LAKE CHARLES — For decades, the fountains at Consolata Cemetery have added a touch of beauty to the landscape of burial spaces. But, as long as Dewey Duhon has been director of the cemetery, he has never seen the fountains operational.
“When I started working here a couple of years ago, the four fountains surrounding the chapel, and the fountains in the big pond were not working,” said Duhon. “Monsignor (Irving) DeBlanc put those fountains in for a reason. They are a beautiful feature, and we needed to get them working.”
Cemetery chapel.
During the annual All Souls Day Remembrance Mass held at the cemetery on Nov. 2, the fountains once again served as reminder of Christ as “living water” for all the faithfully departed souls.
Duhon said the problem was a combination of things, but the solution mainly involved re-plumbing.
The late Monsignor DeBlanc, a longtime pastor of Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, started the cemetery in 1962 along Country Club Road when it was just a dirt road.
“Monsignor DeBlanc was a true visionary,” said Duhon. “There is nothing else around here like Consolata. I felt we needed to get those fountains back up and running since a lot of people bought spaces around the pond because of the beautiful feature they provide to the cemetery.”
