Curtis Joubert

Curtis Joseph Joubert​
Mayor of Eunice in Acadia and St. Landry parishes, Louisiana​
In office 1981​ – December 31, 1994​
Succeeded by	Hubert "Kutch" Rougeau ​
Louisiana State Representative for St. Landry Parish​
In office May 1968​ – May 1972​
Preceded by	Two-member district:>​ Steven J. Dupuis ​ Sidney S. Sylvester​
Succeeded by	Multi-member district:​ Armand J. Brinkhaus ​ Joseph E. Coriel ​ Louis Dischler, Jr. ​ Steven J. Dupuis​
Born	May 1931​ Lawtell, St. Landry Parish
Nationality	American​
Political party	Democrat​
Spouse(s)	Kristine Kimball Joubert​
Children	Candace Joubert Khalifa Jonathan James Joubert​
Residence	Eunice, Louisiana​
Alma mater	Lawtell High School (defunct)​ University of Louisiana at Lafayette​ Louisiana State University​
Occupation	Educator​ United States Army in Korean War

​ Curtis Joseph Joubert, also known as J. Curtis Joubert (born May 1931), is a retired educator and Democratic politician of French ancestry from Louisiana. He served as both a state representative and as the mayor of Eunice in Acadia and St. Landry parishes.

Background

​ Joubert was born in rural Lawtell in St. Landry Parish to Edmond Joubert (1896-1939), who died when Curtis was eight years of age, and the former Julia Prejean (1897-1984). The child entered public schools speaking only French. In 1948, he graduated from Lawtell High School, an entity of the St. Landry Parish School Board, since reconfigured to Lawtell Elementary School. In 1951, Joubert served in the Korean War. Thereafter, he graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, formerly known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana or USL, from which he obtained a Bachelor of Science and a master's degree, both in the field of education. He undertook further graduate studies at USL and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 1988, USL honored Joubert as its "Outstanding Graduate in the College of Education". In 1999, as part of its centennial celebration, USL designated Joubert one of its top sixty graduates during the preceding century.​

Educational and political career

​ Ioubert worked as a classroom teacher, basketball coach, counselor, and assistant principal at Eunice High School. He is the former director of the Eunice Vocational Educational Center. In 1961-1962, Joubert was named the "Southwest Louisiana Coach of the Year." In 1967, he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives and served one term during the second administration of Governor John J. McKeithen from 1968 until 1972, alongside fellow Democrats Armand Brinkhaus, an attorney from Sunset in St. Landry Parish and a strong advocate of the French language and culture, and H. B. DeJean.Thereafter in 1980, under Superintendent J. Kelly Nix, he was appointed to the State Department of Education in charge of the statewide Title I program of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.​

In 1981, Joubert was elected mayor of Eunice; he unseated the incumbent and defeated two other challengers as well. In his last election in 1990, Joubert defeated in the nonpartisan blanket primary his fellow Democrat Hubert "Kutch" Rougeau, 48 to 39 percent. Rougeau withdrew from a runoff electio] which he could have contested with Joubert. In 1994, Rougeau was elected mayor to succeed Joubert, who did not seek another term. Rougeau took office on January 1, 1995.​ ​ Mayor Joubert helped to establish the Eunice Mardi Gras celebration, considered the largest small-town gathering of its kind in Louisiana. He coined the nickname for Eunice, "Prairie Cajun Capital." Numerous journalists covering the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans, which nominated the Bush-Quayle ticket, took side trips to Eunice to sample the authentic Cajun culture. In the process of doing so, many interviewed Joubert; such coverage brought national attention to the Acadiana region.​

Joubert founded the World’s Championship Crawfish Cook-off Contest. He has his own popular recipe for crawfish étouffée. He was instrumental in the development of the Prairie Acadian Culture Center, one of three sections of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. In 1986, he successfully spearheaded the renovation of the Liberty Theatre in downtown Eunice, which features the weekly "Rendez-vous des Cajuns" radio music program in which all the selections are in French. He worked for the establishment of the Eunice Depot Museum. He joined with the faculty at Louisiana State University at Eunice, a junior college, to establish the Cajuin Prairie Wildflower Habitat. He is a member of the board of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, widely known as CODOFIL. ​ After his tenure as mayor, Joubert was executive assistant to the Louisiana Public Service Commission, the regulatory body for transportation, utilities, and communications, of which several future governors, including Huey Pierce Long, Jr., Jimmie Davis, John McKeithen, and Kathleen Blanco, were once members.​

In 2008, Republican Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Joubert, along with the New Orleans restaurateur Paul Prudhomme, to the Louisiana Tourism Development Commission, an entity created to foster employment opportunities in the travel and hospitality industries of the state.

Legacy

Joubert and his wife, the former Kristine Kimball, have resided since 1999 in a 7,000-square foot house which occupies an entire block on West Park Avenue in Eunice. The house was built in 1981 by Thomas E. Powell, a former member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission from Eunice. The vanities in the bathrooms are onyx; the floors, marble, and the kitchen cabinets, walnut. A large oak tree shades the brick courtyard between the main house and guest cottage. An office contains the many awards that Joubert has received over the years.As of 2013, Mrs. Joubert was the principal of the Eunice Career & Technical Education Center.

In 1995, Joubert was featured in an article in Southern Living magazine. In 2003, he worked in the planning of the bicentennial celebration of the Louisiana Purchase. On November 29, 2003, Joubert was inducted as a "Living Legend" by the Acadian Museum in Erath in Vermilion Parish. He is also an inductee of the Louisiana State University at Eunice Hall of Fame for his longstanding work in promoting Bengal team athletics.

In 2005, Joubert was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield. Other Louisiana mayors inducted into the Hall of Fame include Chep Morrison, Victor H. Schiro, Moon Landrieu, and Ernest Nathan Morial, all of New Orleans, Melvin "Kip" Holden (1952-2025) of Baton Rouge, Edward Gordon "Ned" Randolph, Jr. of Alexandria, George Dement of Bossier City, Joe Sampite' of Natchitoches, and Hyram Copeland of Vidalia in Concordia Parish.​ ​ In 2013, Joubert obtained an historical marker to commemorate the German prisoner of war camp at Eunice during World War II. A number of the former POWs visited Eunice decades after their confinement, some during the time that Joubert was mayor. Each reported kind treatment by the people there.​ ​

References

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