Claire Moreaux Blondeau

Claire Moreaux Blondeau passed away quietly at age 91 at St. James Place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. In accordance with her wishes, she was interred with her husband on May 2, 2016, at the Port Hudson National Cemetery, after a private ceremony attended by her family. She was born in New Orleans on October 12, 1924, and spent her early years in that city. She volunteered as a Red Cross nurse in New Orleans during WWII and later married our father in 1946 upon his return from WWII overseas combat service in England with the U.S. Army Air Force. She and our father moved to Baton Rouge in the early 1950s and resided in the University Hills subdivision in that city since 1955. She worked for the Schools of Home Economics and Landscape Architecture at LSU, and also worked as a grant writer for the parks department of Baton Rouge. After our father's death in 1974, she attended LSU, where she was selected for membership in the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and graduated Summa Cum Laude in Fine Arts. Mom was preceded in death by her husband, Alexander L. Blondeau, Sr.; her parents, Maurice "Morris" D. and Violet Attaway Moreaux and her older sister, Frances M. Gallagher. She is survived by her brother, Howard Malcolm Moreaux; her three children: Alexander L. "Chip" Blondeau, Jr. and his wife, Claudine (another daughter to our mother); Kenneth M. Blondeau and his wife, April; and Elizabeth Blondeau Faul. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Barret and Julie Blondeau; Alison and Jason Hoffmann; Lauren Blondeau and Justin Crow; Jared Blondeau; Alex Faul; Nick and Suellen Weller; and three great-grandchildren: Dylan, Wyatt, and Noah. Our Mother was an avid reader since childhood who named her daughter after the literary character "Beth" in her favorite childhood book, "Little Women". She fulfilled her lifelong dream of owning a bookstore by founding Cottonwood Books (another one of her children) on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge. She operated that bookstore throughout the 1980s. After her retirement, she continued to read incessantly, particularly British "who done its", and enjoyed watching British mystery programs on PBS. Our Mom's grade point average in college was better than all of us. We try to live by her example. She prepared delicious meals, was a gifted seamstress, enjoyed painting and, most of all, was a wonderful mother and grandmother. She lives on in our hearts and will be remembered as a loving wife, mother, mother-in-law, sister, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother, neighbor, and friend. She asked that the following quotation be included in her obituary: "If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses, and all my prejudices against my fellow man. Give my sins to the devil. Give my soul to God. If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever." In the paraphrased words of the song that she sang while rocking her grandchildren, "We'll be loving her ... always". The family would like to express our appreciation to the staffs of St. James Place and the Hospice of Baton Rouge for the love, care, respect and compassion that they gave to our Mom. In lieu of flowers, please send any remembrances to Louisiana Public Broadcasting, 1733 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70808.