Louisiana
Anna Botley, 61
Died January 10, 2021.
Ossun Elementary School, Lafayette, LA
Special Education
Twenty-four years ago, Anna Botley was a certified nursing assistant for Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital when she started working with Lafayette’s youngest learners at a local Head Start program.
“She fell in love with working with children,” said Botley’s daughter, Kianna Patton. “She found her purpose in teaching and working with children.”
Patton was 3 when her mom began to realize that love, and it would later inspire her to enter the world of education, too. Patton teaches at an elementary school in Lake Charles and feels like that was inevitable.
“I was always around kids and working with kids because of her,” Patton said. “Even in the children’s church ministry at our church Destiny of Faith, we would volunteer together taking care of kids since I was 12.
“I tried to run away from teaching, but just like her, my heart was drawn to teaching kids.”
Botley, originally from Ville Platte, died Sunday after 23 days fighting COVID-19. She had turned 61 four days earlier.
She is the second Lafayette Parish teacher to die due to COVID-19. Michelle Suire, a 53-year-old special education teacher at a Lafayette elementary, died Dec. 22 from complications of the virus.
Botley leaves behind husband Henry Botley, daughter Kianna Patton, son Rick Botley and a legacy of more than two decades with the Lafayette Parish School System. During that time, she’d worked as a teacher’s assistant, cafeteria worker, substitute teacher and special needs bus attendant.
Over the years, Botley worked with children of all ages. She was working with students in the special education department at Ossun Elementary before she died, Patton said.
“She loved her students,” Patton said. “For every holiday, she’d shower them with gifts. She loved to make learning fun for them, too. She always encouraged them.”
The two would swap stories about their students every day after school, she said.
“My favorite thing about her was how caring and loving she was with everyone she met and worked with,” Patton said. “She always had a smile on her face.”
Botley also was a fashionable dresser, a woman of faith and a great cook — “Her gumbo was her specialty,” Patton said.
“She loved to cook for everyone,” her daughter said. “Anything you wanted, she could cook. She just had a giving spirit, always wanting to bless others.”
Those who knew her had similar things to say on social media Monday.
Brandi J. Bell, who said she’d known Botley since Bell was a little kid, described the woman as “so sweet, always had a smile on her face.”
Lindsay Doucet Thibodeaux, who said she’d worked with Botley in recent years, called her one of the most genuine and nice people you could meet — “So sweet and caring!”
Botley’s niece, Jennifer Tezeno, said she wasn’t just an aunt, but a mentor, too
“She was always encouraging me and giving me advice,” Tezeno wrote on Facebook. “We will miss you teasing us… miss your laugh and smile… but God had other plans for you.”
Michelle Suire, 53
Died December 22, 2020.
S.J. Montgomery Elementary School, Lafayette, LA
Special Education
Funeral Services will be held on Wednesday, December 30th, at 12:00 P.M. in La Chapelle de Martin & Castille, for Michelle Murphy Suire, 53, who passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center in Lafayette. The family requests that visitation be observed in Martin & Castille’s downtown location on December 30th from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. A Rosary will be prayed at 11:00 a.m. in the funeral home.
Survivors include her children, Olivia Suire and Landon Suire, and their father, Trent Suire; her parents, George and Cheryl Murphy; her brother, George and his wife Amanda, and their three children, Tyler, Grant and Georgia; her sister, Monica and her daughter, Nia Claire; her Godfather, Terrell “Uncle Chubby” Melancon; and her friend, Stuart Colomb.
Gone too soon, Michelle was a loving mother, daughter, sister, aunt, teacher and friend. A graduate of Teurlings Catholic High, Michelle served in the United States Navy prior to graduating from ULL with a BA in Education. Michelle found her calling as a teacher, specifically an Inclusion Special Education teacher, focusing her love and attention on her wonderful students at SJ Montgomery Elementary School.
Above all, Michelle loved her children, Olivia and Landon. Traveling with her children, occasionally spontaneously to points undetermined, were some of her life’s most treasured moments. Beyond her children, she loved to spend time planting beautiful, colorful flowers throughout her yard, decorating her home, and her genuine love of animals proving to be the saving grace for more than a few stray dogs and cats.
A beautiful soul, Michelle leaves behind a loving family and friends, all of whom were blessed to have had her in their lives. She will be missed dearly, and she will always be loved.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Lafayette Animal Aid, Hospice of Acadiana or a charity of your choice.