Vera Prater Duhon

Vera Prater Duhon, 80, died Monday, January 24, 2011, in a local care facility, following a lengthy illness.

Mrs. Duhon was a descendant of an early pioneer family of Lake Charles, J. N. Prater, who was a merchant, a banker, a realtor and responsible for much of Lake Charles' early development. She was a native of DeQuincy and had lived in Lake Charles since 1948. She was a graduate of DeQuincy High School and attended McNeese State University for three years.

Mrs. Duhon was the first accountant/bookkeeper for KPLC-TV. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Lake Charles, where she served as a director in the Youth Department for thirty years and in the Senior Adult Department from 1990. She also served as Chairman and a member of the Historical Ministry Team of First Baptist Church from 1979. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and sister, and was always first to volunteer her time and energy to anyone in need. She was a servant and took great joy in helping others.

She is survived by her husband of sixty-two years, Gordon R. Duhon; two sons, Brett Duhon and his wife, Margaret, of DeQuincy and Mark Benson Duhon and his wife, Laura, of San Marcos, Texas; five grandchildren, Shelise Duhon Brockman, Heather Robinson, and Daniel, Aaron and Stephen Duhon; three great-grandchildren; and one sister, Marie Prater Groff and her husband, Clair W. "Gus" Groff, of Lake Charles.

Mrs. Duhon was preceded in death by her parents, Lela Newell Prater and Jasper Benson Prater, and her grandparents, Benson and Beulah Andrus Prater and Thomas Newel.

Funeral services will be at 10:00 AM on Thursday, January 27, 2011 at the First Baptist Church of Lake Charles. Dr. John Paul White will officiate. Burial will follow at Perkins Cemetery in DeQuincy. Visitation will be at Johnson Funeral Home on Wednesday from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM and continue on Thursday at the church from 9:00 AM until the start of the service.