Finally laid to rest in Plaucheville after 1918 death

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following artilc is about one couple who lost their lives during the Spanish Flu Epidemic which hit Avoyelles hard in October of 1918. They were among about 100 Avoyelleans who died in the epidemic. Dr. David Gremillion was interviewed about how the death of his relatives in 1918 led to his own career as an infectious disease expert. Their tombstone photo is a visual example to warn fellow doctors of the real example of death as Covid was in its early stages. Avoyelles has been hit by three epidemics in its history: Yellow Fever in the mid 1800s (at least 30 deaths), Spanish Flu starting in 1918 (about 100 deaths), and Covid, starting in 2020 (207 deaths in Avoyelles so far).
This Saturday at Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church in Plaucheville, Father Martin Laird, pastor, will finally put to rest a young couple who died of the Spanish Flu in 1918.
Paul Arnaud Gremillion and Anita Broussard Gremillion were originally from Plaucheville, where they went to the same school and became high school sweethearts.
They were married in Plaucheville but were living in Alexandria at the time of the great epidemic. Paul was a member of the Louisiana Guard, forerunner to the Louisiana National Guard.
When the Spanish Flu exploded upon the country and both Paul, 26 and Anita, 24 came down with the influenza, they had a two-year old daughter named Vera Mae.
In three days after contracting the flu, both parents died and Vera Mae, who was very ill as well, became an orphan.
The young parents died alone and were rushed back to Plaucheville and buried as quickly as possible, as was the practice at the time in dealing with Spanish Flu victims.
Two pieces of concrete with the names scratched into it were placed so the gravesite could be found and much later a bigger, gravestone was placed.
History of Spanish Flu
The pandemic started in Kansas at a military camp where soldiers were being trained to fight in World War I.
It actually began with pigs and became known as the Pig Flu. As in Covid that started with some type of fowl, the flu jumped from species to species, as it can do. Somehow it landed on some soldiers in the area who took it back to camp.
At the time there was little known about infectious disease and doctors were perplexed at what they were seeing and how fast men were dying.
The soldiers from the military camps in Kansas were being shipped east for embarkment to New Jersey and then on to France.
The spread of the flu was so fast there was not enough room in military hospitals or civilian hospitals.
From New Jersey a ship sailed to New Orleans where it deposited goods as well as the flu.
One can actually picture it spreading up the Mississippi River, like a deadly spectre and finding the young Gremillion couple in Alexandria.
Vera Mae went to live with the Broussard family. She was raised by them, took their name but was never formally adopted.
She married Temus Bonnette and they had seven children. Vera Mae was living in Lafayette and died in 1996. She died never knowing the full story of her real parents.
How name came to be
The name Spanish Flu in a sense is a misnomer. While the pandemic raged, countries in Europe imposed a blackout on any information regarding the killer influenza. Every country except Spain, that is, and it reported all the gory details leading people to believe it was in Spain only; thus the name Spanish Flu.
Present day
Dr. David Gremillion is a great-nephew of Paul Gremillion and currently lives in North Carolina. He is a retired doctor with a specialty in infectious diseases.
He literally became interested in the field because of Paul and Anita’s story.
He helped me connect the dots about Paul and Anita, Vera Mae and some history of the Spanish Flu.
“I used the photograph of their gravestone as motivation for doctors to encourage vaccinations during Covid,” he explained.
“Father Laird will consecrte the graves of these two young people who were lost to family until we started scratching.”
A formal burial was not held for the couple at the time of their death in 1918.
He went on to say that the ceremony on Saturday is a chance for the two families (Gremillions and Bonnettes) to come together for the first time.
“The Bonnettes never knew where their grandparents were buried,” he commented.
“This will be a time for them to celebrate their people.”
The Mass will be celebrated at 8 a.m. with a graveside service to follow.