Alice F Prudhomme

Visitation, Mass and funeral services for Alice Fern Bates Smith Prudhomme, 72, have been announced, with the visitation being held on Friday, July 10 from 5:00 PM until 9:00 PM at Roseneath Funeral Home in Mansfield, with a rosary being held at 6:00 PM. Funeral services will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church, where she was a member, in Mansfield on Saturday, July 11 at 10:00 AM, followed by interment at Carmel Catholic Cemetery in Carmel. Msgr. J. Carson LaCaze will officiate at all services. A favorite nephew, Preston Bates, will deliver the Eulogy. Pallbearers will be Jackie Hilton, Doug "Slo" Smith, James Foshee, Jim Edwards, Quint Gillespie and Gerald Laffitte. Honorary Pallbearers include Richard Z. Johnson and Doug Young. Alice fought a hard fight with health issues these past few years but just kept going with her zest for life and love for her family. She left for her spiritual home on June 17, 2015. She was preceded in death by her husband Frank Prudhomme, parents David Elmer and Blanche White Bates (of the Haslam Community); brother Robert E. Bates, Sr.; sister Mae Ella Bates Beckham and grandson, Derek E. Langford. Left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Jana Smith and fiancé Quint Gillespie of Shreveport; Tanya Smith and fiancé John Moyer of Orlando, Florida and Amber Prudhomme of the Carmel Community. She is also survived by grandson Stephen Langford and wife, Casse, of Chasaka, Minnesota; great-granddaughters Margot Langford, Alice Langford and Jordan Langford; brother, Herman G. Bates and wife, Faye, and a host of nieces, nephews and cousins that were dear to her heart. Alice was born October 24, 1942 and was a 1960 graduate of Joaquin High School in Joaquin, Texas, where she excelled in academics. She graduated with many scholarships and attended Panola Jr. College, until she married Kenneth Smith of Logansport. The Smiths soon became three when their daughter Jana was born. Kenneth later became the owner of the Piggly Wiggly store in Haslam, Texas and both were involved in many community projects. In their daughter Tanya was born. She later was re-married to Frank Prudhomme in the 1980's, and had another daughter, Amber. Alice discovered her love for travel as well as photography and captured many subjects that were published in the local newspapers, including her column the "Carmel Capers". She also loved the Sabine River, where she was raised, and gathering with family and friends to enjoy fun times in the water and sun. She started out in the CB craze in the 1970's as "River Streaker", which later evolved into amateur radio, and re-located to the Carmel Community with her youngest daughter. She worked hard and achieved the "Advanced" extra licensing, and enjoyed talking to people all over the world, also exchanging QSL cards. She had been a member of the Shreveport Amateur Radio Association (SARA) and Sky Warn. Her articles were published in QSL, the amateur radio magazine. Alice started her genealogy quest while living in Logansport, with her first husband's DeSoto linage, which ignited a fire within her that later would become a passion. She researched in depth her grandmother's Lafitte family, with her tireless research living on for generations of Lafittes and DeSotos in countless volumes and photographs. She enjoyed being a part of the Lafitte reunions in Natchitoches Parish, and was proud to be a descendant of that family as well as the Bates family in Haslam. She was a member of the DeSoto Historical Society, and was a contributing columnist on several occasions to "The DeSoto Plume". She will always be remembered to have loved the history of this part of the country and wanted to help preserve it. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to Carmel Catholic Cemetery in care of St. Josephs Catholic Church; PO Box 760; Mansfield, LA 71052.