Published in Jennings Daily News June 12, 2026
Douglas Roy Seilhan Sr, 74, passed away on June 5, 2026, at Southwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Jennings.
Douglas was born on Nov. 27, 1951, in a house that no longer exists, just south of the T-junction of La. 97 and Old Evangeline Highway. He grew up in a large blended farming family in Acadia Parish.
Douglas graduated from Iota High School in 1970 and joined the U.S. Navy that same year. He went on to serve our country and travel the world, being stationed at Naval Station Rota (Rota Cádiz) in Spain and Naval Base Subic Bay (Olongapo City, Luzon) in the Philippines, and later deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) from 1985 to 1989 as it changed home ports from Norfolk, Va. to Bremerton, Wash. He attained the rank of senior chief petty officer in 1989 and overall served 21 ½ years before retirement in 1992.
Douglas returned to Louisiana later the same year and, with the exception of several months in Montana in 2017, spent the rest of his life in Acadiana. He enjoyed reading, fishing, cooking, gardening, tinkering around, birdwatching, listening to rock ‘n roll, watching sports on TV and giving advice or a helping hand.
Douglas is survived by his best friends Dennis Burgess and Carrie Belaire; his children, Dana Rachael and Douglas Roy Jr; one brother, Abbie Louis (Sandra) Seilhan; three sisters, Nickie Bertrand, Matilda LaCombe and Emily (Bill) Fabacher; and five grandchildren, Sean Michael Osborne, Isaac Carter O’Neal, Alexus Ladelle Caruth, Althea Diane Seilhan and Emmal Leah Merée Seilhan.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Isaac Raymond and Ethel June Seilhan; and several siblings, including Agnes Ruth Doucet, Elnora “Sue” Mae Miller, Shelton Lee Seilhan, Rose-Marie Smith, John Richard LeGros and Cyrus James Seilhan.
Arrangements are under the direction of LSU’s Bureau of Anatomical Services.
Burial will follow in the Southwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Jennings.
