Stephen Andrew Webre
Stephen Andrew Webre, 75, passed away at his home in Ruston on September 12, 2022, after a courageous battle with cancer. Dr. Webre was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Andrew S. Webre and Jayne Ellis Farrar Webre.
He attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) earning a B.A. in History.
Following his service in the United States Navy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and in the Canal Zone in Panama during the Vietnam War, he attended Tulane University in New Orleans earning a M.A. in History and a PhD in Latin American History. He was curator of Hispanic manuscripts at the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans from 198082. He was a professor of History at Louisiana Tech University from 1982 until his retirement with the rank of Professor Emeritus in 2017.
During that time he served variously as Head of the History Department, director of graduate studies in History, Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and held the McGinty Chair in History. He served as an advisor for Phi Alpha Theta, the History Honor Society for many years. Under his leadership the Lambda Rho Chapter at Louisiana Tech won 30 awards and national “best chapter” honors 28 times. Steve loved trains and traveling, and was a talented artist.
He was also a strong supporter of foreign study programs, organizing some for Tulane and other universities, and while at Tech participated in the History Department’s program in Florence, Italy, and the Spanish language program in Costa Rica. Working with students provided the greatest satisfaction to him. Those he taught numbered in the thousands, and he often said, “I hope they know that I have cared about each and every one of th em.”
Dr. Webre was a member of the Louisiana Historical Association and the Southwest Historical Association, serving as a past president for both. He was also a member of the American Historical Association, the Conference on Latin American History, the Latin American Studies Association, and the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. He was awarded a lifetime membership in the Guatemalan Academy of Geography and History in recognition of his contribution to the field of Guatemalan history. He helped to found the regionwide Congreso de Historiadores Centroamericanos.
Dear to his heart was helping to found CIRMA (Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamerica) in Antigua, Guatemala, providing access for all Guatemalans and Central Americans to historical and photographic archives and a library pertaining to the Mesoamerican region. It is one of the programs supported by the Maya Educational Foundation. He was a contributing editor in Central American history to the Handbook of Latin American Studies for the Library of Congress; on the editorial board for Mesoamérica; an editor for El Noticiero Centroamericanista; and most recently editorin- chief for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American History. He was inducted as a lifetime Fellow of the Louisiana Historical Association, and was a recipient of the Louisiana Tech University Foundation Professorship Award.
He also received the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Individual Achievement in the Humanities Award for his work with the Readings in Literature and Culture, or RELIC, programs held at public libraries across north Louisiana. Community service was very important to Steve. He was a down to earth, gentle soul, with a dry wit. He got along with everyone and was loved by all who knew him.
Steve viewed research not only as an obligation, but as a personal passion. It was what he did. He published numerous journal articles, book chapters and reviews, and made many conference presentations. His first book, José Napoleon Duarte and the Christian Democratic Party in Salvadoran Politics 1960-1972, was published in 1979. He also published two major book- length collections of original scholarship on Guatemala, featuring chapters by promising young historians whose work might not otherwise be known.
He was at work on another volume of essays at the time of his death, as well as several articles. Most of this work has been published in Spanish. In his words, “It reflects my own notion of the debt I owe to the people whose countries I write about.” Seventeenth- century Guatemala was his special area of interest and the focus of most of his research. A friend once said that he wrote in the most beautiful seventeenth- century Spanish he had ever seen. He loved Guatemala and its people.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and father-in-law, James Malone.
He is survived and mourned by his wife of 37 years, Karen Malone Webre; brother, Hal Webre ( Laurie) of Pensacola, Florida; nephew, Andy Webre (Robyn) of Austin, Texas; great nieces, Clary and Sadie Webre of Austin, Texas; mother-in-law, Betty Malone; brother- inlaw, J.D. Malone (Jennifer) of Monroe; sister-in-law, Laura Malone of Monroe; nephew, Logan Malone of Columbia, Maryland; nephew, Gannon Malone of Monroe; and numerous cousins and friends.
He was raised Roman Catholic and was an affiliate member of Trinity United Methodist Church. We could not have made this journey without the support and care of our church, our friends, and our family.
The family would like to thank Dr. Will Sanders, Dr. David Osafo and the Chemotherapy Dept., Dr. Michael Nammour, Josh Stanley, O.T., and all of their staffs at Green Clinic; Dr. William Zollinger and staff at the NELA Cancer Center in Glenwood Medical Center in West Monroe; the doctors and staff at Bienville Medical Center in Arcadia; Phillip Carroll, P.T.; Cody Rhodes and staff at Danni Jones, P.T.; Allegiance Hospice; and Dr. Jaime Cisneros and the staff at NLMC for their support and care.
A memorial service will be held Wednesday, October 12, 2022, at 2 p.m. in Burkhalter Chapel at Trinity United Methodist Church in Ruston with Rev. Doug de Graffenreid officiating.
Visitation and reception will follow the service in the foyer outside the chapel after the service. The ashes will be privately interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery under the direction of Owens Memorial Chapel Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to the music program at Trinity UMC (1000 Woodward Ave., Ruston, LA 71270) or to the Maya Educational Foundation ( mayaedufound. org).
