Lester Armond Ancelet
Funeral services for Lester Armond Ancelet, M.D., FACS, 92, of Jennings will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, in Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church, with Rev. Susil Fernando officiating.
Visitation will be held on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019, from 5-8 p.m., with a rosary at 6 p.m., and will resume on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Burial will be in Greenwood Cemetery under the direction of Miguez Funeral Home of Jennings.
Born on April 9, 1926, in Sulphur, he passed on Jan. 4, 2019, in Jennings.
At the age of 17, Lester joined the Navy as a corpsman to defend his country in World War II. During his service in the Navy, he achieved the rank of Chief Pharmacist Mate and participated in the Pacific theater campaigns of New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. He received many distinguished honors for his service including the Pistol Marksmanship Medal, Purple Heart, Bronze Star and the Silver Star (the third highest military decoration for valor in combat awarded for “gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States”). After returning home from the war, Lester received a B.S. from McNeese State University in Chemical Engineering, a Masters in Parasitology from LSU, and his medical degree in 1954 from LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. Dr. Ancelet also completed his general surgery residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. He met his beautiful wife, Jackie, while attending LSU in Baton Rouge and they married in 1952. The Doctors Ancelet moved to Jennings in 1959 and practiced medicine together until their retirement in 1998. Dr. Ancelet was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a past Commander of the VFW Post 3686, a member of Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Church, an avid hunter and fisherman and a true Tiger fan.
Left behind to cherish his memory are two daughters, Leslie Ancelet Petry of Jennings and Dr. Myra Ancelet Reed of Panama City, Fla.; a son, Stuart (Karen) Ancelet of Lafayette; 10 grandchildren, Elise Petry Guintard, Blake Petry, Heath Petry, Garrett Petry, Mallory Petry, Logan Reed, Tara Reed, Cole Reed, Jacquelyn “Jackie” Ancelet and Clayton Ancelet; eight great-grandchildren; and his sister-in-law, Lorraine Hebert Ancelet of Houma.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 66 years, Dr. Jacquelyn “Jackie” Shaffett Ancelet; his parents, Leonard Ancelet and Edea Guidry Ancelet; a brother, Dr. Carroll Ancelet; and a sister, Genevieve Ancelet.
Pallbearers will be his six grandsons.
Honorary pallbearers are Allen Benoit, Bill Caraway, Hilliard Duhon, Archie Fontenot, Danny Rutledge and Jerry Ryder.
Words of comfort may be expressed to the family at www.miguezfuneralhome.com.