Vance Gabriel Plauché (August 25, 1897 – April 2, 1976) was an American attorney and politician from Louisiana. A Democrat, he served for a single term in the 77th Congress, from 1941 to 1943.

Early life

Plauché was born in Plaucheville, Louisiana on August 25, 1897. He attended private and public schools in Avoyelles Parish and, in 1914, received a Bachelor of Science degree from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

's St. Francis Xavier Commercial College, where he received awards for excellence in typing and final examinations. In 1918, he received his Bachelor of Laws degree from Loyola University in

, where he served as class president. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1918, and practiced in Lake Charles.

Start of career

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Plauché served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. Inducted into the service at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, he was a member of Loyola University's hospital unit, which subsequently served in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

as Base Hospital 102. He attained the rank of private first class before being discharged at

Camp Shelby Camp Shelby is a U.S. Army post whose south gate is located at the southern boundary of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, along U.S. Highway 49. It was originally established during World War I, and has served almost continuously since then as a trai ...

, Mississippi in 1919. Plauché was city attorney of Lake Charles from 1928 to 1932, and district counsel for the Home Owners' Loan Corporation from 1933 to 1935. In late 1939 and early 1940, he managed the successful gubernatorial campaign of Sam H. Jones. In 1940, he served as secretary of the State Civil Service commission, and was a delegate to the Democratic state convention.

U.S. House of Representatives

In 1940, Plauché was the successful Democratic nominee for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. He served in the 77th Congress, January 3, 1941 to January 3, 1943. During his House service, he was a member of the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, Committee on Invalid Pensions, and Committee on Patents. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1942, and resumed the practice of law.

Later life

In addition to practicing law, Plauché was a director of Calcassieu Savings & Loan and the Plauché Engineering company. His civic, fraternal, and professional memberships included the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization ...

chamber of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

, his local, county, state bar associations, and the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

Death and burial

Plauché died in Lake Charles on April 2, 1976. He was buried at Consolata Cemetery in Lake Charles.

Awards

In recognition of his services to the Catholic church,

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

awarded Plauché the

Order of St. Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (; ) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of the five Papal order of knighthood, orders of knighthood of th ...

(Knight).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plauche, Vance 1897 births 1976 deaths People from Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana Politicians from Lake Charles, Louisiana United States Army personnel of World War I Loyola University New Orleans College of Law alumni Louisiana city attorneys Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana Knights of St. Gregory the Great 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Lawyers awarded knighthoods