Mark A. Roberts

Cecilia - A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, February 5, 2024, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cecilia for Mark A. Roberts, 75, who passed away on Friday, February 2, 2024, at his residence, surrounded by his family.

A visitation will take place at the funeral home in Cecilia on Sunday from 3:00 pm until 9:00 pm. It will continue on Monday from 8:00 am until 10:30 am. 

A rosary will be prayed at 7:00 pm on Sunday evening. 

Father Michael Richard will officiate at the Funeral Mass. Readers will be Sally Roberts and Mick Aube. Gift Bearers will be Mimi Roberts, Joseph Roberts and Sylvie Smith. Interment will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery.  Musical selections will be provided by his nieces, daughters, and granddaughters.

Mark Roberts was born in McComb, MS on January 22, 1949.  His father, “Red”, worked in the oil fields. The family moved many times when Mark was a child always moving where the oil was to places like Sherman, TX, Buras, LA, then Franklin, LA where Mark started and finished high school. Mark was a standout athletically especially when it came to football. He was the starting running back for Franklin High as a junior. Going into his senior year he had several serious injuries which would have sidelined lesser men.  He was moved to cornerback where he still managed to finish the season will all district honors and a broken shoulder! Mark then attended USL starting in 1967 where he earned a Bachelor of Business Management. He arrived on campus in style in his 1967 Mustang Fastback which he purchased with his own money that he’d saved working at a local gas station and movie theater in Franklin.

Mark’s father passed away on his 19^th birthday while he was attending USL so his mother, Carolyn went back to work at South Central Bell to help Mark finish college. Red’s former supervisor Jimmy Groves got Mark his first interview at Brown & Root where Red worked for many years prior.

Mark met Faye Hebert in Houston in 1973 on a blind date set up by a PKT Brother. In 1975 the couple went home to Lafayette to be married in a colossal celebration that some people say they are still recovering from.  In 1979 they welcomed their first born, Monique, and a few months later moved back to Lafayette for Mark’s promotion at Brown & Root.  Then in 1981 they welcomed their son Greg at Lafayette General – where he shared the nursery with his future bride.

Brown & Root made a lot of bad decisions before they went out of business but one of the best decisions, they did make was to realize Mark’s talents, intelligence and personality that made him well liked by all, so they promoted him to Director of Business Development in 1980.  This was the first step in Mark becoming a Titan in the Pipeline Industry.

Mark invented the “side hustle” back in the 80s by erecting the first electronic billboard in Lafayette at the corner of South College and Johnson.  He was ahead of his time!  

Mark later worked for Woodson Construction. He really enjoyed working for the Woodson Family and helped them become established as the premier shallow water pipeline contractor on the Gulf Coast. Mark was well known and respected in the pipeline industry all over the country and was an extreme road warrior armed with coins for the payphone, hotel points, gas cards, and enough cracklin to close any deal. He was a member of several pipeline associations in the US and in 1996 with several close friends and clients he became a founder of the Louisiana Pipeliners Association.

Everyone knows that after his children he was the proudest of what the Louisiana Pipeliners Association has accomplished.  He was so proud of his perfect attendance for the over 25 years that he was active in the association.  Due, in large part to Mark’s leadership, the Association has raised and distributed over $2 million in scholarships to hundreds of deserving students since 1996.  

At the onset of the 2000s he had established such a great reputation in the industry that one of his long-time clients, Chris Whitney, encouraged him to start his own company and support multiple Louisiana based companies in Business Development.  Again he was a trailblazer and the entire industry benefited from it. Mark was everywhere, running the Louisiana Pipeliners Association and building up business for so many – he could tell you where every bump in the road was and where to find the best coffee on I-10 between New Orleans and Houston.

After many years of being a single Dad, in 2003 everything changed for Mark…he went to Downtown Alive and asked Paula Guidry to dance and became a better and happier man for it over the next 20 years. This union was the genesis of many blessings for Mark. He loved his stepchildren and step-grandchildren like his own. He was very grateful for the entire incredible Guidry family who have been warm and welcoming to him and his children from the beginning. 

In 2012 Mark was blessed with his first of three grandchildren. He retired from work in 2015 so that he could enjoy more time at home with Paula, their dog Packer and all of their grandchildren.

Throughout his life Mark was a faithful and devout Catholic. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and served as a reader during Mass.  He had great faith in Jesus, and we know that they are together side by side in heaven. 

We ask that you remember Mark for the generous, grateful, and faithful man that he was. He was generous with his time and tithings. He was grateful for his life and everyone in it. Most of all he was faithful to Jesus and all of his family and friends. This world will miss one of the most helpful and honorable men its ever known but we are grateful to have him looking out for us from heaven.

The entire Roberts Family would like to give a special thank you to Mark and Paula’s neighbors for the help they provided in many different ways as well as his caregiver, Amy Fiorello, for the compassionate and loving care that she gave to Mark during his final months of life. Also, special thanks to Hospice of Acadiana and his nurses, Alyson and Carol, for the care they provided him.

He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Paula Guidry Roberts; son, Greg Roberts (Dorothy); daughter, Monique Roberts (Michael); step-daughters, Brandy Aube' (Kory) and Callie Guidry; grandchildren, Sally Roberts, Joseph Roberts, Margaret "Mimi" Roberts, Chynna Huval, Elias Smith, Sylvie Smith and Mick Aube'; sister, Mary Michael "Mikie" Roberts; brothers-in-law, Shane Guidry (Christine), Mickey Guidry (Lynn) and Michael Guidry; and his sister-in-law, Karleen Berard.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Willie Roberts, Sr. and Carolyn Lanclos Robert s; brother, Willie E. "Dub" Roberts, Jr.; sister and brother-in-law, Paula and Richard Erwin; parents-in-law, Ann Opal Guidry and Amilcar Guidry, Jr.; and his brothers-in-law, Jude Guidry, Glenn LeBlanc, and Al Berard.

Pallbearers will be Kory Aube', Shane Guidry, Al LaCombe, Michael Harsh, Elias Smith, and Don Maillho. 

Honorary Pallbearers will be his Franklin High School Classmates, his Phi Kappa Theta Brothers, and his fellow members of the Louisiana Pipeliners Association. 

Memorial donations may be made in Mark's name to the Alzheimer's Association, for research, support and care.

Pellerin Funeral Home of Cecilia, 2238 Bushville Hwy, Arnaudville, LA 70512 (337-332-2111) is in charge of arrangements.