Biloxi Lions Club honors Father of the Year

In honor of Father’s Day this weekend, the Biloxi Lions Club recognizes one man as the Father of the Year.

Since 1999, the Biloxi Lions Club presents the annual Father of the Year award. This year, the prestigious honor was awarded to father of six, Steve Gautreaux.

Steve is a nurse anesthetist in the U.S. Air Force who is dedicated to serving his country and family. He is the father of Claire, John, Anna, Jerry, Thomas, and Ellie and is the husband of Amiee.

Biloxi Lions Club Father of the Year award is given based off of different family member’s recommendation, and a few of Steve’s six beautiful children tell News 25 why he is so deserving of this honor. Ellie said, “He’s like really loving. He likes to hang out with us, plays video games with us…he’s just a good father. He doesn’t put one of us above the other, we just all get the same.”

John said, “He does a lot of hard work, he takes good care of us, he loves us, and I just think he’s a good dad overall. Patient for sure…patient, hard-working, loving he’s just you know, he’s got the whole package going on.”

Jerry said, “My dad, he does a lot to sacrifice for our country, he serves, and he’s a funny guy. He always makes me laugh and makes jokes… stuff like that, and he just like helps out when we need his help and he’s always there for us whenever things are bad and he always protects us from danger and any harm, so I think my dad’s a good guy.”

If that wasn’t convincing enough to be chosen this year’s Father of the Year, Steve tells News 25 that his greatest joy is seeing his children succeed. “I think seeing their successes, that’s really the greatest reward I can get… is watching them become the young adults that they are and doing such a great job with everything they’ve been able to do and will most likely continue to do.”