ST. MARTIN PARISH — A two-vehicle crash involving a school bus claimed the life of 38-year-old Arthur Joubert early Thursday morning in Breaux Bridge. The incident occurred around 7:00 a.m. along the 1000 block of Poche Bridge Road. As investigators work to determine what caused the crash, Joubert’s family is focused on honoring his life and preserving his memory.
Joubert’s sisters, Angelique Devillier and Tiffany Begneaud, are sharing their grief publicly in hopes that the community will remember their brother not for how he died, but for how he lived.
“Everybody that knows him loved him, there's nobody that didn’t love him. If you met him, you loved him,”Devillier said. Begneaud reflected on the deep bond they shared.“Even though he was my baby brother, I knew he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me or my kids”
According to the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, Joubert was traveling northbound in a 2011 Hyundai Elantra when he crossed the centerline for reasons still unknown and collided head-on with a southbound school bus. His sisters explained that he had been on his way to work at the time of the crash.
“He just rode 15 minutes down the road to meet his boss in Carencro,” Devillier said.“We have no way of knowing the complete reasoning behind it.”
Joubert, a father of four, leaves behind a grieving family — including his youngest, a two-month-old baby. His sisters say his children were everything to him.
“His girls were the light of his life. He would do anything for those little girls, and they loved their daddy so much,” Begneaud shared.
In the aftermath of the crash, the family experienced a delay in being notified. Because Joubert’s phone was destroyed in the collision, emergency responders had difficulty locating next of kin.
“By the time notification was made, due to his phone being destroyed, they had no way to contact us and it took a while for them to send officers to locate us, so we didn't get to see him at the hospital. Very precious time lost,”Devillier said.
The family is now urging others to keep a written or printed emergency contact list accessible outside of a phone, in case of a similar situation.
As they begin to plan final arrangements, the sisters say their priority is giving Joubert a respectful and meaningful farewell.
“We just really wanted to have a funeral where we can have an open casket to be able to tell him goodbye and be able to see him one last time, especially for his girls,” Begneaud said.
Above all, they want his name — and his spirit — to be remembered.
“I don’t ever want anybody to stop saying his name. I want everybody to always say his name — Arthur Joubert! Arthur Joubert. I don’t ever want him to be forgotten,” said Devillier.
While the investigation into the crash remains ongoing, one thing is certain: Arthur Joubert’s family will continue to speak his name and share his story.
GOFUNDME TO SUPPORT HIS FUNERAL SERVICES HERE
