Ronald Felix Boudreaux

Ronald Felix (Ron) Boudreaux, beloved father, grandfather, psychologist and loyal friend, found peace on February 4, 2023 after a 20-year battle with the progressive complications of Parkinson’s Disease. He was 79 years old.

Ron was a native of Lafayette, and from ninth grade until undergraduate graduation from Catholic University (Washington DC), was enrolled in the seminary to become a priest. Upon graduation, he determined to become a psychologist instead, and earned a PhD in clinical psychology at Louisiana State University in 1971. He began a forty-year career dedicated to the practice of mental health services for children, youth, and families, and was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Psychological Association’s Louisiana chapter in 2021.

Ron began his career in the 1970s as a staff psychologist at Central Louisiana State Hospital in Pineville, then served as the CEO of the Greenwell Springs Adolescent Hospital in Baton Rouge. In the 1980s, he became director of programs for the Louisiana Office of Mental Health, where he helped transform the delivery of child and family mental healthcare services diverting children from hospitalization to less restrictive, more effective community-based care. He was then promoted to chief psychologist in the 1990s whereby he established the state’s first comprehensive system of public mental health services for Louisiana infants, children, youth, and families. During this time, he completed a fellowship through Tulane University’s School of Medicine in infant mental health, with a concentration in attachment theory research in infant-parent bonding. His research and clinical training programs created widespread access to critical support for underprivileged families in crisis. In addition to his public sector career, he counseled thousands of Greater Baton Rouge children and families through his private practice. He concluded his career – post retirement from the State - working with Dr. Donna Farguson at Family Focus, a multidisciplinary mental health practice, in the early childhood assessment and treatment office.

Affectionately known as “Boud-dha” and “Paw Paw” to his family, Ron had a way of making everyone feel heard, seen, loved and appreciated. To his children, he was their “rock,” and to his friends and family he was an incredibly warm, caring, kind and compassionate man. He could also make you cry laughing with his Cajun “Boudreaux” jokes and stories, hearkening back to his beloved Lafayette roots. Every Christmas Eve, he would light up children’s faces when he told “The Cajun Night Before Christmas” in his jolly Cajun accent as thick as his mama’s roux. He built furniture, fences and barns with his own hands, was an excellent photographer, loved watercolor, and thoroughly enjoyed sports, especially playing tennis. Ron loved his family, his profession, reading, travel, music of all sorts—from Cajun to classical, cooking, good food, and good friends. He couldn’t begin the day without a mug of black coffee, loved the sound of the gulf surf, a good glass of red wine or single malt scotch.

During the last twenty-five years of his life, he took up pilates, boxing, Tai Chi and indulged his love for travel, visiting Vietnam, Republic of Georgia, Egypt, eastern Europe, Chile, Tuscany, Provence, and Spain, and many parts of the United States with his longtime “lady friend” (his description) Mary Ann Sternberg.

He was preceded in death by his parents Florence (Daigle) and Felix Boudreaux of Lafayette. He is survived by his son Jonathan Michael Boudreaux and grandchildren Aaron and Araya; daughter Nicole Boudreaux Kleinpeter and grandchildren Camille and Thomas (Baton Rouge); his brother Kurt Boudreaux and wife Sherry and family (Lafayette); and longtime lady-friend Mary Ann Sternberg (Baton Rouge).

The family extends heartfelt gratitude to Suzie Boudinot, RN, and Drs. Doug Say and Keith Kellum, Hospice of BR; Drs. Mary Raven and Mark Kantrow, Palliative Care specialists; Dr. David Houghton, Ochsner Health Neurology; and special caregivers Temekia, Niki, and William.

A private burial will be held at St. John’s Cathedral in Lafayette, LA, with a celebration of life announced at a later date. Friends wishing to remember Ron may direct donations to Hospice of Baton Rouge, The Parkinson’s Foundation, or the Davis Phinney Foundation.