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Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. at Abundant Life Assembly of God in Rayne for Rebecca “Becky” Burnette Morgan, 65, who died Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022, at her residence in Crowley.
Interment will be in the Indian Bayou Methodist Cemetery in Indian Bayou.
Pastor Kerry Doucet with Crossway Fellowship Church of Crowley will conduct the funeral services.
Survivors include her husband of 43 years, Daniel Morgan; a son, David Morgan and spouse Kristie Morgan; daughter, Danielle Morgan Fontenot and spouse Patrick Fontenot; five grandchildren, Kayli Credeur, Ansleigh Fontenot, Brianna Morgan, Patrick Daniel Fontenot and Christian Morgan; five sisters, Cyndee Potter, Delilah Picard, Michelle Aguillard, Diana York and Debbie Smith; numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father, Desi Louis Burnette; mother, Iva Lou Benoit Roy; one sister, Patricia Roy Richard,; two brothers, Ronnie Burnette and Desma Burnette.
The family requests that visitation be observed in Gossen Funeral Home in Rayne on Tuesday, Jan. 25, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Wednesday, Jan. 26, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Friends may view the obituary and guestbook online at www.gossenfuneralhome.net.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Gossen Funeral Home, Inc., of Rayne, (337) 334-3141.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held at 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24, at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Lafayette for Richard E. D’Aquin Sr., 94, who died peacefully at his home in Lafayette on Saturday, Jan. 22, 2022.
A wake was held at the church at 1 p.m., followed by the Rosary at 2 p.m.
Rev. Fr. Chester Arceneaux was Celebrant of the Mass and will conduct the funeral services.
Pallbearers were his grandsons, David D’Aquin, Richard E. D’Aquin III, Elliott Grissom, Matthew Grissom, Scott Grissom and Stephen Grissom.
Honorary pallbearers were B.I. Moody, Richard Zuschlag, Carol Lafleur, Linda Thomas, and the surviving members of the Friday Lunch Bunch, Greg Poteet and Dr. James Reeves.
Delhomme Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
Richard is survived by his son, Richard D’Aquin Jr.; and two daughters, Deborah (Ken) Grissom and Ann (Mark) Derise, all of Lafayette; 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Beverly Mayeux D’Aquin; his parents, Edmond D’Aquin Sr. and the former Louise D’Aquin, both of New Orleans; two brothers, Edmund D’Aquin Jr. of Crowley and Robert D’Aquin of Lake Arthur; and a sister, Catherine Williams of Lafayette.
Richard — who was lovingly known by different generations as “Dick,” “Doc,” “Papa Doc,” and simply “P.D.” — was born to Edmond and Louise D’Aquin on July 27, 1927, in Iota.
Richard was a leader in Lafayette’s community affairs for the better part of a century, serving as publisher of The Daily Advertiser for 33 years, and sitting on numerous boards and committees in both government and civic life.
A Korean War veteran — and at one time the youngest commissioned officer in the U.S. Army — Richard retired as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. And he was a businessman, owning several community newspapers and chairing the Acadiana Marketing and Publishing Group for Thomson Newspapers Inc. after his retirement from The Daily Advertiser.
He was also on the board of directors of First National Bank for decades, as well as the BankOne Advisory Board.
Richard began his newspaper career 70 years ago as an advertising salesman for the Advertiser. In 1954, Richard was named editor and publisher of The Rayne Acadian-Tribune and Church Point News, weekly newspapers owned by the Murphy Newspaper chain, which also owned The Advertiser.
He was named publisher of the Lafayette newspaper in 1962 when Thomson Newspapers purchased The Daily Advertiser, a position he held until his retirement on Dec. 31, 1995.
As a daily newspaper publisher, Richard was one of the first community leaders to recognize and voice the concept that what is good for Acadiana is good for Lafayette, and vice versa. Early-on in the job, he adopted for The Advertiser the motto “Dedicated to making Acadiana a better place to live.” He was instrumental in fostering the creation of an Acadiana Caucus in the Louisiana Legislature, and he put his influence behind such far-reaching developments as the Cajun Dome, first-rate ambulance service, and even an ice hockey venue.
For the less fortunate, Richard created The Daily Advertiser Milk Fund and The Daily Advertiser Helpline. Through The Daily Advertiser’s “Action Corner,” another Richard D’Aquin innovation, the newspaper addressed numerous mundane albeit important civic issues from drainage to garbage pickup to street lighting.
In his decades-long service to the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, Richard served three terms on the Chamber’s board of directors, was on the executive committee and served as vice president. He was active in the United Way, working in all capacities from solicitor to president, at which he served two terms.
Richard was recipient of the 1969 Lafayette Civic Cup Award. He received the Monsignor Sigur Award at the 1995 Bishop’s Charity Ball and was King of the 1996 Bishop’s Charity Ball. Richard was a charter member of the Southwest Louisiana Education and Referral Center (232-HELP) and served five terms as president of that organization. He was also president of the Southwest Louisiana Education Foundation.
Richard served on the Louisiana State Board of Education for three years, serving as vice president and a member of the executive committee. He was a charter member of the Louisiana Board of Regents, on which he served for over three decades, including as chairman for four years, a member of the executive committee, and secretary to the board.
