Vernon Bourdette

Vernon Russell Bourdette, 97, died in Gulfport, Mississippi on August 14, 2018. He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1920 and grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1940, he joined the U.S. Army, part of a cadre that formed a new anti-aircraft artillery brigade. On Pearl Harbor Day, the brigade was ordered to the East Coast and deployed to the South Pacific, where they served for three and a half years. He returned to the States in 1945 and served in the Army Reserve, retiring from service as a Major.
Back in New Orleans, he graduated from Tulane University and began his career as a reporter for the Times-Picayune. He married Marian Jean Shaw in 1949 and they set out for San Antonio, Texas, where he continued as a journalist, later working for Texas papers in Brownsville and McAllen.
After managing a successful Congressional campaign for Democrat Joe Kilgore, the couple moved to Washington, D.C. where he served on the Congressman's staff until accepting a position with the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a science writer, editor and information officer.
The couple had three children; Russell, born in Brownsville, Texas; Julie, born in Alexandria, Virginia; and David, born in New Orleans, Louisiana. The family moved to New Orleans in 1958, where Vernon worked out of the U.S.D.A. Agricultural Research Service headquarters.
He retired in 1981, and in 1984 he and Marian built and moved into their retirement home in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Marian died in 2004 after a long illness. Vernon is survived by his children, Russell, Julie, and David (his wife, Avis); grandson, John; and longtime friend, Roma Martin.
A memorial service will be held at 3:00 PM on Thursday, August 16, 2018, at Christ Episcopal Church, 912 South Beach Blvd., Bay St. Louis, with a visitation for family and friends from 2:00 PM until 2:45 PM at Johnson Hall, next door to the church.  A reception will follow the service at Johnson Hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Christ Church Building Fund.
RIEMANN FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 11280 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport is serving the family.
Online condolences and pictures can be shared at www.riemannfamily.com