Lorraine Howard LeBlanc

Lorraine Howard LeBlanc, a proud native of New Orleans, passed away on October 24, 2020 at the age of 76 in Austin, Texas. Few people actually knew her as Lorraine. She was “Dootsie” to her siblings and their generation, “Do-Do” to her nieces and nephews, and “Mimi” to her grandchildren and everyone else in later years. Lorraine was loved and remembered by every person who had the privilege of meeting her, even if it was briefly. In addition to her Louisiana friends and family, she quickly found a large family of friends upon her move to Austin. Regardless of her residence, Lorraine was a New Orleanian at heart wherever she went.

Lorraine was born on Tulane Avenue on February 11, 1944, the daughter of Leo Thomas Howard and Lorraine Marquet Howard. She spent her early years in the Irish Channel attending St. Alphonsus Elementary school on Constance Street and spent time at Kingsley House participating in programs for children from the community housing complex where she lived. Following a family move to Plaquemine Parish, she was raised in and around Braithwaite and graduated from Woodlawn High School. Lorraine raised her seven children in St. Tammany Parish, where she spent most of her adult life.

Her greatest joy was spending time with and helping to raise her grandchildren. That joy is the only thing that could pull Lorraine away from her beloved New Orleans. After her many years helping to raise her grandchildren in Mandeville, she jumped at the opportunity to spend her everyday with her youngest grandchild Margaux in Austin. Her grandchildren could count on their Mimi to be engrossed in play with them for hours at a time, at any time. She spoiled them, supported them, advocated for them, and kept lifelong secrets of all the stories of the mischief they got in together. They knew that they would find unconditional love in their Mimi.

Lorraine was a gracious host, talented cook, and passionate Saints fan who had a deep palpable love for others, whether she knew them or not. During the COVID pandemic, Lorraine had to stay physically isolated but remained connected with her family. She attended online happy hours and had a list of people who could expect a lengthy late-night phone call on any given night. Lorraine was generous, even when she had little. She often surprised whoever she might be thinking of with a small, but heartfelt gift delivered to their doorstep. For this, she was known as “the Amazon Queen.” She faithfully donated to charitable organizations throughout her life, never forgetting her many struggles and how her community had always helped her.

Lorraine was an enthusiastic Mardi Gras reveler all of her life, beginning as a small child arriving at the last minute to parades in the back seat of her father’s Yellow Checker cab. She was a fixture at the corner of St. Charles Avenue and Peniston Street every Mardi Gras day, missing only once in the last 43 years when her health prohibited. She always arrived in a glorious costume, with her distinctive get-up only exceeded in charm by her accompanying demeanor. To the amusement of everyone present, she would take on the persona of who or what she had dressed as each year.

Most notoriously, Lorraine was a witty and remarkable entertainer. To the delight of all of her children, grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews, she was the queen of make believe. She produced talent competitions, orchestrated elaborate doll-playing sessions, and insisted on fashioning a costume for each fantastical activity that she concocted. Lorraine often regaled family members with stories about her life, leaving them laughing breathlessly. Her sisters have said that they would laugh so hard on the phone there was nothing to do but to hang up or pass out. A favorite story theme was her narcolepsy and the absurd situations it caused. She might awake to a half-eaten bowl of Pokeno chips and milk, that she had fixed as a snack in her narcoleptic state, or to emergency personnel tapping on her car window after she had fallen asleep midday at Blockbuster in the midst of a movie return. At any gathering Lorraine attended, she performed. Often quietly disappearing, she would return in tap shoes for a quick “shuffle ball change” cameo. In her later years, she donned her twenty-something year old daughter’s string bikini at a family pool party. To Lorraine, humor was paramount. When asked about where she fit in her eight sibling line-up, she would say, “I’m the funny one.” She was right.

Lorraine is survived by her daughters, Lori Elizabeth Stenhouse, Gretchen Ann Hudgens, and Anne Margaret LeBlanc and fiancée Rahlyn; three step-children, whom she raised and loved as her own, Wayne Hogan LeBlanc (Sharon), Jason LeBlanc (Aristona), and Jolie LeBlanc; five grandchildren, Jakob Thomas Stenhouse (Chiara), Cassidy Ryan Brewster, Exavier Mitchell, Harper Bell, and Margaux Rose LeBlanc; and great-grandchildren Jakob and Charlotte Stenhouse. Her surviving siblings are Carol Becnel (Neil), Mary Albano (John), Althea Labbé (Guy), Yvonne McCurdy, (James), and Patrick Howard (Sue). Too numerous to name are the many cousins, nieces, and nephews who brought so much love and joy to her throughout her life.

She was predeceased in death by her son, Ryan Thomas LeBlanc, and brothers Ronald Thomas Howard and Leo Thomas Howard, Jr.

In honor of Lorraine’s wishes to keep everyone safe, the family will have a private committal at Mandeville Cemetery where she will be laid to rest with her late son. The family will host a memorial service to celebrate the colorful and beautiful life she led once it is safe to do so.

The family extends a special thank you to the amazing community of close friends and work family at US Anesthesia Partners, who came together to care for her during her time in Austin.

Memorial donations in Lorraine’s memory can be sent to Senior Access at senioraccesstx.org or Kingsley House at kingsleyhouse.org.