Denis P.J. Burguières
July 3, 1874 - December 30, 1936
Being the oldest son of Jules Burguières, Sr., Denis P.J. Burguières succeeded his father as president of the family-run J. M. Burguières Company, dividing his time between the Cypremort, Florence, and Inez plantations, all located in St. Mary Parish. In 1901, the company was incorporated in Louisiana as The J. M. Burguières Co., Limited. Denis was also president of the Dulac Cypress and Shingle Company, president of the Cypremort Sugar Factory (which he designed), secretary of the Planters' Company and a stockholder in the Houma Cypress Company. In 1930, he received a U.S. Patent for his "Method of Ripening Sugar Cane." Denis married Alice Broussard, daughter of Frank Broussard and Ernestine Patout Broussard, both from pioneer families of south Louisiana. They had eight children. Denis P. J. Burguières died in 1936 at the age of sixty-two, having served the family business for over thirty-five years.
Three presidents and a CEO for The J. M. Burguières Co., Limited came from the Denis P. J. line. In 1959, his son, Edward Burguières, became president. In 1979, Philip J. Burguières, his grandson, was elected CEO of the company, and Ronald Cambre, the husband of his granddaughter, Gail Burguières, served as president of The J. M Burguières Co., Limited.
Alice Broussard
June 6, 1872 - December 7, 1937
Alice Broussard was born in 1872 to Marie Ernestine Patout and Pierre Felix Broussard, descendants of one of the oldest and most respected Acadian families of Louisiana—the François Broussard family. Her parents died very young, so Flora Patout, her mother's sister, and her husband, John Schwing of New Iberia, took in Alice and her four siblings—Ida Laperle, Horace P., Lelia Appoline, and Frank Oliver Broussard. Alice married Denis P. J. Burguières on June 29, 1898 at The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, also called St. Louis Cathedral, in the French Quarter in New Orleans. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Father Aloysius Curioz. Alice was "given into the keeping of the groom" by Jules M. Burguières, Sr. Their honeymoon consisted of a tour of Europe for several months. The announcement of their wedding in the local newspaper remarked that Miss Broussard was "one of New Iberia's favorite daughters," who would be "greatly missed in the social circle in which she moved and in which she was a special ornament." Alice died in December of 1937, approximately one year after her husband's death.
Children
Denis and Alice had eight children.
- Juanita Marguerite Burguières
- Denis Philip Joseph Burguières
- Albert Leo Marius Burguières
- Elise Yvonne Burguières
- Edward Edmond Burguières
- Jules Martial Burguières
- Alice Burguières
- Joseph Eugene Burguières
