Bolivar Lee Hait

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, November 19, 2009, in the Delhomme Chapel of the Flowers for Bolivar Lee Hait, 98, who passed away peacefully at 9:57 pm at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. Reverend Perry Sanders, retired Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lafayette, will conduct the funeral services. Interment will take place in Lafayette Protestant Cemetery. Mrs. Hait, a long-time resident of Lafayette, Louisiana, was the daughter of the late Robert Edward Lee Sutherland and the former Ollie Wallace, both of whom lived in Mississippi. Wife of Dr. Kenneth B. Hait, Bolivar Lee taught English at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette (S.L.I. and U.S.L.), for almost forty years and retired as an associate professor of English. She is a graduate of Mississippi State College for Women (now M.U.W), Columbus, Mississippi, and she received her M.A. degree from Peabody College, Nashville, Tennessee. She did additional study at Peabody and at the University of Florida. Her teaching experience includes appointments at the high school, junior college, and university levels. At USL, Bolivar Lee served as freshman advisor and co-editor of A Handbook for Freshman Advisors, Panhellenic advisor and editor of A Reader for Rushees, and Alpha Sigma Alpha advisor. She was a member of the University Committee on Sororities, and co-editor of Handbook for Advisors of Beginning Students. She is listed in Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the South and Southwest. Her professional and honorary memberships include SCMLA, South Central College English Association, LTA, Louisiana Council of English Teachers, Sigma Tau Delta, Pi Gamma Mu, and Delta Kappa Gamma. Also a participant in many community activities, Bolivar Lee was a member of the Board for the Lafayette Community Concert Association, was TV and Radio Publicity Chair for Lafayette Community Concerts, and was a member of the Louisiana Council for Music and the Performing Arts, PEO, the University Women's Club, and the Louisiana Consumer's League. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Lafayette. The daughter of two educators, Bolivar Lee was an active member of the American Association of University Women at the local, state, and national levels. For ten years she served on the AAUW national board of directors as the chair of the development committee, which raised large sums of money for fellowships to allow women to continue their post-graduate studies. Bolivar Lee married her husband of forty-four years in 1936. She was a loving wife and mother. Her family and friends felt the positive force of her energy and her enthusiasm for life. A born teacher, she inspired countless students to continue their studies. Bolivar Lee was a member of several bridge clubs and a canasta club. She enjoyed travel, reading, music, and life. If anyone personified joie de vivre, it was Bolivar Lee. She will be dearly missed. She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Anne Hait. Bolivar Lee was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Kenneth B. Hait; and two sisters, Miriam Baker and Annette Boutwell. The family requests that visiting hours be observed on Wednesday, November 18, 2009, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm and on Thursday, November 19, from 9:00 am until service time at Delhomme Funeral Home of Lafayette. Pallbearers will be Darrell Bourque, Mickey Byrd, Walter Dobie, Irby Gaudet, Jim Gregory, and Glenn Thomas. Personal condolences may be sent to the Hait family at www.delhommefuneralhome.com. The family would like to extend special thanks to Wanda Hail of Houston, TX, her loving caregiver. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the AAUW Educational Foundation, 1111 Sixteenth (16th) Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, and please designate the Bolivar Lee Hait Research and Projects Endowment. Delhomme Funeral Home, 1011 Bertrand Drive, Lafayette, is in charge of funeral arrangements.

Bolivar Lee Hait

October 20, 1911 - November 15, 2009