Gisele E. Souter

Gisele E. Souter, 83 of Magnolia, Ark. died Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at the Arkansas Hospice in Little Rock, Ark She was born April 13, 1929 in La Chapelle, St. Melaine, France. After studying in England following the liberation of her home in Brittany France in WWII, she worked as a translator-interpreter at Chateauroux Air Force Base, a NATO installation in France. After receiving her US citizenship, she worked for the US Civil Service at Laredo AFB, Texas, Brindisi AFB in Italy, Greenville AFB MS, and Craig AFB AL. Upon obtaining a BA and MA in Romance Languages from the University of Alabama she taught in the Tullahoma, Tenn. schools, in the Magnolia AR Junior and Senior High Schools for seven years and at Southern Arkansas University for 20 years. Gisele was an Honor Professor and Professor Emerita at Southern Arkansas University and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa ("Love of learning is the guide of life") and the Sigma Delta Pi (National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society). Gisele received several awards; the Life Achievement Award (Southern Arkansas Women Network), Educator Award of Excellence (Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association), and the Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes Academiques (by the Government of France for her major contribution to the expansion of French culture). Gisele served on the SAU Foundation Board (served two terms), was a past member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging, was a founder of the South Arkansas Foreign Language Alliance, she has funded scholarships and departmental endowments in the SAU College of Liberal and Performing Arts, and was a Steward of an Arkansas Tree Farm family since 1969. She is preceded in death by her husband, Arthur H. Souter, her parents, Pierre Gernigon and Edith Lefebvre Gernigon, her sister, Yolande Martel, and nieces Tandy Lowery (survived by David) and Carol Creech. She is survived by her two children, Dr. Ray A. Souter (Kris) of Athens, Ga. and Edith G. Watson (Nigel) of Naples, Fla; four grandchildren, William A. Souter of Wilmington, N.C., Katherine G. Fleming (Keith) of Washington, DC, Alexander Watson of Walnut Creek, Calif. and Lena Souter of Little Rock. Ark; two great-granddaughters, Anna Gisele and Madeline Grace Fleming of Washington DC; four nephews and nieces from France, Jocelyne Theaudin, Catherine Martel, Jean Paul Martel (Genevieve), and Jeannick Martel and their children and grandchildren; nephews and nieces from the United States, Zina Horne (Art) of Sherwood, Ark., Ted Souter of Texarkana, Ark., Pam Shemas (Mike) of Magnolia, Ark., James Latson Souter (Rhonda) of Benton, La., Jim Souter (Julia) of Milledgeville, Ga., Voyne Souter (Claire) of Sandersville, Ga., David Souter of Milledgeville, Ga., Cindy Bradley of Athens, Texas, Sherry Nuska of Athens, Texas, Lori Bukoski of Cypress, Texas, Breke Souter of Lafayette, La., and Carl Knight of Taylor, Ark.; also survived by two brothers-in-law, Latson Souter of Haughton, La. and Voyne F. Souter (Julie) of Milledgeville, Ga., and three sisters-in-law, Alma Rene Montgomery of Sherwood, Ark., Sybil Souter of Magnolia, Ark., and Betty Souter of Tyler, Texas. Funeral services will be Saturday, February 9th at 2 p.m. at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church with Father Tony Robbins officiating. Burial will follow at the Harmony Cemetery under the direction of Lewis Funeral Home, Inc. of Magnolia. Visitation will be Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Pallbearers will be her grandsons and nephews, with church members and friends. Memorial donations may be made to the Gisele Souter Assistant Professor in Foreign Languages Emerita Scholarship Fund at Southern Arkansas University, P.O. Box 9174, Magnolia. Ark. 71754. www.lewisfuneralhome.biz.