MERCEDES DOUCET PETERSON

Nov. 14, 1932 ~ Feb. 21, 2016
Funeral services for Mercedes Doucet Peterson will be held Wednesday, February 24, 2016, at the Church of the Assumption in Franklin during at a 2 p.m. Mass of Christian burial. Celebrant for the Mass will be Father William Ruskoski, Associate Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Broussard. She will be laid to rest with her husband in the Franklin Cemetery. Serving as pallbearers will be Heath R. Duhon, Lt. Matthew S. Berniard MD, Spenser G. Berniard, Robert D. Rhyne, Beau M. Rhyne, Bradley H. Duhon, and Garrett E. Stallings.
A gathering of family and friends will be held Tuesday at Ibert’s Mortuary in Franklin from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., with the recitation of the Holy Rosary at 7 p.m. Visiting hours will resume Wednesday at 12 p.m. at the church and continue until Mass time.
Mercedes was born in Franklin on November 14, 1932 to the late Peter Doucet Sr. and the late Ruth Schexnayder Doucet. On December 23, 1951 she married the love of her life. Donald Earl Peterson, and the two began their life together. A devout Catholic, Mercedes loved her faith and instilled that same love in her family through practice and prayer. She was a former longtime member of the Church of the Assumption in Franklin and was a current parishioner of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Broussard as well as a member of Come Lord Jesus and the Catholic Daughters, Court Assumption. A loving and nurturing woman, she knew the importance of her role in her family as wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Second only to her love for her faith was her love for her family, who she cherished spending time with. She passed away peacefully at the age of 83 on Sunday, February 21, 2016, at her home in Broussard. She will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.
Those she leaves to cherish her memory include her daughters, Donna P. Duhon and her husband, Roland; Terry P. McClinton and her husband, Rickie; and Tracey P. Ortego and her husband, Ricky, all of Broussard; her grandchildren, Heather Duhon Stallings, Heath R. Duhon, Lt. Matthew S. Berniard MD, Tiffany B. Burns, Spenser G. Berniard, Robert D. Rhyne and Beau M. Rhyne; her great grandchildren, Julia N. Stallings, Garrett E. Stallings, Bradley H. Duhon, Isabella E. Burns and Anniston Lee Bums; her sister, Juanita D. Lange; as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald Earl Peterson; her parents, Peter Doucet Sr. and Ruth Schexnayder Doucet; her sister, Judy D. Lange; and her brothers, James Doucet and Peter Doucet Jr.
The family would like to express their deepest gratitude to Mrs. Mercedes caregivers, Rena Francis, Carissa Abshire, Mary Gary and Marella Lanerie, for the loving and compassionate care given to their mother.
Family and friends may view the obituary and express their condolences online by visiting www.iberts.com.