Lucy Gerard Canter

It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Lucy G. Canter, age 92 of Georgetown, Texas on April 20, 2026, after a brief illness.

Lucy was born on December 6, 1933 in Youngsville, Louisiana to the late Treville and Cecile Vallot Gerard. Born during the Great Depression, life was not easy and her family, along with many other relatives were sharecroppers. The family farmed and picked cotton, okra, sugar cane and many other crops. Lucy was also tasked with taking care of the livestock and had a lifelong love of animals. From age 13, Lucy held many summer jobs from tipping okra to carhopping at local restaurants. She also enjoyed playing basketball at Youngsville High School.

Going to school was very important in her family, and it was her firm belief that, with an education, you could lift yourself out of poverty. After graduation from high school, she attended the Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), and obtained a degree in Education. She met her husband, Bruce Canter, during their first year of teaching in Westlake, Louisiana, and after they married, they moved to Orange, Texas.

For over 30 years, Lucy taught school at the West Orange-Cove Independent School District in Orange, teaching 5th and then 2nd grades. She made many close friends while teaching, and was elected to the Delta Kappa Gamma Sorority for teaching excellence. Lucy also continued her education while working at Oates Elementary by attending McNeese University and obtaining a Masters degree in Education Administration and Supervision.

After retiring from public school teaching, Lucy continued working for Program for Human Services in Port Arthur, Texas where she taught adults who needed retraining to get jobs in the community.

While she appreciated working, Lucy’s greatest joy was spending time with her two grandchildren. She moved to Georgetown, Texas to be near them and to be a part of their lives. She gave many piggyback rides, baked countless brownies, and loved dog-sitting for her family. Lucy also volunteered at Baylor Scott and White clinic in Georgetown and loved square dancing with various groups. She also made dear friends with her neighbors in Sun City, TX.

In addition to her parents, Lucy is preceded in death by her husband, Bruce Canter and her brothers, Tom Gerard and Louis Gerard; as well as her sisters-in-law, Joyce Gerard, and Joan Landry, and her brothers-in-law, John Carroll Langlinais, Wesley Bland and Allen Landry.

Lucy is survived by her sister, Rosie Langlinais of Pineville, Louisiana, her daughter and son-in-law, Donna Canter Howard and James Randall Howard, of Georgetown, Texas. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Lindsay Howard of Nashua, New Hampshire, and Matthew Howard of Richardson, Texas, and also by her sisters-in-law, Sylvia Bland of Orange, Texas and LouAnn Gerard of Lafayette, Louisiana - as well as many beloved nieces and nephews.

We will mourn the loss of this loving grandmother, while celebrating her life and influence on each of us. A memorial service will be scheduled at a future date in Orange, Texas where she will be interred next to her beloved Bruce. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to your favorite school, university or library in memory of her high regard for education.

Lucy’s words of wisdom: Be Happy.

~

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,

spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts

for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.

I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck

of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,

hull and spar as she was when she left my side.

And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"

there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices

ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!”

- By Henry Van Dyke