Leon “Sunny” Vial III was St. Charles Parish, through and through.
Vial’s local roots ran deep. His grandfather served as the parish’s sheriff, assessor, clerk of court, state representative and delegate to the 1921 state constitutional convention. His father also served as sheriff, and his brother served as parish coroner. Vial himself served as St. Charles Parish attorney for 23 years – just one chapter of what was a 62-year law career for the lifelong Hahnville resident.
Today, his loss is felt throughout his community and beyond. Vial passed away peacefully May 9 at the age of 96, surrounded by loved ones.
Born in Paradis to Leon and Jessee Vial, he and his brother David grew up on a farm, where they learned the value of hard work.
Vial was an alumnus of Hahnville High School and Southwestern University. He earned his degree in geology, then served in the United States Air Force, where he became a jet fighter pilot and flight commander assigned to the 391st Fighter Squadron flying the North American F-86 Sabre.
He served four years as a fighter pilot – and it meant the world to him.
“I was proudest of becoming a jet fighter pilot,” Vial told the Herald-Guide in 2017. “I was lucky enough to fly F-86 Sabres.”
When his time with the Air Force was through, Vial attended Tulane Law School, the beginning of a law career that spanned decades. He credited his brother for advising him to go into law.
He practiced law alongside his uncle, James Vial, and Harry Lemmon in the firm Vial, Vial and Lemmon. He practiced with the Hahnville firm for 20 years before opening his own practice near the St. Charles Parish Courthouse.
Along the way, he began serving as parish attorney for the St. Charles Parish Police Jury, and then the St. Charles Parish Council following the parish’s shift from the police jury system to home rule charter. He served in that capacity for 23 years.
Kevin Friloux worked with Vial as part of the police jury, and then when Friloux was elected the first St. Charles Parish president.
“He was always extremely well-prepared and detail-oriented,” said Friloux. “He went over everything with a fine-tooth comb … he wanted everything to be 100 percent correct and he was very meticulous.”
Friloux described Vial as mild-mannered and tough to read until you got to know him.
“Which, working as an attorney in a small parish, was probably a good thing,” said Friloux.
But once you got to know him, Friloux said, Vial was a warm, friendly personality who drew you in.
“He’d joke around with you. And he could tell you stories … about people in the parish who you might not have known or known a lot about. He knew a lot about history. He really knew the history of the West Bank of the parish, especially,” Friloux said.
“He was a good guy. He stayed out of the political arena as much as he could. He wasn’t like your politicians who are looking for a pat on the back, not that type of guy. He was kind of quiet and reserved – and a very good attorney. He always liked to give the parish government good advice. You had some attorneys who would kind of poll the police jury or get a feel for what they wanted first. He didn’t do that, he just gave good, sound advice.”
He also served as parish attorney through the administrations of Albert Laque and V.J. St. Pierre.
Vial and wife Mary raised four children together, Leon IV, Mary, Thomas and John.
As Friloux alluded to, while Vial followed his father into public service, he did not do so through politics. Vial observed the toll it took on his father both physically and emotionally. “I saw the misery daddy went through. I never got that interested in politics,” Vial told L’Observateur in 2001. “Politics has been good to us, but I don’t see the glory of it.”
Vial also had a soft spot for those who didn’t have tremendous means to pursue legal help – he often extended a helping hand.
“I’ve always been very happy to be of assistance to people who didn’t have a lot of money and couldn’t afford the prices lawyers charged,” Vial told the Herald-Guide.
He retired from law at the age of 93. He was a member of St. Charles Masonic Lodge No. 445, the Consistory, and Jerusalem Temple, and was a 32nd Degree Mason in the Scottish Rite. He was also a member of American Legion Post 131.
