Martha Jane Bourgeois - Submitted for the USGenWeb by Richard P. Sevier 1/17/07

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Martha Jane Bourgeois - Madison Parish, Louisiana 

From Columbia (MO) Missourian October 12, 2003

Had cancer not claimed her life Wednesday, Martha Jane Bourgeois, co-founder and manager of Les 
Bourgeois Vineyards in Rocheport, would be celebrating her 67th birthday today. Instead, her family 
is preparing for her memorial service. 

Mrs. Bourgeois had been battling breast cancer for more than six years, said her son, Stephen Bourgeois. 
Her health had deteriorated in the past two or three weeks, he said. 

She died Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003, in her home, surrounded by family. Mrs. Bourgeois was born on Oct. 12, 
1936, in Sarepta, La., to Richard Frank and Grace Burns Stephenson. 

She married Curtis Horatio Bourgeois on June 15, 1956, in Tallulah, La. 

The Bourgeois moved to Columbia in the 1970s. 

In addition to managing and co-founding Les Bourgeois Vineyards with her husband, Mrs. Bourgeois was a 
member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and was very active with the Meals on Wheels program of Columbia 
for many years. Some of her other interests included sewing, cooking, tennis, scuba diving and gardening. 

Frankie Mehrle, a friend and a former neighbor, said Mrs. Bourgeois was very involved in her church and 
was a big contributor to the Columbia and Rocheport communities. 

She was a very caring person and always put others before herself, and she helped so many individuals, 
Mehrle said. She gave so much of herself and her talent to the community. 

She is remembered as a kindhearted person who was always willing to give of herself to the people she 
encountered, her daughter-in-law, Kristein King said. 

Mrs. Bourgeois epitomized a gracious woman, King said. She was kind, giving and poised. I feel blessed 
to have her as the grandmother of my two children. 

Mrs. Bourgeois is survived by her husband; two sons, Curtis M. Bourgeois of Rocheport and Stephen M. 
Bourgeois of Columbia; two daughters, Marcia Osuna Bourgeois of Denver, and Karen Bourgeois of Columbia; 
her mother, Grace Burns Stephenson of Minneola, Texas; a sister, Lynda Ann Stanley of Minneola; and 
four granddaughters. 

Her father and a brother, Richard Earl Stephenson, died earlier. 

Services, conducted by the Rev. Edwin Cole, will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1115 Locust St. 

Memorials may be sent to Meals on Wheels of Columbia, 800 Hospital Drive, Columbia, Mo. 65201.