Curtis Joubert, who served as mayor from 1981 to 1995 and launched Eunice as the “Prairie Cajun Capital,” died Friday. He was 89.
Ardoin’s Funeral Home in Eunice is in charge of arrangements. Visitation will be held from 4 to 10 p.m.Friday.
Funeral services are planned at 10 a.m. Nov. 7 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church.
Joubert took office as an oil and gas industry downturn created a severe recession.
Joubert’s response was to showcase Cajun culture, music and food in Eunice and bring to life cultural tourism.
Under Joubert, the city purchased the historic Liberty Theater, renovated the building, and began the “Rendez-Vous Des Cajuns” music show.
During his tenure, the World Championship Crawfish Etouffee Cook-off Contest began. The Eunice Mardi Gras was revitalized into a major south Louisiana event.
In the 1980s, Eunice was also chosen to host the Louisiana Folklife Festival.
In 1988, when New Orleans hosted the Republican National Convention, national media flocked to Eunice, where Joubert introduced them to Cajun culture.
Joubert worked with U.S. Sen. Bennett Johnston Jr. to successfully lobby the National Park Service to establish the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice, and due to the success of the Liberty Theater program, convinced the Cajun French Music Association to establish the Cajun Music Hall of Fame in Eunice.
Largely because of his efforts, Eunice was named one of the top 10 sites for rural cultural tourism in the nation.
One of the highlights of Joubert’s career came in the summer of 1994, when the “Rendez-Vous des Cajuns” program was invited to perform in London.
Joubert noted a sense of coming full circle in being invited to introduce Cajun music and culture to the capital of the nation that had driven their Acadian ancestors from their lands over 200 years previous.
Joubert retired in 1995, when he was appointed to serve the 10-month remainder of a term on the Public Service Commission by Gov. Edwin Edwards.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco appointed Joubert to the Department of Tourism Special Projects, where he arranged for the yearly Zydeco Cycle to visit Eunice, headed the statewide Francofete Celebration and worked on the preservation of the Atchafalaya Basin.
Joubert retired when Blanco left office, but was appointed to the state tourism commission by Gov. Bobby Jindal.
Joubert created the Former Louisiana Mayors Association, an organization of retired mayors who get together to talk politics and provide advice to new, incoming mayors.
A long-time supporter of athletics and academics at Louisiana State University Eunice, Joubert created the LSUE Booster Club with Judge Ellis Daigle to support LSUE’s sports teams.
Joubert served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Colleges and Universities in Louisiana, and served as chairman of the Physical Plants Committee and Athletic Committee. As a member of the Board, Joubert was selected to represent the state at NCAA policy-making conventions in St. Louis, Miami, San Francisco and New Orleans.
Joubert was a member of the Board of Directors of Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL), the state organization created to preserve the French language in Louisiana.
Joubert has been the recipient of many honors, including induction in the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame and the Acadian Museum.
In 1988, USL named Joubert its “Outstanding Graduate from the College of Education”, and during its centennial in 1999, USL listed Joubert among its top 60 graduates over the last 100 years.
Joubert graduated Lawtell High School in 1948, and from 1951-1954 served in the Air Force as an aide to a colonel.
During that time, he spent 18 months in Newfoundland, an eye-opening experience for a farm boy who’d never been more than a few miles from Lawtell.
Joubert also credited his military service with teaching him the importance ofprofessional behavior, discipline and teamwork.
The G.I. Bill allowed Joubert to attend the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana-Lafayette) attaining his bachelor of science and later his masters degree.
Following graduation, Joubert coached at Port Barre High School for a couple years, then came to teach and coach boys and girls basketball at Eunice High.
After retiring from coaching, Joubert was appointed assistant principal of Eunice High, and later, when the vocational high school opened, he became its first principal.
Joubert became involved in politics after serving as a campaign assistant to Tommy Powell during Powell’s run for Public Service Commissioner.
Joubert decided to run for the state legislature in 1967, and served one term in the House of Representatives, before reapportionment dissolved his district.