Theresa "Joyce" LabordeFuneral services for Mrs. Theresa Joyce Laborde will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Marksville with Fr. Rusty Rabalais officiating. Burial will be held in St. Joseph Cemetery #2. Arrangements are under the direction of Hixson Brothers Funeral Home of Marksville. Mrs. Laborde passed away from this life on August 1, 2017. She was born on a farm near Marksville to Curry Laborde and Camille Guillory on September 23, 1930. After graduating from Marksville High in 1948, she attended the Alexandria Business School and was later employed by the Southern Bell Telephone Company for nineteen years. Joyce married Dr. Walter J. Laborde on July 27, 1957, and from their union were born four children: Charles Albert, Julie Laborde Humble, Mona Laborde Joffrion, and Anais Laborde Liu. She is also survived by one sister, Ina Desselle and eight grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; one brother, Irvin Laborde and two sisters, Katherine Woods and Mary Rush. In 1967, she joined the Avoyelles Parish Council on Aging and soon was appointed Director. She enthusiastically undertook the development and expansion of that activity. First, embracing the Meals on Wheels Program, she expanded it from its base in Marksville to other places in the parish in Bunkie, Simmesport, Moreauville, Hessmer, Mansura, Cottonport and Ward One. Soon after, she procured federal and state grants plus a donation from a statewide labor organization to build the Avoyelles Senior Citizens Center at no cost to the parish. Joyce worked for 32 years at the helm of the COA. She was very active in her church belonging to the Catholic Daughters, the Altar Society, serving in leadership positions in both. She was selected by the church in 1992 for membership in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and was invested with the rank of Lady Grand Cross in that Order. In 1999, still later she was honored with the awarding of the Pilgrim's Shell which she personally received in Jerusalem, Israel. Though she is gone from us, she leaves a legacy of service; especially, to the elderly, rendered with commitment, devotion, and humility. May she rest in peace. Visitation will be held at Hixson Brothers Funeral Home in Marksville on Friday, August 4, 2017 from 4:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. and will resume on Saturday, August 5, 2017 from 8:00 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. To extend online condolences to the Laborde family, please visit our website at www.hixsonbrothers.com