JINVER ORTEGO SOILEAU

With deep sorrow, the family announces the death of their beloved wife, mother, sister, and grandmother Jinver Ortego Soileau. She passed away on Monday, August 16, 2021, at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Ville Platte.
Funeral services will be held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church on Saturday, August 21, 2021, at 11 a.m. with visitation in church starting at 9 a.m. Masks must be worn in church due to Covid.
Burial will follow at the Sacred Heart Mausoleum.
LaVille Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Jinver Dale was a lifelong resident of Ville Platte. She was born on December 16, 1941, and was raised on a small farm in the Te Mamou area. At the age of 17, she married her sweetheart and up-and-coming music producer, James Floyd Soileau. Jinver inspired the name of his first record label, Jin Records. Together they raised four children and grew their recording and publishing company, Flat Town Music, and Ville Platte’s famous Floyd’s Record Shop.
Jinver was very active in the preservation of the French language and culture of Louisiana. She served as the chairperson of the ESEA Bilingual Advisory Committee for several years. As a lover of Cajun music and dancing, she taught traditional Cajun contradanse to school children, hoping to pass on the tradition to the next generation.
She was a devoted Catholic and led a Come, Lord Jesus! group for 27 years. Her faith guided her through life. She never met a stranger. Jinver always made sure that whomever she was with felt welcomed and warm. She was a natural host and homemaker as her kindness brightened the room. Her family was her greatest joy. She and Floyd could spend an afternoon in their den with their children, playing cards and sharing stories of their travels and experiences together.
She will be deeply missed by her husband of 62 years, James Floyd Soileau; three daughters, Catherine and her husband Jeffery Sylvester, and Connie and her husband, Steven C. Fontenot, both of Ville Platte; and Cindy Habetz, of Carencro; and one son, Christopher and his wife, Dusti Soileau, of Ville Platte; her two brothers, David and his wife, Ramona Ortego, of Ville Platte, and Todd and his wife, Debra Ortego, of Eunice.
She is survived by 13 beloved grandchildren: her granddaughters, Margeaux Tujague and her husband, Hunter, of Lafayette, Casey Roberie and her husband, Robbie, of Eunice, Julianne Jurjevich and her husband, Timothy, of Benton, Meghan Sylvester, of Plaquemine, Amy Sylvester, of Lafayette, Halle Habetz, of Carencro, and Maci Soileau, of Sterlington; her grandsons, Jared Sylvester and his wife, Elizabeth, of Ville Platte; Ross Fontenot, and his wife, Insun, of Montgomery Village, Maryland; Alex Sylvester and his wife, Reshma, of Ville Platte, Logan Habetz, of Lafayette, Jeffery Sylvester II, of Lafayette, and Cole Soileau, of Sterlington. She is also survived by nine great-grandchildren, James Sylvester, Lia Tujague, Wiley Sylvester, Amelie Tujague, Frankie Sylvester, Trace Roberie, Evangeline Jurjevich, Greta Sylvester, Thijis Jurjevich, and baby boy Sylvester on the way.
She is preceded in death by her parents, George F. Ortego and Thelma Fontenot Ortego; and her son-in-law, Joel Habetz.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sacred Heart School Foundation, 114 Trojan Lane, Ville Platte, LA. 70586.