Lewis P. Simpson 
Simpson, Lewis P. A resident of Baton Rouge, he died Sunday, April 17, 2005, at 11:02 a.m. at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. He was 88 and a native of Jacksboro, Texas. He was a Boyd professor and William A. Read professor of English literature, emeritus at LSU. He began at LSU in 1948 and was coeditor of The Southern Review from 1964 to 1987, when he retired from LSU. He continued as consulting editor for The Southern Review until his death. He received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas in 1948. During his long career as a scholar, critic and editor, he published five books of scholarship [The Fable of the Southern Writer; The Possibilities of order: Cleanth Brooks and his work; Profile of Robert Frost; The Southern Review and Modern Literature, 1935-1985; Mind and the American Civil War: A Meditation on Lost Causes
[Published in The Advocate on 4/18/2005. ]
LEWIS P.SIMPSON
Simpson, co-editor of The Southern Review, or edited a dozen books, including The Fable of the Southern Writer and Mind and the American Civil War. Honors include the Avery O. Cravens Award of the Organizations of American Historians, the Hubbell Medal, the Jules and Frances Landry Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship. [From http://www.artsedcouncil.org/csl/lsimpsonfel.html] Also see <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/southern_literary_journal/v038/38.1hobson02.html>.
Bill Patrick
William Patrick 
The LSU community lost one of its own recently in Boyd Professor Emeritus William H. Patrick Jr., who passed away Thursday, Aug. 5, of natural causes. He was 78 years old. His was a career notable for, not only its longevity, but also the list of honors and accolades garnered along the way that are by now, too numerous to list in their entirety. By the time he retired in 2003 – 50 years after becoming an LSU faculty member – he had been the longest-tenured faculty member at LSU. 

“I know I speak for the entire LSU community, both past and present, when I say how deeply saddened we all are to learn of Dr. Patrick’s unexpected death,” said LSU System President and Interim Chancellor William L. Jenkins. A prominent scholar and researcher in his field, his work brought great distinction to LSU. His many contributions will continue to have an extraordinarily positive impact on LSU, our state and the nation. We extend our deepest condolences to Ruth and the entire family as they go through this difficult time. They will be in our thoughts and prayers. <>Born in Johns, Miss., Patrick was raised in Mississippi and Louisiana. After graduating from high school in 1944, he spent two years in the South Pacific serving in the military. He then attended Northeast Junior College in Monroe until 1948, when he transferred to LSU. Patrick earned both his bachelor’s degree and doctorate in soil science from LSU before joining the faculty in 1953. In 1977, he moved his research facilities to the Center for Wetland Resources and established LSU’s Institute of Wetland Biogeochemistry. He served as director there for the next 23 years. In 1973, Patrick served as a NATO fellow. In 1978, Patrick was named a Boyd Professor – the university’s highest honor. The following year he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ghent in Belgium and would later receive one from the University of Beijing in China. 

His major interests – biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen, carbon and sulfur in wetlands and redox chemistry processes in wetlands – won him much notoriety for his work. He was awarded research grants from the likes of the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Geological Survey. He authored or co-authored more than 350 scientific papers, earning him recognition from the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the world’s most cited scientists in his field. He conducted projects on wetland ecosystems in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States. He recently served as chairman of an advisory committee for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment study of national water quality legislation, and he served on the National Academy of Sciences committee to study wetlands.<> Together with his wife, Ruth, Patrick established the Patrick Lecture Series in 1999 through an endowment to the LSU Foundation. The endowed fund sponsors an annual lecture at LSU that alternates in the fields of Human Nutrition/Food Science and Wetland Sciences/Coastal Studies. He was also the namesake of the William H. Patrick Jr. Outstanding Student Presentation Award. The award recognizes scientific excellence and professional presentation skills in oral and poster presentations given by graduate students at the International Symposia on the Biogeochemistry of Wetlands.

