April 27
April 23, 2007April 25
April 25, 2007
Houma residents said their final goodbyes to James J. Buquet Jr., a local banker and community supporter, on Tuesday afternoon at St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Houma.
The founder and once-owner of the local Budweiser distributor in Houma died of congestive heart failure at the age of 80.
His son J.J. Buquet said his father died about 8 p.m. after collapsing at his house on Friday afternoon.
According longtime friend L.J. Folse, Buquet served his community and gave his time to improving the quality of life in Terrebonne Parish.
Last month, the Houma YMCA renamed its facility the James J. Buquet Jr. Bayouland YMCA in honor of the civic leader’s many contributions. It is one of two local facilities that carries the Buquet name. The other is the pavilion at Southdown Plantation, the site of concerts and other community events.
Buquet was also active in the American Legion, Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce, the Terrebonne Historical Society, the United Way and Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence.
When asked if his father had a hobby, J.J. Buquet said it would have been working in the community. “That was his thing,” he said.
Born and raised in Houma, Buquet was the son of James J. and Diana Daigle Buquet. He graduated from Terrebonne High School in 1943, and attended Louisiana State University for three years, majoring in engineering.
In 1950, Buquet joined the Army, graduating from Officer Candidate School two years later. He served his country in the Korean War, earning a Silver Star. He was honorably discharged from the military in 1953 at the rank of First Lieutenant.
Returning home, Buquet bought the Houma distributing company and started as a two-man operation that has since grown to employ more than 70 workers from Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary parishes.
J.J. said his father’s success did not come as quickly as he wanted. “It was five years before he turned a profit,” J.J. Buquet explained. But friends and family agree that Buquet’s determination and ambition turned the company into the successful business that it is today.
The elder Buquet met and married Glenny Lee Castagnos in 1961. They had three children n J.J., Andree and Michelle. Glenny Lee, a local educator, is also a member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
In the mid-1990s, J.J. was named president of Buquet Distributing.
In 2001, Buquet was awarded the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Life Achievement Award in recognition of his five decades in the field. The annual award honors an individual for a lifetime of service to the beer-wholesaling industry.
Over the past few years, Buquet’s community dedication touched the heart of the parish. He served as a past president of both the Houma Area Rotary Club and the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce. He also helped form Coastal Commerce Bank, and is a past chairman of the board for First National Bank.
Folse said when he opened Coastal Commerce Bank in 1999, he said he asked Buquet to serve on the bank’s board, never questioning that he would agree. Buquet immediately said yes, he said.
After he stepped down as the head of the board, Buquet was named chairman emeritus and continued to attend regular board meetings, Folse said. “He’s knowledgeable and did so many good things for the community,” Folse explained. “He was a natural leader.”
In 1983, Buquet was named Terrebonne Parish’s Most Useful Citizen, an annual honor that recognizes local residents who best use their time, talents and unselfish efforts to serve the parish.
To help ensure continued support of various local organizations, Buquet established the James J. Buquet Jr. Family Foundation. It provides money to organizations devoted to the causes Buquet worked so hard to support, especially education, his son J.J. said.
The foundation has donated money to many causes, including the Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence. Folse said Buquet also served as chairman of the fundraising committee for the TFAE in Public Education Endowment campaign, Vandebilt Catholic’s Capital Campaign and St. Francis de Sales School’s air-conditioning drive.