He served a four-year term on the Judiciary Commission for the State of Louisiana, and was a member of the Federal Public Defender Merit Selection Committee and the Governor’s Military Advisory Commission.
Richard served as either president, a member of the board of directors, or of the executive committee on the following organizations: USL Century Club, USL Foundation, Lafayette Downtown Development Authority, Downtown Development Parking Commission, Leadership Lafayette, Visions Lafayette, Lafayette Humanitarian Awards, Lafayette Safety Council, Junior Achievement, PAR Board of Trustees, Louisiana Educational TV Authority, LAGCOE. Louisiana Lung Association, HCA Cypress Hospital, Southwest Louisiana Education Foundation, and SLEMCO Foundation.
He was a member of the Lafayette Rotary Club and served as chairman and vice chairman of the Lafayette Civic Cup Recipients Club.
An LSU graduate with a B.A. in Journalism, Richard served two years as president of the Louisiana Daily Newspapers Association, and two terms on the board of directors of the Louisiana Press Association. While at LSU, he was on the varsity baseball and boxing teams, and he was a member of the “L” Club.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to Hospice of Acadiana.
Special thanks to Joeann Harrington of Hospice of Acadiana, and caregivers Darnell Bufford, and Annette Cashat.

Richard E. D’Aquin, longtime publisher of The Advertiser in Lafayette who was steeped in state and community affairs, died Saturday. He was 94.
A native of Acadiana and an LSU journalism graduate, he entered the news business shortly after college and remained in it most of his life, owning his own community newspapers in the area and serving as chair of the Acadiana Marketing and Publishing Group for Thomson Newspapers, Inc.
He started his career with The Advertiser in advertising sales and in 1954 was named editor and publisher of the Rayne Acadian-Tribune and Church Point News, both of which were then members of the Murphy Newspaper Chain, which also owned The Advertiser at the time.
He was publisher of The Advertiser for 33 years, retiring in 1995, including years in which he and newspaper unions oftentimes clashed. As publisher, he also had a passionate interest in local political affairs.
Thompson purchased the newspaper in 1962 and eventually sold it to Gannett.
Longtime friend Braxton I. (B.I.) Moody III was saddened by the news of D’Aquin’s death and stated, “We were friends for a long time. I will miss him until we meet again.”
Richard Zuschlag, CEO of Acadian Cos., said as publisher D’Aquin “used the newspaper to make Acadiana a better place to raise a family,” promoting the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and helping to raise money for charitable causes and for “hundreds of projects” that benefited Acadiana.
He said D’Aquin as publisher recognized the importance of Acadiana’s success in developing success in Lafayette, as well. He said D’Aquin transformed the newspaper from afternoon to morning publication, which helped grow circulation areawide.
Zuschlag was in his early 20s when he formed Acadian Ambulance to replace patient transfer service that was previously done by local funeral homes. D’Aquin as publisher was keenly interested in seeking ambulance service in Acadiana before and during Acadian’s early years.
“I was a very young guy from Pennsylvania at the time. He watched us for some time before he got involved with helping me. He liked the idea of local government having some oversight over ambulance service,” Zuschlag said.
“When we tried to expand service into Terrebonne Parish he wrote editorials for the Houma newspaper to help us,’’ Zuschlag said. “That was something that meant a lot to me.”
“Richard had a strong dedication to the improvement of his community and all of Acadiana and was not afraid to use the power of the press to further the interests of our area,” says Henri C. Bienvenu, editor/publisher emeritus of the Teche News in St. Martinville. “He taught me a lot about community journalism and the importance of covering and publicizing local governments and events.”
In addition to his newspaper career, D’Aquin served as an Army officer during the Korean War and retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve. He served on the board of directors of First National Bank and on the BankOne Advisory Board.
He created The Daily Advertiser Milk Fund so that poor children could have access to milk and created The Daily Advertiser Helpline. He served on the board of directors for the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce; he served with the United Way; was the recipient of the 1969 Lafayette Civic Cup Award; and received the Monsignor Sigur Award at the 1995 Bishop’s Charity Ball.
He was president of the Southwest Louisiana Education Foundation, was a charter member of the Louisiana Board of Regents he served for some 40 years — and served on the boards of myriad other state and local organizations.
His daughter, Deborah Grissom, said he was “a wonderful father” and “deeply concerned” and involved in the lives of his three children, 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
“He was always preaching about doing the right thing,” and advised his grandchildren that they should “get up, dress up and show up” for important events, she said. “He loved his community deeply and tried to instill that in all of us, as well as helping the needy. He was a wonderful man.”
She said he was revered by his grandchildren. “The grandkids would say when he talked with them, even at crowded events, it was like they were the only people in the room.”
A Mass of Christian Burial was held at 3 p.m. Monday at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. A wake was held at the church at 1 p.m., followed by the Rosary at 2 p.m.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Beverly Mayeux D’Aquin; his parents, Edmond D’Aquin Sr. and the former Louise D’Aquin, both of New Orleans; brothers, Edmund D’Aquin Jr. of Crowley and Robert D’Aquin of Lake Arthur; a sister, Catherine Williams of Lafayette.
Monsignor Chester Arceneaux, pastor, was the celebrant.