Father Jay Baker is the middle child of Catherine Rogers Baker ‘53 and Harry Baker. He was born and baptized in St. Francis de Sales church parish and grew up with his family of five on a farm surrounded by sugarcane fields on Highway 311. As children, Fr. Jay and his siblings were involved in 4-H and Junior Leadership programs and his whole family participated in the Terrebonne Livestock Agricultural Fair Association. He and his siblings attended St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School, then Vandebilt Catholic. After graduating from VCHS in 1979, he worked his way through college at an oilfield service company on the airbase and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Louisiana State University. During his senior year of college, he was hired by an advertising agency in Baton Rouge, where he stayed on after graduation as an artist and graphic designer.

During this time, Fr. Jay also began a company with his mother and former art teacher from VCHS, where they designed costumes for krewes such as Houmas and Bacchus, decorated for carnival parties and weddings, and even designed and decorated a fleet of floats for krewes in Morgan City. Even after college, Fr. Jay remained a lector for St. Francis de Sales Cathedral and assisted in reinvigorating the youth ministry program. This is when he began to feel the call to priesthood.

Fr. Jay entered the seminary to discern his vocation in 1987. The following summer, he and five of his classmates worked in Temascalapas, a mission community in Central Mexico just around the Sierra Gorda Mountains from the pyramids. They lived in a garden shed behind the church and spent their days cleaning graveyards, repairing homes, and traveling around the 14 mission parishes of the Aztex descendants ministered to by the missionary priests there. Following that year, the seminary focused on the community of Sotuta in the Yucatan where Hurricane Gilberto had wreaked havoc. He had an additional five mission experiences working among the Mayan descendants living there.

During his seminary formation, Fr. Jay served the Student Government Association as Class Representative, Social Chair, and President. He completed his Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital and Texas Children’s Hospital in the Houston Medical Center. His “parish” was the telemetry floor, where he had several interactions with Denton Cooley, M.D., a pioneer of cardiovascular surgery. He was even able to observe one of his surgeries from the operating theater. Fr. Jay graduated from Notre Dame Seminary summa cum laude with a Master’s Degree in Divinity and was in the last class to be ordained by the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux’s founding Shepherd, Bishop Warren Boudreaux.

While serving as Associate Pastor, Fr. Jay was appointed Vocations Director by Bishop Michael Jarrell. A few years later, he was assigned to study Canon Law at Universitè Saint-Paul in Ottawa, Ontario. He was one of 62 students from 26 countries. He was elected as class representative both years and earned his J.C.L (a licentiate) from Canada’s Pontifical University. 

When the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux was sede vacante after the Diocesan Administrator (Msgr. Latino) was named Bishop of Jackson, Fr. Jay was appointed Assistant to our Apostolic Administrator, Msgr. Songy in January 2003. On December 8, 2003, he was appointed Vicar General by Bishop Sam Jacobs. In 2013, he led the first of four pilgrimages to Rome on behalf of the diocese. In 2016, he led the first of five pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Fr. Jay was reappointed Vicar General by Bishop Shelton Fabre and served in that capacity until the Spring of 2017 when he was appointed Chancellor. In January of 2018, Bishop Fabre appointed Fr. Jay as Rector of St. Francis de Sales Cathedral. This was his first assignment in Terrebonne Parish over 25 years later, where he had been ordained.

Over the past six years, Fr. Jay has made a significant impact not only for St. Francis de Sales church parish and the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, but also St. Francis de Sales Cathedral school, where you can find him welcoming students in the morning drop-off line, in the dunk tank at the Halloween Bazaar, or even bowling with the Kids in Christ youth group on a Friday evening.

Since ordination, each bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thbodaux has assigned Fr. Jay to parishes with schools – St. Genevieve, Holy Cross, Holy Rosary, St. Thomas at Nicholls State University, St. Joseph, and St. Francis de Sales. As Fr. Jay recalled, “Pope Benedict XVI succinctly expressed the essence of Catholic education saying: it is integral to the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News.” He gives credit to being educated by the Marianites of Holy Cross, Brothers of the Sacred Heart and many faithful lay women and men who taught in the likeness of Jesus at both St. Francis de Sales and Vandebilt Catholic to the priest he is today.

Glenny Lee Castagnos Buquet was born in 1936 to Lee Joseph Castagos and Hazel Felix Castagnos. She is a lifelong resident of Houma. Studying under the tutelage of the Sisters of the Marianites of Holy Cross, she graduated from St. Francis de Sales Girls School in 1954. Glenny Lee went on to major in Speech/English education, graduating from Southwestern Louisiana Institute (SLI, now University of Louisiana at Lafayette) in 1958. Returning to Houma, she taught at Terrebonne High School for 2 years.

In 1961, Glenny Lee married Jimmy Buquet, Jr. They are the parents of three Vandebilt Catholic graduates; Andrée Buquet Casey ‘80, J.J. Buquet III ‘84, and Michelle Buquet Olsen ‘86. Among her nine grandchildren, four are Vandebilt Catholic graduates and one finished with the Brothers at Saint Stanislaus. Her legacy at VCHS continues as Andrée has served, and now J.J. is serving on the Vandebilt Catholic Consultative School Board.

Glenny Lee and her husband were both community volunteers. Jimmy served for four years as chairman of the VCHS fair, which involved the entire family. Glenny Lee, Jimmy, along with other parents founded a tutorial school for children with dyslexia (the precursor of the resource program at VCHS.) They were also contributors to multiple renovations around campus throughout the years, including a recent classroom renovation.

The Buquet family established several endowments. Among these are an endowed education scholarship at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), a business school scholarship and speech scholarship at Nicholls State University (NSU), as well as an endowed scholarship at the Louisiana Center for Dyslexia at NSU.

Glenny Lee has been appointed to numerous boards, commissions, and task forces involved with education reform. In 1992, she was elected as the member from the Third District to the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education where she served 20 years, 5 years as President. Her priorities for education in the state were focused on K-12 literacy; improving student achievement through accountability at the school, district, and state levels; and working with colleges and universities to improve teaching education programs.

Glenny Lee was a founding member of the Dyslexia Society of South Louisiana and a founding board member of the Shedd Learning Center (a Saturday school to assist dyslexic children.) She also served as chairwoman of the Advisory Board of Directors for the Louisiana Center for Dyslexia at NSU. Currently, she serves on the Houma-Thibodaux Diocesan School Board, and is a board member of the Terrebonne Foundation for Academic Excellence (TFAE).

Glenny Lee’s goal has always been to help in any way she can. She has always put God first which has allowed her to use her time, talent, and treasure to give back to her community. In addition to supporting educational programs, over the past 4 decades Glenny Lee has also found time to support programs such as the American Cancer Society, New Orleans Hope Lodge, and is a graduate of Leadership Louisiana. She was a charter member and first president of the Junior Auxiliary of Houma. She has aided the progression of Southdown Museum, restoration of the plantation house, and began its docent program. She also serves as a CASA case volunteer.

In 1998, Glenny Lee was selected as Vandebilt Catholic Alumna of the Year, and in the same year, awarded as a SLI/USL College of Education Outstanding Alumni. In 2014, she was selected as The Houma Courier’s Most Useful Citizen. She was also recognized as the Houma Medical Auxiliary Volunteer Activist and received the Award Le Grande Dame of Houma.

Glenny Lee’s passion and drive continues today and is a constant reminder to us all that hard work and dedication does make an impactful difference in the lives of individuals and communities.