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After a long difficult battle with lymphoma, Janella Jo passed away peacefully at home on Oct. 30, 2021, surrounded by her loved ones.
Janella Jo was born on Nov. 10, 1936, in Crowley to Gladys Alice Morgan Fontenot and Roy Offord Fontenot. She was a loving and dedicated mother of four. The hole left by her absence is deeply felt, and she will be sorely missed.
She is survived by one son, Val Trahan and his wife Denise; two daughters, Kayla Trahan and Jonica Calamusa; her brother, Dale Fontenot and his wife Betty; her sister, Wynola Plotts and her husband Phil; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and many other loving family members.
A private graveside service was held Saturday, Dec. 4, at Woodlawn Cemetery.
Local arrangements have been entrusted to Geesey-Ferguson Funeral Home, 301 N. Ave. F, Crowley, (337) 783-3313.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, at the Duhon Funeral Home Chapel of Crowley for Houston Joseph Guidry, 90, who died at 1:35 a.m. Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Lake Charles.
Rev. Dalton Schexnayder and Rev. Jon Stanley will officiate the funeral services and the burial will follow in the Kye Hebert cemetery. Visitation may be observed on Monday from 10 a.m. until service time.
Mr. Houston was born June 28, 1931, in Rayne to the late Louis Guidry and Bernadette Mendoza Guidry.
He is survived by his daughter, Betty Stanley and her husband Jon of Lake Charles; his son, Timothy Guidry of Crowley; brother, Lester Guidry of Crowley; nine grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Louise Guidry; his second wife, Mary Lou Guidry; and a son, Jerry Guidry.
You may view the obituary, sign the guest registry and express condolences online to Mr. Guidry’s family at www.duhonfuneralhome.com.
Duhon Funeral Home - Crowley, (337) 783-1395, is in charge of all the arrangements.

Every year, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) attracts tens of thousands of volunteers to help count the continent’s birds across more than 2,000 locations.
With over 120 years of data, it serves as one of the primary sources of information to understand changes in bird populations. In Louisiana, where we are prone to large, ecologically devastating weather events (i.e., hurricanes), yearly bird counts can help evaluate the effects of these events on local bird populations.
A new study using CBC data from Cameron Parish, Louisiana, demonstrated the devastating impacts caused by Hurricanes Laura and Delta that hit southwestern Louisiana in the fall of 2020. The unprecedented one-two punch demolished human communities and infrastructure, reminiscent of the impacts caused by Hurricane Rita just 15 years before. Hurricane Laura, one of the largest hurricanes to ever make landfall in the United States, was rated as a Category 4. It brought 150 miles per hour winds and a 10-foot storm surge where it made landfall near the town of Cameron, Louisiana. Just 43 days later, Hurricane Delta, a Category 2 with 100 miles per hour winds and a 10-foot storm surge, hit just 12 miles to the east, near Creole, Louisiana.
The study’s lead author, Dr. Erik Johnson, used seven years of pre-hurricane counts from the Creole CBC and compared them against the post-hurricane survey to show substantial losses, especially to resident landbirds. The count following the hurricane, conducted on 3 January 2021, was the first in the count’s 36-year history in which Blue Jays were absent. Other birds absent for the first time in the last eight years included Inca Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, and Carolina Wren; only a few Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, Loggerhead Shrikes, Downy Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadees, and Common Grackles were noted. “In short, species that were present when these storms hit Cameron Parish are now largely missing,” said Dr. Johnson.
The analysis also showed many species that migrate from northern climates to winter in coastal Louisiana were also down in numbers, or absent, probably from the loss of habitat and food sources. A variety of forest and shrub-loving species, like Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Song Sparrow, and Orange-crowned Warbler, were much lower in numbers. “When we conducted the survey, everything was still brown – burned by the salt and torn apart by the wind,” said one of the survey volunteers, Charlotte Chehotsky, who personally experienced substantial damage to her home in Lake Charles.
The added effects of green habitat being stripped away alongside a relatively wet fall created increased open water areas for birds that prefer this type of habitat. The count volunteers found better than average numbers and a greater variety of shorebirds, waterbirds, and waterfowl, especially those migrating to south Louisiana for the winter. American Wigeon, American Avocets, and Lesser Yellowlegs decorated the otherwise devastated landscape with their flashy colors.
The study’s author anticipates that bird life will eventually recover, just as it did after Hurricane Rita. Even so, the increasing threat of sea-level rise and increased storm intensity due to climate change may shorten post-hurricane recovery cycles and may ultimately have dire consequences on species with already low population sizes, like Black Rails and Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.
Audubon volunteers are already planning the Christmas Bird Count for this coming holiday season and invite others to join. With nearly 30 Christmas Bird Counts scheduled across Louisiana, there are many ways for people to get involved! To learn more, visit www.christmasbirdcount.org.
Audubon Delta is the regional office of the National Audubon Society, encompassing the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon has had a presence on the Gulf Coast for over a century and is invested thoroughly in the region. Audubon staff are working to advance habitat restoration, conservation, and stewardship with the goal of having healthy and resilient coastal and marine ecosystems that support populations of birds, fish, wildlife, and people throughout the Gulf’s five coastal states.