Community members in St. Mary Parish shared fond memories of Sheriff Blaise Smith who died Saturday afternoon.
According to Smith’s obituary, he was a Vietnam War veteran with over a 50 year law enforcement career for various agencies. He served as St. Mary Parish Sheriff from 2018 until his passing at the age of 75 due to a lengthy illness.
In a statement, St. Mary Parish Sheriff-Elect Gary Driskell addressed the profound loss of the beloved sheriff, and said “each memory serves as a reminder of his profound impact on our lives and community.”
In a social media thread hundreds of people shared pictures of Sheriff Smith as Santa Claus with their family members. Majken Perry, who’s known the sheriff since he was a child, said her fondest memories are the magic he brought to Christmas.
“Every Christmas my husband and I throw a Christmas Eve eve party, and if you can get on their calendar quick enough they would do house calls,” Perry said.
“So we have a video my oldest kids were a little bit younger we have a video of Santa and Mrs. Claus coming to our house for that party. All of the kids were shocked and amazed even the adults.”
Joline Bruno said she’s known Smith for nearly 20 years, after he served as Chief of Police for the Chitimacha Tribal Police Department, referring to him as family.
“He mentored a lot of us,” Bruno said. My father passed away so he would come in and take my brother fishing and camping, he got to really know a lot of people out there. He became like an uncle figure to a lot of us so we all call him Uncle Blaise.”
Bruno said Smith did all he could for the community during Christmas, recounting her grandson meeting “Santa.”
“He saw him in person before but he didn’t know the difference when he was in his Santa outfit.,” Bruno said. “So he really thought that was Santa.”
Perry said she’ll remember Smith as someone who always put others before himself.
“My husband worked with him a little while when he was chief at the police department in Chitimacha and he would always put family first,” Perry said.
“So if there was anything my husband needed he would always make sure that we are taken care of as a family unit.”
According to St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, funeral arrangements for Smith will be Thursday at 3:00pm at the Municipal Auditorium in Morgan City. For more information click this link.
