Podcast Episode Details
Back to Podcast EpisodesDr. Mary B. Neiheisel – Living Legend of Service
Discover Lafayette welcomes a true living legend of service to Acadiana: Dr. Mary B. Neiheisel.
Dr. Neiheisel was the 2017 recipient of the prestigious Lafayette Civic Cup, one of the highest honors for civic service in our community. Her journey in Lafayette began in 1966, when she started teaching at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now UL Lafayette), launching 59 years of impact in education, healthcare, and community leadership.
With quiet determination, Dr. Neiheisel helped build UL Lafayette’s Nurse Practitioner Program, serving as its first coordinator and director and laying the foundation for graduate nursing education across the region.
Beyond academia, her heart for service shines through her long-standing work at Faith House of Acadiana, where she serves as a nurse practitioner and advocate for survivors of domestic violence. Her legacy of compassion is now honored through the Mary B. Neiheisel Patron of Hope Award, created in her name to recognize extraordinary servant leadership in our community.
From South Texas to Lafayette
“I grew up in a very small town in South Texas, about 40 miles from San Antonio, called Stockdale.”
Dr. Neiheisel traces her path into nursing back to her mother’s influence. “My mother always said that she concentrated on me being a nurse when she was pregnant. She said it was implanted. Consequently, she bought me the Cherry Ames nursing books when I was very young. Any medical shows on TV? We watched them. My mother started out to be a nurse, but she wanted to get married. And in those days, they did not allow the nurses to be married. So I think, you know, it was just her wish on me.”
Dr. Neiheisel received her early education in San Antonio, completing her baccalaureate degree at the University of the Incarnate Word before moving to Austin and later earning her master’s degree at the University of Colorado in 1965. She shares how she met her husband, Richard Neiheisel, then a USL history professor, and how that connection ultimately brought her to Lafayette in 1966.
Published on 6 days, 20 hours ago