Carl James Sonnier

New Iberia – Funeral Services for Mr. Carl James Sonnier, 76, will be held at 3:00PM on Sunday, December 28, 2025, at Highland Baptist Church with Brother Jeremy Babb officiating. Interment will follow at Rosehill Cemetery.

Visitation will begin at 5:00PM until 9:00PM on Saturday, December 27, 2025, at Frioux-David Funeral Home of New Iberia and will resume on Sunday, December 28, 2025, at 8:00AM until the time of service.

A native of Lake Charles, LA and longtime resident of New Iberia, LA, Mr. Sonnier passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving children and his grandchildren at Iberia Medical Center. They each took their time holding his hand, as he so lovingly looked up at them while holding tightly to their hand, hearing each of their “I love you” and responding back with his “I love you, too”!

After living a very hard life as an orphan child and most of the time having to take care of himself, at the young tender age of only 15, Mr. Sonnier hitch-hiked from Lake Charles to New Iberia where he began a new life for himself. To support himself, he worked as a carhop at the old M & M Burger joint. To his lovely surprise, it was there that he met the one true love of his life, his princess, Magda Roberts Sonnier. At the age of 17, he boldly asked for her hand in marriage. On November 19, 1966, they vowed to love and cherish one another until death did they part.

Mr. Sonnier’s first job in the oilfield was working as a roustabout for W.L. Estis. It was there that he began his career in the oilfield at only 17 years old. A young, short, sweet but fierce fellow that he was, he worked his body hard for many hours per day to make sure that his wife was able to stay home and didn’t have to go out and get a job. It was his primary goal to take care of her. Just before his 18th birthday, he became a father for the first time. This really gave him even more reason to do whatever it took to provide for his family. Through the years, his hard work earned him the role as a Supervisor and District Manager for every oilfield company he worked for. He was proud of his accomplishments and represented each company with the utmost loyalty. Throughout his career, he found himself being sought for by many other oilfield businesses due to his knowledge, dedication, and hard work. He always worked so diligently to the point of earning each company growth more than ever before. Due to his intelligence and abilities, he was able to create his own offshore drilling tool that would save companies millions of dollars. He was a well-respected man and was admired by so many. His passion for what he did drove him to want to share his knowledge with other oilfield hands and encouraged them to always do their best. He was affectionately known in the oilfield as “Poppa Smurf”. A few of the many other oilfield companies he proudly represented were: Brown Oil Tools, Rime Oil Tools, Dixie Oil Tools, Halliburton, Spartan, DSA (Drilling Services of America) and Energy Fishing Tools. He was a proud owner and operator of C & B Hotshot Trucking. He also co-owned and operated Gold Seekers for a short time.

By the age of 33, he was “Daddy” to his five children who were his pride and joy. Though there were times when he was a man of few words, his love and loyalty for his family never failed to be proven. He was their protector in every way imaginable. There was never a time that they could not count on him. He was their biggest Hero!!

He had a silly sense of humor and loved to pull pranks on every newcomer to the family, as well as his children’s friends. All of his nieces, nephews, and neighborhood children would gather in the backyard to play baseball, have penny rocket and stink bomb wars on the ground and up in the tree house he built, play cowboys and Indians with the toy guns he made, ride the go cart that he built and line up on the sidewalk for a ride on his motorcycle. For Halloween, he enjoyed making haunted houses to scare the neighborhood children. He found so much joy in making others laugh. He was also a huge fan of John Wayne and enjoyed relaxing while watching his movies in the evening. But what he loved most was singing Conway Twitty songs to his lovely princess, Magda. Because they married at such a young age, no one expected them to make it together through life. One of their favorite songs was “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane”. This song perfectly described their love and commitment to one another. They were married 55 years “until death did his wife part” on Sunday, December 26, 2021.

He is survived by his loving children, Leami Sonnier Mouton (Troy), Lynell Sonnier Aucoin LaSalle (Paul), Lavell Sonnier, and Bart James Sonnier (girlfriend Elizabeth) all of New Iberia; his grandchildren, Amberly Starr Mouton Langlinais (Paden), Desiree’ Magdalyn Mouton Daigle (Tristan), Chase Colby Aucoin, Skye Gaylene Aucoin Broussard (Zach), Hunter James Sonnier, Raiden James Sonnier, Alexia Jaymes Sonnier, Thomas Chandler Wilson, Makena Marley Persilver, Lorelei’ Bess Sonnier, Wyatt James Sonnier; his great-grandson, Reese Michael Langlinais; his great-granddaughter, Rhylyn James Daigle; a special nephew that was like a son to him, Bobby Broussard; his daughter-in-law, Renee' Sonnier; his sisters, Loretta Sonnier Brown, and Janelle Sonnier Boudreaux; his sisters-in-law, Ora Faye Roberts Blanchard and Coleen Roberts Ritter (Randy); his brother-in-law, Tommy Marvin Roberts (Barbara); and several nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Magda Geneva Roberts Sonnier; his loving first born son, Brandon James Sonnier; his parents, Walston James Sonnier and Amy Richard Sonnier; his four grandbabies in heaven; his sister-in-law, Martelle Roberts Broussard and infant daughter Victoria Gaylene Roberts; his brother-in-law, Nathan Blanchard; and his nephews, Todd Broussard and Rocky Bayne Blanchard.

Honored to carry him are his pallbearers, Bart Sonnier, Chase Aucoin, Paul LaSalle, Hunter Sonnier, Troy Mouton, Zach Broussard, Bobby Broussard, and Duke Hebert.

Serving as honorary pallbearers are Wyatt Sonnier, Chandler Wilson, Paden Langlinais, and Tristan Daigle.

As a display in honoring Mr. Sonnier’s memory, his son, Bart, requests that ALL MEN WEAR A WORK UNIFORM!!

We thank our Heavenly Father for delivering our precious Daddy/Pawpaw/Granddaddy from his overworked body that caused him lifelong physical pain here on earth and taking him into his eternal Home with Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior!!

Frioux-David Funeral Home of New Iberia at 1101 Trotter Street (337) 369-6336 will be handling the arrangements.