Patrick is survived by his wife of 52 years; his two daughters, Terry Patrick-Harris and Dr. Carol Patrick Pisarello; his two sons, William III and Dr. Henry Patrick; his 12 grandchildren, Catherine and Ben Harris; Meredith, Madeleine and William Patrick; Anna Carolina, Laura Elena and Nicolas Pisarello; Clayton, Hayes, Hank and Molly Patrick; and his sister, Alma Webb Jones of Monroe, and his brother, E.W. “Pop” Patrick, of Lake Providence. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Hardy and Alma Webb Patrick, and his brother, Henry Carr Patrick, who was killed in World War II. At the time of his unexpected death, Patrick was still an active athlete, playing singles tennis and Senior Olympic basketball. He was active at University United Methodist Church and, in 1979, established the World Hunger Scholarship fund, which provides scholarships for foreign scientists who commit to return to their country on graduation. By Josh Duplechain

Alvin Lee Bertrand Ph.D.        <http://www.lib.lsu.edu/special/williams/abstracts/university/bertrand.htm>
Bertrand, Ph.D., Alvin Lee Al Bertrand, Ph.D., retired LSU Boyd professor emeritus and a world-renowned rural sociologist, departed this life on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2006, at his home in Baton Rouge. He was 87. Dr. Bertrand was born in southwest Louisiana near the town of Elton, where French was spoken almost exclusively and became his first language. He began school in Elton and completed high school in DeQuincy, where his parents moved when he was 7. From the mid-1920s until he left home in 1936, his family lived on a small farm where he was one of nine children who learned the meaning of hard work and discipline while surviving the aftermath of the Great Depression. Al graduated from high school in 1935 and completed his bachelor's degree from LSU in 1940. He went on to advanced studies and earned a master's degree from the University of Kentucky and a Ph.D. from LSU. During his stay in Kentucky, he met his future bride, Nickie. His professional career spanned 60 years and included four years of service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, 37 years on the faculty at LSU, four years as executive director of the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, and various adjunct teaching positions at universities through the United States. Dr. Bertrand was the author or co-author of 16 books, more than 50 monographs and technical bulletins, and more than 100 articles published in professional journals. In addition, he wrote 25 chapters or sections in books and encyclopedias. He was characterized by his professional colleagues as a rural sociologist "who combined theory and practice and added his own brand of humanity." He is fondly remembered by generations of colleagues and students in the field of rural sociology. Honors include: first American to serve as president of the World Congress of Rural Sociology, member of the Fellows Society of the University of Kentucky, induction into the LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction, recipient of LSU's highest rank of Boyd professor, membership in numerous honorary and scholastic organizations and international recognition for his contributions to his field or rural sociology. He is survived by his beloved wife of 64 years, Mary Nic Ellis Bertrand, and children, William Ellis Bertrand, Ph.D., and his wife, Jane Trowbridge Bertrand, Ph.D., of New Orleans, and Mary Lynne Bertrand Thames, Ph.D., and her husband, Marvin E. Thomas, Ph.D., of Mandeville. He also is survived by his grandchildren, Jennifer and Stephanie Thames and Katherine and Jacob Bertrand; and siblings, Isabelle Fotenos, Shirley Bertrand, Nettie Sue Walker, Dennis Bertrand and Huey Bertrand. He was preceded in death by his parents, Jacob and Ludie Bertrand; and his brothers, Jacob "Jr." Bertrand, Sherman Bertrand and Gene Bertrand. Friends visited on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Greenoaks Funeral Home, 9595 Florida Blvd. Visiting at University Baptist Church, 5775 Highland Road, on Wednesday from 8 a.m. until funeral service at 10 a.m. Visiting at Hixon-Snider Funeral Home in DeQuincy on Wednesday, March 1, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Graveside service at McFatter Cemetery, DeQuincy, at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 2. The family would like to extend sincere thanks to Dr. Peterman Prosser and to Hospice of Baton Rouge for their untiring service. Special thanks to all of the friends and family who assisted during the last several months, including Estelle Weatherspoon and Emma McQuirter. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to Hospice of Baton Rouge, 9063 Siegen Lane, Suite A, Baton Rouge, LA 70810-1951, or to University Baptist Church, 5775 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808. He was a charter member and served as deacon and usher for many years at University Baptist Church.
Published in The Advocate on 3/1/2006
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Meredith Blackwell
24 June 2005