lococo, Amy’s daughter. It became something she always regretted.


When she was 20, she married Ridley Pierre Foret. The couple raised two girls, Janet and Gaynell, in a little house on Louisiana Hwy. 1 between the town of Raceland and the community of St. Charles.

The sisters were mischievous at times, but Amy was not to be trifled with. Cutting up during Mass was especially frowned upon.

“We couldn’t turn our heads to look in the back of church,” Janet said. “For a long time I thought it was a sin!”


One Sunday, before 6 a.m. Mass at St. Mary’s Nativity Church in Raceland, Amy told the girls that if they misbehaved during Mass that day, then they would be forced to kneel on the front porch for an hour.

Janet recalled that her mother sat between the girls, but they devised a way to entertain themselves regardless. Janet would stretch her arm along the top of the pew and extend her thumb. Gaynell would then mash her thumb as hard as she could until Janet would scream. But she never did.

When it came to be Janet’s turn to do the mashing, Gaynell let out a scream. That sealed the girls’ fate.


During breakfast, back at home, Gaynell whispered in Janet’s ear, “She forgot.”

After breakfast, Amy ordered, “Alright! Change out of your good clothes!”

The girls did as they were told and proceeded onto the porch. The girls kneeled for a long time with Amy at the door, ensuring they didn’t slouch.


Little did they know, Amy had told all their uncles to expect to see them kneeling on the porch because they were likely to misbehave. Amy timed the girls’ punishment perfectly, since their uncles attended services after the Mires did. They drove towards the house honking and waving.

Ridley built a camp along Sam Foret Canal. In the winter months, the entire family would stay in the one-room home in a large bed Ridley built himself. Ridley would set traps for furs and the girls would check them later.

When Janet was old enough for school, though, Amy wasn’t going to let them miss school just to trap with their father.


“And she stuck her finger in his face and said, ‘Listen to me, Red. These girls will,’ she emphasized ‘will,’ go to school. You want to trap? Fine. But you’re going to go in your boat from here and check your traps on your own,’” Janet recalled. “And let me tell you that’s exactly what he did.”

Both girls eventually attended university. Gaynell became a teacher at St. Mary’s Nativity School and Janet a nurse.

Amy maintained a clean and pretty home. Once, though, Ridley tore up her petunias when she told him to cut the grass, though he thought it didn’t need it.


She was infuriated.

“When she got on the steps to sweep [them] and she saw that black soil, I can remember the look on her face,” Janet recalled.

Ridley was in the corn crib.


“I guess he knew his bread was buttered,” Janet said.

Ridley was proudly nursing two peach tree saplings.

“And she chopped those two suckers down, baby,” Janet said. “It took her a long time to do it!”


Though she was tough, Amy was deeply loving. She often was caretaker to family members. She nursed various nieces and their husbands during their bouts with cancer and even cared for her mother-in-law.

Unfortunately, cancer was common in the family. Tragically, Gaynell died of brain cancer in 1961. She was only 24.

Amy took the death of her daughter hard. She was introduced to the Society of St. Teresa of Jesus after donating her daughter’s teaching aids to St. Mary’s.


She became a teacher’s aide and joined the Ladies Altar Society. •

Amy Mire Foret