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March 17, 2016
To most, spending each day with 20 small children would be chaos.
But to Galliano woman Elaine Ezell, it was her safe haven – the place where she could love, nurture and teach children the fundamental life principles they needed to lead happy, healthy lives.
A retired kindergarten teacher who spent decades at Galliano Elementary School, Ezell passed away on March 4 after a lengthy battle with illnesses.
She was 66.
Locals remembered Ezell’s warmth and loving personality this week, describing her as the ideal woman to teach kindergarten because of her love for children that age.
“Elaine taught with passion and enthusiasm,” longtime colleague Betty Barrilleaux said. “She would look her students in the eye and speak to them in a soft voice. This would calm the students and they would do what she asked of them. They knew she loved them and they loved her in return.”
Love was a word that came up often when asking people to describe Ezell’s life.
In the classroom, Ezell had a special way of handling students – a method predicated on compassion and tender care.
She rarely, if ever, yelled. She most-often never even had to raise her voice.
Ezell never had children of her own, but she took pride in playing a mother-like role in the lives of her pupils – many of whom stayed in close contact with her even after leaving the kindergarten play mat and maturing into life.
“She loved her job and loved her school kids like they were her own,” relative Celeste Callais said. “Every time she talked about teaching, you could still see the sparkle in her eyes as she smiled from ear to ear.”
When not in the classroom, she was equally crazy about her family.
Ezell lived with her sister Ruby R. Callais for a lot of her adult life, and the sisters were almost always together – often attending church-related functions together. The sisters also enjoyed taking trips – including one monthly tradition the two enjoyed.
“Every month, she and Ruby would take a trip to the Beau Rivage,” Celeste Callais said.
Because of that close bond the two shared, Ezell played an active role in all of Ruby’s children and grandchildren’s lives.
Known to everyone in the family as “Auntie,” Ezell was always the one the kids wanted to play with.
“She spoiled her great, great nieces and nephews,” Celeste Callais said. “She was their ‘Auntie,’ that played whatever they wanted to play with. She played with Play-doh, she played cards. She played with racecars. One of her favorite things was playing ‘horse’ with the kids. They would shoot a ball into the kitchen garbage can.”
Ezell was a sports fan, which made sense, because a lot of her family members are athletes. She was a mainstay at Biddy basketball games, baseball games and just about anything else she could attend. She did so to lend support to her family and community.
When unable to be there in person, Ezell would often listen to South Lafourche basketball games on the radio. As soon as the game would go final, she would call friends and family in attendance and try and find out the scoop of how things went down.
A lot of the times when listening to the Tarpons play, she had the New Orleans Pelicans games on her TV dial with the sound turned low.
“She was very detail-oriented,” Callais said. “She attended as many games as she could, but if she missed, she wanted all the details. She was even interested in hearing about practices. She was happiest when the family was all together.”
Ezell was also a woman of strong faith.
She was a parishioner at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Galliano, and she regularly attended bible studies, Catholic retreats and other things with her sister and friends.
Callais said she prayed for everyone she encountered – whether she knew that person on an intimate level or not.
“She was a part of a local prayer hotline where people called her and together they prayed for people with special requests,” Callais said. “She enjoyed going to church, bible study and Catholic retreats.”
That powerful faith inspired many friends and colleagues, pushing them to lead more impactful lives.
Barrilleaux said she was one of those people.
She said she’ll miss her friend’s ability to listen and comfort anyone in need.
“Elaine’s faith in God taught me to stop talking to God and to start listening instead,” Barrilleaux said. “This helped me in many of the decisions I had to make regarding my life and my teaching career.
“I will miss her beautiful smile and her words of wisdom.” •
Galliano native Elaine Ezell was a retired kindergarten teacher in the Lafourche Parish School System. Known for her loving, compassionate personality, Ezell is remembered for the love that she showed her pupils and relatives.
