Rita Hebert (née Menard)

Aged 88, passed away January 12, 2019, in Adamsville, Tennessee.

She was born January 18, 1930, in Perry, Louisiana, to Marculus and Alicia (née Sherman) Menard, one of six children. She married her husband of 68 years, Minos Hebert, on August 20, 1950 in Abbeville, Louisiana. Rita was a strong and loving mother to her three children—Barbara, Daniel, and David. Owing to Minos’s job in the oil industry, the family moved to Alaska in 1968. They remained in Anchorage and then Wasilla for 48 years, before moving to Tennessee in 2016.

Rita doted on her six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, who will miss her dry wit and honest advice. She loved Alaskan life and enjoyed gardening, painting landscapes, arranging flowers, and visiting dear friends, Mary and John Rumfield, on the Kenai Peninsula. She never lost touch with her Louisiana roots and was well known for her Cajun cooking. She loved feeding people and always had a meal at the ready. Rita—or Granny, as everyone called her—will be remembered for her warm smile, sense of humor, and deep commitment to her family.

She was preceded in death by siblings Marie and husband Onezine Luquette, Marcel and wife Levina Menard, Leopold (Paul) and wife Delta Menard, Milton and wife Rose Menard, and Pauline and husband Wilmer Faulk; grandson Joseph Hebert; and great-nephew Brandon Menard.6.25

She is survived by husband Minos; children Barbara and Lee Underwood, Daniel and Sherran Hebert, and David and Wendy Hebert; grandchildren Chris and husband Mieck, David Mark and wife Amanda, Michelle and husband TJ, James and wife Sara, and Joel—as well as Kelli Chellgren and many other “adopted” grandchildren; great-grandchildren River, Henry, Caleb, Story, and Olivia; many nieces and nephews; and life-long friend Bobbie and husband Ed Brown.