Jo Anne Gosselin Plessala Collection

Jo Anne Gosselin Plessala was born on 2 March 1931 in Donner, La. to Martial Gosselin III and Birdie Boudreaux Gosselin. She graduated from Terrebonne High School in 1948 and afterwards attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI) in Lafayette, La. While there, she became a member of the Red Jackets, the university’s pep squad and was a member of the Delta Theta Sigma sorority. Jo Anne married Carl Joseph Plessala, a native of Morgan City, La., in November 1950. Together, they had three children, Bruce, Dean and Jo Ellen Plessala.

Plessala’s employment history began in 1950 with a short stint at the Terrebonne Lumber and Supply Company in Houma, La. owned by Madison L. Funderburk. After college, she worked at Magnolia Petroleum Company in Morgan City until 1952 when her son Bruce was born. In 1953 she was hired by her former employer, Madison L. Funderburk to work at the Citizens National Bank and Trust Company (later renamed First National Bank of Houma) as a secretary. Over the following twenty-eight years, Jo Anne worked her way up the ranks to the position of Vice-President of the bank, becoming the first woman in Terrebonne parish to hold that title. In the 1970s, Jo Anne attended the School of Banking of the South and was the first woman in the history of the school to be elected class president. In 1981, she began working at the newly opened South Louisiana Bank and served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer until her retirement in 1988. For many years after retirement, she continued to compile and produce the bank’s annual report as well as acting as a bank consultant in addition to working as a Notary Public.

Jo Anne was actively involved in several clubs, organizations and other community events and activities. She was an advocate for educational reforms including the charter school system and was a vocal opponent of the Teacher’s strike in Terrebonne parish in 1989. She served as a Board member and Secretary-Treasurer of Parents and Friends for Better Education, member of the Education Committee of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and served on the Public Education Committee of Terrebonne First. Additionally, she served as a member of the Terrebonne Literacy Council.

Plessala and her husband joined the Firehouse Squares in 1974, a local square-dancing club and remained members for over twenty years. They later joined the Dixie Cloggers club which performed during the World’s Fair in New Orleans in 1984. Jo Anne taught clogging to a local club, the Cajun Country Cloggers for a number of years. In 1980, Plessala along with her husband Carl and another couple opened a country western dance hall named the Branding Iron where she taught several dance steps on a weekly basis. Jo Anne was involved with organizations such as the Red Cross and Daughters of the American Revolution and was a member of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church Women. She was instrumental in organizing reunions for the Bus #2 group of former students who rode bus #2 from Donner to Terrebonne High School. Additionally, she was an organizer of reunions for the Terrebonne High School class of 1948. After her mother Birdie died in 1989, she was asked to take over the organization of the Donner reunions which had begun in 1974. Because of her continued interest in the preservation of the history of her childhood community, Jo Anne authored two books, I Remember Donner, published in 1999 and Donner Memories-A Second Helping, published in 2007. She later established a small museum on her property with artifacts, photographs and other memorabilia documenting the history of Donner.

Plessala died 10 May 2017 at age 86.