Gerald “Buzz” Breaux died this week after a battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

He will be remembered by many as a former Lafourche Parish councilman and parish president.

Others remember him for his athletic exploits. Still others will keep in mind his work in the insurance industry.

More than three decades of kids will remember him for his annual appearances as Santa Claus.

I will remember him as a model of perseverance, patience and good humor in the face of unimaginable difficulty.

He was running for parish president when I came to work at the Daily Comet in Thibodaux in 1999. Several months later, he won election to the parish presidency.

In that post, he faced a unified wall of opposition that blocked his every effort to govern.

His term at the helm of Lafourche Parish was marred by the Council Five, a voting bloc that kept a stranglehold on the parish.

The late Charles Banta and current Parish Councilmen Jerry Jones and Daniel Lorraine were three of the five. The other two were Darryl Malbrough and Rhebb Rybiski.

Together, they tied up the parish in governmental inaction for four years. They voted down Breaux’s attempts to name department heads and pass budgets.

And the motives for their repeated sabotage on the parish were never made entirely clear.

What was clear was that the four-year nightmare, which even against Louisiana’s shameful political backdrop made Lafourche a laughingstock, took a terrible toll on Breaux.

At just about any hour of the day or night, one could drive by the parish office building and see a light on and Breaux’s car out front. Deprived of any top staff members, Breaux was left to do much of the labor involved in running the parish all by himself.

It was the sort of political challenge that would have gotten the better of lesser men. But Breaux, even as he faced incredible hardships purposefully placed on him by self-serving politicians, always had a smile.

He would stop by the Comet office often. He would come in to talk about this or that – usually the latest indignity heaped on him by the Council Five.

He would step into the office, smiling and extending an enormous hand for a friendly handshake. And he would sit down to tell us what he was trying to do for the good of Lafourche.

Of course, he was blocked at every turn by the Council Five, enveloped in the limbo that trapped Lafourche during those years in spite of Breaux’s best and selfless efforts.

He would often mention his appreciation of the four members of the council who consistently sided with him. Those four – then-Councilmen Joe Fertitta, Philip Gouaux, Roland Soignet and the late Lindel Toups – time and again made sure that the Council Five didn’t get a sixth vote, which would have been two-thirds of the council and would have allowed a veto-proof majority.

In the end, Lafourche Parish survived even these five council members, thanks to the efforts of Breaux and his four allies on the council and in spite of the best efforts of the five.

Breaux lost his 2003 bid for re-election to Charlotte Randolph, who went on to serve three terms and who had her own battles with the council over the years. And Parish President Jimmy Cantrelle, who took office at the beginning of 2016, has clashed bitterly with the current council.

But no one has endured hardships like those that tested even Breaux’s famously good nature.

I am glad to have known Buzz. I was always happy to hear about his leadership, even when it came with so many landmines.

But as a resident of Lafourche Parish, I am thankful that we had such a man in place at a time when he was so desperately needed. His tireless spirit surely saved us from even more mischief at the hands of the Council Five.

Buzz Breaux will be remembered for many different ways he improved the lives of those around him. But for an observer of local politics, it is no exaggeration to call him a hero.

His political service is still missed. It was a reminder for years of what could be accomplished when one has the courage to stand up for what is right.

Editorial Page Editor Michael Gorman can be reached at 448-7612 or by e-mail at mike.gorman@dailycomet.com.