Mrs. Judy Benoit Stubbs, longtime  Lay Spiritan, passed away on January 30, 2020, at the age of 77. Funeral services were held on February 1, 2020 in the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jennings, Lousiana. Burial took place in the Calvary Cemetery, Garden of Angels. 

Judy held a bachelor's degree in education, spending her entire teaching career in the Catholic schools system. Judy and Peter lived in several states and in Alberta, Canada. She was a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Lake Charles where she served as a Lay Minister and Lector.

She is survived by her daughter, Kimberly Ann (Joe) Shelton of Moss Bluff; two sons, Peter B Stubbs, Jr. of Edmonton, Alberta, Craig Mathew (Sarah) Stubbs of Moss Bluff; two sisters, Gertrude Dupont of Midland, Dorothy (John) Smith of Jennings; two brothers, Lawrence R. (Janice) Benoit of Jennings, Edmund R. “Randy” Benoit of Jennings; seven grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Mrs. Stubbs is preceded in death by her parents, Edmond and Olite Hoffpauir Benoit; her husband, Deacon Peter B. Stubbs; and sister, Phyllis Benoit.

Writes Fr. Michael Grey, C.S.Sp., "I was serving my internship in Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1978 when I first met the Stubbs. We were all a lot younger at the time with lots of energy and were serving a community of equally young families who deeply treasured their church as the center of their lives. Pete and Judy and children attended Mass at IHM and through association in the parish and with us in the Spiritan community, slowly became part of the Spiritan family. 

Gradually, Pete and Judy’s desire to serve in mission and with community took shape in an affiliation with both the province and with our membership that continued to deepen our ties both in terms of their spiritual communion with us in our charism as well as their full-time participation in our mission.

They spent some years in administration and teaching in the Catholic School system in Peace River, Alberta, some 700 miles short of the Arctic Circle. Possibly homesick for “Jambalaya, and a crawfish pie and filet gumbo,” they got themselves back to the Gulf Coast and explored further forms of collaboration with Spiritans.

For many years, they were assigned by the provincial to works and lived in community with the Spiritans. Following health issues up in Arkansas, it seemed better for Pete and Judy to return to family in Jennings, who watched over and cared for Judy in her final days.

While driving home to Texas after the funeral, I was overwhelmed with gratitude, thinking back on the incredible witness they have been to me of their trust, generosity and commitment in their baptismal calling. They heeded the Lord’s call that led them from the little school house in Lake Arthur to family life to ministry and mission and always with a smile, a cigarette and a mug of coffee and, oh yes ... the most important part -- wise, listening hearts!

Rest in Peace, Judy Benoit Stubbs, Spiritan Lay Associate."

View a memorial video at  https://www.miguezfuneralhome.com/obituary/judy-stubbs.