My daughter is the first one to remind me that a person in his mid 40s is too old to be cute, but I guess it’s just related to age.

I am reminded of the cute comment as I grieve the loss of a former boss whose greeting to me even long after I had left her employ was, “Hey, it’s cute little Jeffrey.”

Most of us have those former employers who have left a positive impression on us. Although I on occasion felt a bit annoyed by the greeting, especially as I grew older, I now hear Marie Bergeron’s greeting in my mind and it gives me a sentimental, melancholy feeling that leaves me wanting to hear her say it one more time.

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Miss Marie, as most people in and around Thibodaux called her, was a special person. In the 1950s when radio was even more-so dominated by men, she was determined to make it in the medium. She never left the Houma-Thibodaux market, but that place was all she needed. She reveled in the attention and was excited by the network of friends she had built in the almost four decades she worked for KTIB and KHOM.

Some competent broadcasters who went on to the television market in New Orleans cut their teeth at those stations in Houma-Thibodaux, as well as some writers and editors. Those of us who worked with Bergeron along the way became her chicks to this motherly and wise hen. I’m sure many of us grew fond of her for her dry wit, her penchant for reporting the news and her easy way of teaching you about the craft.

I went to work for her in 1990. She brought me back to Louisiana from a short stint in Illinois. It was her mission for the radio station to be first with the news, to be complete in local coverage, especially politics and spot news. And she had many war stories to tell about bank robberies and exposing shady deals.

I remember the last time I saw Miss Marie. After Hurricane Katrina, an aunt and uncle had lost their home in New Orleans and moved to an assisted living home in Thibodaux. When I heard about this, I stopped by one afternoon to visit them. As I waited in the lobby, I heard the sound of a walker coming down a hall. It was not unexpected at such a place, so I paid it no mind. When the sound stopped near me, I looked up to catch a glimpse of this person, now waiting near the elevator. “Hey, it’s cute little Jeffrey,” she beamed. She told me she had injured herself in a fall and moved into the complex to recuperate.

That visit was a short one, but I told her that I would probably be visiting my aunt and uncle from time to time and that I would look her up when I did. As it happens, our paths did not cross during those few visits and I soon moved to New Iberia. But I will long remember her as the woman who returned me to my home, the person who taught me great lessons in building relationships and the boss who put up with the arguments of a cub reporter, showing patience and sharing her wisdom. Thanks Miss Marie.

JEFF ZERINGUE is managing editor of The Daily Iberian. He can be reached at iberianedit@bellsouth.net.