Valerie Joan Benjamin

St. Martinville - Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, March 14, 2009, in Pellerin Funeral Home Chapel in St. Martinville, for Valerie Joan Benjamin, 42, who died on Sunday, March 8, 2009 at MeadowBrook Specialty Hospital in Lafayette. Interment will follow at Praise & Worship Cemetery on Church Street, in St. Martinville. Pastors Apostle Cherry and Tony Derouen will conduct the funeral service. Valerie was a C.N.A. at Lafayette General Medical Center and several other medical facilities. She loved to shop, fish, watch movies and work on the computer. Valerie enjoyed organizing family gatherings. She loved her best friend, Tiffany and the special times they shared together. She will be sadly missed by her family and friends. Survivors include her father, Jessie Benjamin, Sr. (Elizabeth), of Lydia; three brothers, Jessie Benjamin Jr., William Benjamin, and Vincent Benjamin, all of St. Martinville; seven sisters, Elizabeth Long, of Lafayette, Pauline Batiste, of St. Martinville, Catherine Benjamin, of Oklahoma City, OK, Geraldine Benjamin, Margaret Ledet, both of St. Martinville, Carolyn Stewart, of Lake Charles, and Mary Demouchet, of New Iberia; a half-sister, LaTonya Benjamin, of Baton Rouge; three godchildren, Darnell Benjamin, Ashley Long, and Marcus Benjamin; and a host of nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her mother, Lorena James; her maternal grandparents, Arthur and Florence James; paternal grandparents, George and Amanda Benjamin; and two nieces, Rhonda Stewart and Patricia Long. The family requests that visiting hours be observed at the funeral home from 7 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. on Saturday. Pallbearers will be Antoine James, Arthur Paul Ledet, Johnaton Benjamin, Rene Demouchet, Steven Batiste, Jr., and Horace Benjamin. Honorary pallbearers will be Arthur Batiste, Arthur Ledet, Jr., Felton Batiste, Wilson Steward, William Benjamin, and Jessie Benjamin. Pellerin Funeral Home of St. Martinville is in charge of arrangements.