Maurice & Anna Destouet

Maurice Destouet, age 95, died on September 8, 2022, after a wonderful and fulfilling time here on earth. The love of his life, his wife Anna Destouet, age 90, died on December 2, 2020, leaving us with a smile on her face. Both died at their home of 63 years in Los Angeles.


Maurice and Anna were childhood sweethearts going back to the one room country schoolhouse they attended and where their feelings for each other began and grew into a love that was both enduring and unshakeable. They married in New Iberia, Louisiana, on December 27, 1947. They were part of the historic migration northward of African Americans seeking a new and better life which they found in Lorain, Ohio where they lived until 1959. Looking for better employment opportunities for themselves, educational opportunities for their children, and forever sunshine, they once again migrated, this time westward to Los Angeles, California where they found a welcoming and loving community of friends and extended family. When Anna planted an orange tree in the back yard of the house in Los Angeles, she added, as has been told by Maurice, a five-pound bag of sugar to ensure that the fruit would be sweet; that tree is still today famous in the neighborhood for its prolific and sweet fruit.


Anna’s pastimes were embroidery, needlepointing, crewel work and her embroidered handkerchiefs, dining tablecloths, pillowcases and framed canvases are amazing works of patience and creativity. It took her 10 years to needlepoint the cushions of the dining room chairs. She was a teaching assistant for remedial children and Maurice loved to restore old cars and kept in pristine condition, the 1959 red Chevrolet convertible that he bought new and traveled across the country to California with, part of the time, the top down. Driving around Los Angeles with a scarf covering her hair was a great joy for Anna. Anna told her son, Butch, that she grew up with her children and learned to be a mother along the way. She learned well because she was the best.


Maurice and Anna are survived by a son, Butch, his partner Either, who lives in Tucson and a daughter, Zy, who lives in Honolulu. They are remembered by the cousins and friends that loved them in life and who will continue that love throughout eternity.
Anna died during the covid pandemic when it was not possible to hold services for her. She is being remembered with Maurice.


Visitation will be Tuesday, October 11, 2022 from 4-6pm at Brown-Robinson Funeral Home, 2652 Broadway Ave, Lorain. On Wednesday, October 12, a funeral mass will be held at 10am at St. Mary Church, 309 W 7th St, Lorain. Following the mass, Maurice and Anna will be interned at Calvary Cemetery in Lorain. They will be accompanied by Butch and Either, their nieces, nephews, and the children of their friends.