Joanne Weaver, age 86, of Marksville, formerly of Belledeau

Joanne Weaver
BELLEDEAU - Funeral services for Joanne Weaver, formerly of Belledeau, will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 19, 2017 at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Belledeau with Fr. Dwight de Jesus officiating. Entombment will be held in St. Alphonsus Mausoleum in Hessmer. Arrangements are under the direction of Hixson Brothers Funeral Home in Marksville.
Visitation will be held at Hixson Brothers Funeral Home in Marksville on Wednesday, October 18, 2017 from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. and will resume on Thursday from 9 a.m. until shortly before the time of services. Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Joanne Mary Bordelon Blanchard Weaver, was the second child born to the marriage of Edwin L. Bordelon & Elouise Bringol Bordelon. She was born on Tuesday, May 12, 1931 and died October 17, 2017 at the age of 86 due to complications from Alzheimers Disease.
She is preceded in death by her parents; one brother E.L. (Laura - deceased) Bordelon and her oldest son, Larry Paul Blanchard; first (ex) husband and father to her children, Raymond Blanchard; and her second husband, Lowell A. Weaver.
Those left to cherish her memory and celebrate her life are her daughter Janis (Ronald) Lacombe of Poland; two sons, Neal Ray Blanchard of Alexandria and Michael “Fred” (Kimberly) Blanchard of Belledeau; two sisters, Angie Lee (Leroy) Bettevy and Carol (Glen) Boyd; nine grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
She was a former parishioner of St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church. She was a charter member of the Ladies of the Altar Society as well as a Eucharist Minister. She served on many committees including the Annual Church Fair. Before taking the full-time Mail Route, she prepared meals for Fr. Molenscott and cleaned the rectory.
She was a wonderful cook and there was always a hot meal on the table. She loved garden salad and always commented that her meal was not complete without a salad. She was infamous for her "Heavenly Hash Chocolate Candy" and pralines (never used a candy thermometer), as well as "Cajan Cake" (the way she spelled it). No one could prepare and serve a hen like her.
One of her passions, besides her four children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, her precious poodle, Nunu, was her flowers and yard work. She had a greenhouse during the late 60’s into the early 70’s and when you would visit, she was busy either pruning or planting cuttings or watering the tropical paradise. Many times when she saw a new species of plant, a small cutting magically appeared in her purse from wherever she saw it. We fondly remember baby sitting a cactus all the way home, that came from a Stuckey’s in Colorado. Belledeau had never seen the likes of this cactus and within several years, everyone was getting their own baby sprout from it.
She was very active and always had a hobby. Once she had five aquariums and raised and sold tropical fish. Later, she had a ceramic kiln and created, sold ceramics and taught classes. Once she would tire of one hobby, she would try something new. She raised and sold canaries, love birds, doves and finches. At one time, she had over 100 blooming African Violets that were growing under specially made fluorescent lighted shelving in the patio and dining room of her home.
She also made and collected porcelain dolls. At one time, she had over 50 collector dolls and eventually started gifting the dolls to her family, because she wanted them to have something that once belonged to her. Her house had two or three curio cabinets filled with bells that she collected from all of her travels over the years. Joanne was fortunate to have visited many states during her lifetime, including Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, Ohio, Tennessee, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, California and many western states.
She was working as a part-time mail carrier during the late sixties, early seventies and later went on the become a full time rural route mail carrier in Belledeau. She would lift and carry as many as four or five mail sacks of mail, have it sorted (by hand) and cased and ready to deliver by 7:00 am. The summers were hot and the winters were cold. Many of the patrons along the route would either have hot coffee (winter) waiting for her or ice cold water (summer) when she delivered their mail. She was taught to change her own flat tires and many times had to do it all alone on a gravel road on her rural route.
After working for the U.S. Postal Service for 23 years, she retired in May of 1991. After her second husband passed away, she moved from Belledeau to her beloved home on Spring Bayou. It was here that her true love and passion for her day lilies and yard work came to glory. Her home was painted a vibrant green which served as the canvas to her beautiful landscape.
She had flower beds surrounding the entire home, with hundreds of varieties of day lilies and flowering shrubbery, rose bushes, & tropical plants. The back-side of her home faced the bayou, so when you went by in a boat, you were treated to a lush scenery with trees adorned with bird houses, hanging baskets and flowering plants in the flower beds.
She was one of the first women to "re-purpose or re-cycle". If it could hold potting soil, it was used as a planter. It wasn’t unusual at all to find daisies growing out of an old microwave oven or cactus growing out of an old claw foot bathtub. Bird feeders were created from old hub caps. Her hand tools were stored in nothing else but a re-cycled mailbox.
The inside windows of her back den had specially made glass shelves that housed hundreds of ceramic vases and planters with either cactus or flowering plants. Her yard was immaculate, there wasn’t a blade of grass in her flowerbeds. Her riding lawnmower had more miles than her vehicle because she would cut her grass (in Louisiana we cut our grass...not mow it) two to three times weekly.
During the winter months, it was too cold and rainy to go outdoors, so she would crochet and/or embroidery. She has made many afghans for family members as well as baby blankets, doilies and embroidered table toppers for many of her children, grandchildren, nieces and friends. If she wasn’t doing that, she was taking plaques off the wall and repainting them.
Joanne, fondly known as Nan, to her grandchildren and nieces and nephews, enjoyed life to it’s fullest, until signs of Dementia/Alzheimers began to make it’s presence at the age of 78.
In January 2010, she reluctantly moved from Spring Bayou to Oakmont Estate Living Facility. During the beginning of her residency, her activities included helping in the flower beds, caring for her 50 or so plants that were brought to her new home, participating in many outings, activities and dancing, which she loved to do. Some of the memorable events were the Annual Mother-Daughter Tea Parties and Annual Christmas Parties with her family.
Oakmont Estate was her home as well as that of her family and friends. Her family was privileged to use the kitchen facility with her and the other residents and turn out some of our traditional candy recipes to be enjoyed by everyone at the Annual Christmas Party.
There was a subtle decline in her mental and physical well being during the first few years there, only to see a further decline in her physical abilities in December 2013 after a week’s stay in the hospital; February 2014 with flu followed by another hospital stay in May 2014. By the middle of 2014, she was unable to walk un-assisted and pretty much gave up on walking and was using a wheelchair all the time.
In June 2015, she fell and broke three ribs and after a four day hospitalization, was transferred to Rivière de Soleil for rehabilitation and her new home.
She always wanted to go home...now she is peacefully resting in her eternal home with her family and friends.
The family of Mrs. Joanne Weaver wishes to express a special thank you to the staff of Oakmont Estate, Riviere de Soleil and All Saints Hospice for the compassionate care of their mother.