Ruth Foote, a veteran Acadiana journalist, has died. She had been battling cancer.
An avid lover of the arts, history and culture, Ruth documented the region’s people and events with empathy and curiosity. First reporting for the Opelousas Daily World, she went on to contribute to many local publications, including The Advocate and The Current.
“She was a wealth of knowledge and a great resource,” says musician and cultural advocate Erica Melancon Fox. “She was everybody’s cheerleader. She loved people. And loved life.”
A Black reporter working for predominantly white publications, Foote brought wider attention to Creole culture in the pages of the area’s legacy papers.
She co-founded, edited and published Creole Magazine, launched in the 1980s. Bereaved families often relied on Foote to write obits about their loved ones. She wrote many in her lifetime, Fox says.
Clifton Chenier’s family turned to Foote to write his obituary when he died, according to filmmaker, photographer and Creole Culture founder Milton Arceneaux.
“She was a champion for this culture long before it was in style, and she never needed the credit for it,” Arceneaux wrote in a social media memoriam.
While working a day job at SMILE Community Action Agency, Foote pursued a graduate degree in public history from UL Lafayette, which she achieved in 2019. She kept busy as a volunteer, too, serving on boards and commissions, most recently for the Bayou Vermilion District.
She was a dear friend to The Current, spearheading the Reflections on Race series published between 2021 and 2024. We treasured her institutional knowledge, her kindness and her probing curiosity.
Her death is a loss for our community and our profession. Through decades of dedicated work, however, Ruth created a lasting record of Acadiana and the people who shaped it, ensuring that their stories — and hers — will never be forgotten.
