On Friday evening, August 18, 1946 at 9:45 p.m., Joseph Edmond Gonzales, better known as "Mr. Eddie," passed quietly into a state of eternal rest and peace. His death followed a confinement of two weeks in bed, however he had been in ailing health for the past seven years. Death came as the result of a cancerous growth. The body remained at the Welsh Funeral Home in Baton Rouge until 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning when it was taken to the family residence in Gonzales. Funeral services were held Sunday at 3:00 p.m. in the Gonzales Baptist Church. Interment followed immediately in the Gonzales section of the Prairieville Community cemetery. Rev. Glen Lee Green, pastor of the Gonzales Baptist Church, and Rev. J. F. Arceneaux, brother-in-law of the deceased, conducted the services. Mr. Eddie was a lifelong resident of this community, where he had been engaged in business to the time of his retirement seven years ago. Born on March 4, 1866 of John Alfred Gonzales and Mary Frances Kling, he was 80 years, 5 months and 12 days old. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of his family. He is survived by his widow, the former Sadie Julia Albritton of Baton Rouge, and three children: Mrs. William Boyd Benton, Sr. of Baton Rouge and Odin Gonzales of San Francisco, California, by a former marriage to Aubin Weller, deceased, and one son by a second marriage, John Edmond Gonzales of Hattiesburg, Miss. Two grandchildren: William Boyd Benton, Jr. and Richard Edmond Benton of Baton Rouge. Seven brothers: U. M., O. H., Sidney, Dewey, [and] Lester Gonzales, all of Gonzales, Allen of Donaldsonville, and J. O. Gonzales of New Orleans. Three sisters: Mrs. Walter Dyer of Shreveport, Mrs. J. F. Arceneaux of Denham Srings, and Mrs. O. W. Brown of Gonzales. His step-mother, Mrs. John Alfred Gonzales, the former Louise Landry Alexander, also survives him. In addition to these, he leaves a number of nieces and nephews and other relatives.
