Bill in works to honor late Capt. Brian Bourgeios in Lake Charles

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - A bill to designate a portion of Big Lake Road to a local hero is in the works.

“He was as much interested in being a good father, a good son, a good husband probably as much as anything in his whole life,” said David Bourgeois, Brian Bourgeois’ father. “That was important to him.”

Brian Bourgeois’ family knew him as passionate, a great father and hard-working.

“He wanted to be the best at whatever he was trying to be,” Bourgeois’ mother, Marlene Bourgeois said.

To the community, Bourgeois is a local hero.

“I think that he basically just fell in love with the military over a long period of time,” David Bourgeois said. “The academy days, those were kind of tough, but he moved out into the naval fleet. After that, he spent a couple of years there, and then he was selected to enter into SEAL training, and graduated from that in 2004. From then on, he was a Navy SEAL.”

Bourgeois died following a training incident 2021.

A bill by state Rep. Phillip Tarver (R-Lake Charles) is in the works that could soon remind the thousands that drive along a portion of Big Lake Road in Lake Charles of the sacrifice Bourgeois made for his country.

“I saw one of the traffic stops out by Target, and it was named in honor of someone,” Tarver said. “I said you know, I would really like to do something special for the family, and I talked to them about it. They were very gracious, and supportive and agreeable.”

If passed, a new roundabout on Big Lake Road would be named “Capt. Brian Bourgeois Memorial Traffic Circle.”

It will connect to Ham Reid Road after a planned extension.

“I always have driven by these different highways and different monuments and wondered about the people who are being honored in that situation and what they did,” David Bourgeois said. “I think doing something like this recognizes someone for their accomplishments. I think it’s a wonderful thing, and I thank Phillip for that.”

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