Gertrude Vaughan

LAKE ARTHUR Funeral services for Mrs. Gertrude Vaughan, 87, will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, June 15, 2018 in the Lake Arthur United Methodist Church with Rev. David DeWitt officiating.

Burial with will be in the Lakeview Cemetery.

Mrs. Vaughan died at 5:00 a.m., Sunday, June 10, 2018 in the Jeff Davis Living Center.

Visitation will be at the church from 9:00 a.m. Friday until time of services.

Mrs. Vaughan was a longtime resident of Lake Arthur and a retired elementary school teacher for over 35 years. She was a member of the Lake Arthur United Methodist Church, The Order of the Eastern Star and the Lake Arthur Library Club.

In addition to her many interests and community involvement, she worked with determination and devotion in ministry to the bereaved. In 1994, Rev. DeWitt and Vicki Stringfellow, RN, approached Gertrude and asked if she would be willing to sew small burial garments for the tiny babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital. She quickly organized a group of women from the church to assist in this project. The bereavement ministry was a gift of love and compassion and intended to show respect and dignity for the tiny little babies and comfort the grieving parents and family. The ministry was named Kassidy’s Kloset after one of the premature infants who had passed away. Corporal care of the deceased is one of the highest and holiest of ministries.

Gertrude not only ministered to the bereaved but she ministered to the poor as well. Again, using her sewing skills she sewed clothes for children in El Salvador and Honduras. When Rev. DeWitt would travel to Central America on mission trips, most of his luggage consisted of the clothes that Gertrude had sewn. These gifts to children made an enormous, positive impact in their lives by helping them know that other people loved and cared for them.

She was active in the United Methodist Women’s (UMW) group. Together these women reached out in ministry to the world by providing Health Kits and Flood Buckets, which contained cleaning supplies needed after a disaster. Gertrude and the other UMW members were frequent volunteers at the United Methodist Commission on Relief (UMCOR) at the sager Brown Supply Warehouse in Baldwin, LA as they delivered their gifts and any other special items which were needed to assist in disaster relief both in the U.S. and around the world.

Survivors include one son, Brian Keith Vaughan of Baton Rouge and daughter-in-law, Robyn Vaughan; grandson, Masen Reid Vaughan and granddaughter, Ashleigh Washington; two great-grandchildren Cadence and Ryker Washington and one brother Cecil Vincent and wife Shirley Vincent.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Pervis and Alida Winch Vincent; her husband of 65 loving years, Clifford Vaughan: two sisters, Geneva Hartman and Rita Broussard and one brother Basil Vincent.