Another good friend lost... Merrick Joseph "Sonny" Fontenot, passed away Sunday, March 20, 2005 after a long battle with cancer. Sonny was born March 24, 1933 in Port Barre, LA, and is survived by his wife Mary "Mim," and their 6 children: Pamela, Michael, Gina, Elishia, Michelle, and Merrick Joseph Jr. Sonny, we'll miss you. Sonny portrayed his ancestor Sergeant Jean Louis Fontenot, who was a sergeant in the garrison at Fort Toulouse. (Read Sonny's re-enactor bio.) The notice in the Huntsville Times, which includes a very nice guest book

A few of our memories of Sonny: "I remember the first time I met Sonny. He and his family were coming out of the visitor center here at Toulouse. I could detect a slight bit of Cajun in some of Sonny and Mim's speech. I ask them, "You guys from Louisiana?" "Yep," Sonny said. And I'm not sure why I asked, but I said "You wouldn't by chance be Fontenots would you?" And I'll never forget the expression on Sonny's face. He looked at me like I was from the moon. And he said "Yah, yeah we are Fontenots, how did you know?" And I said,"It was just one of those odd feelings." And I asked Sonny and his family if they would like to see where their ancestor Jean Louis Fontenot was buried. After going to the cemetery, we went over to the lab where to look at the info I had gotten from Ridley Fontenot about 10 years earlier. I had the names, births, deaths, and marriages of the 12 Fontenot children that had been born and raised at Fort Toulouse. The sons of Jean Louis and Marie had grown up here to marry daughters of garrison members, as did the daughters grow up to marry sons of garrison members. Sonny and the family were fascinated. And they already knew something about their history . But when I told them we had a living history group that interpreted the lives of the garrison and their families and that we didn't have anyone to portray Jean Louis.... He was hooked ! And he and Joe became a part of our living history family. The 11 Fontenot children who left the Post de Alibamons in 1763 for the west bank of the Mississippi, mostly to Opelousas, Louisiana became the seed for all later Fontenots in the United States. This group has lost a great asset and friend." - Ned "My memory of him will always include his "world class" smile and "joyful disregard" of time schedules and deadlines. A wonderful man and a great Marine has moved on to the place of ever-ripening veggies, fresh baked bread, good wine and no fatigue duties. We are the lesser with his passing. - Ernie "The last time I saw Sonny was at Frontier Days 2004. He and Mim came down to see us and he said he especially wanted to see me. I like to think he and Danny and Leonard are together again. They will all be sorely missed. I think an annual salute to those three and the the ones that join them in the future is a wonderful idea." - Myra "I'm so sorry to read about the loss of such a great friend, Sonny Fontenot. There is no way to express how the loss of this French Marine will have on those of us at the fort. Just remember as long as we keep him in our heart he will always be with us." - Mike and Mary Ann B.