Three elected officials honored for thirty-five years in office

On the Saturday before the publication of November 13, 2012, Jean-Marie Oxéant, Daniel Laronche and Jacques Héleine received the regional, departmental and municipal medal of honor. Many residents, elected officials, family members and colleagues attended the ceremony to salute thirty-five years of municipal commitment.

Jean-Marie Oxéant spoke about the team of young candidates who, at the beginning of 1977, had chosen to run in the municipal elections. They did not imagine meeting thirty-five years later to take stock with the inhabitants and elected officials of the territory.

Originally from Cotentin, Jacques Héleine taught in one of the two classes in the village. After the closure of his only class in 1988, he joined the Trévières public school, of which he became principal, while continuing his activities on football fields and in a choir. Daniel Laronche had taken over his parents' farm. With humor, Jean-Marie Oxéant recalled his attachment to the land and his reserve towards the chainsaws and bulldozers used to pass the silage harvesters. He praised his two colleagues' commitment, sense of public service, skills and solidarity, in the service of youth, the environment, dignity and quality of life, but also public works and sanitation.

Antoine de Bellaigue, mayor since January 29, 2012, then retraced the journey of his first deputy. The article presents Jean-Marie Oxéant as elected city councillor at twenty-four, second deputy at twenty-six, then mayor at twenty-nine in 1983 and president of the water union. Re-elected in 1989, 1995, 2001 and 2008, he left his position as mayor at the beginning of 2012 while remaining first deputy.

His successor recalled the creation of the tourist office, of which he became president, the preliminary reflection on intermunicipality, the creation of the cantonal sanitation syndicate and his vice-presidency of the Intercom in charge of tourism. He cited the hydraulic developments, the roads, the sidewalks, the burial of the networks, the rock armour installed around the pontoon, the renovation of the built heritage, the Landing Museum, the tithe barn, the sports areas and the twinning of Bedford and Omaha Beach. The ceremony of May 8, 1995 involving young German soldiers also illustrated, according to him, his personality. Antoine de Bellaigue highlighted the usefulness of his advice and his ability to take a step back to bring out new projects.

Senator Jean-Léonce Dupont, also elected for the first time in 1977, insisted on the essential role of councillors to a mayor. He presented the medal as a sign of recognition for their availability, dedication, consistency and time spent on communal decisions. Former schoolmate of Jean-Marie Oxéant, he also paid him a personal tribute.

Reconstructed or uncertain passages:
- The ages given by the article for the 1977 and 1979 elections do not exactly coincide with that indicated in the 1979 denomination; they are reported here as the indications of this source.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/PhDoc15/Decorations2012Nov10.jpg