James E. Fontenot made his home in Abbeville, Louisiana. His family consisted of Sue Fontenot of Abbeville, his brother Michael Fontenot of Kaplan, and several nieces and nephews.

Fontenot was an attorney and a former member of the Louisiana Senate. He was elected in 1971 at the age of 27, the youngest member at that time. He served one four-year term, and then resumed his law practice in Abbeville.

Fontenot graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette) with a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts. He then attended the Louisiana State University Law Center and worked his way through as an organist and choir director at Sacred Heart Church in Baton Rouge. He was an accomplished musician, later serving as director of the boys choir at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette. He was a longtime board member of CODOFIL and was the host of “En Francais” on LPB. He was one of the incorporators of The Abbey Players, Abbeville’s theatre troupe, and was a member of its board of directors until his death.

Fontenot was a member of the Acadiana Pipe Band of Trinity Episcopal Church in Crowley. He is also remembered as a preservationist who restored several buildings in Vermilion and St. Landry parishes.

James E. Fontenot died on July 23, 2004 at his home at the age of 59.