Suddenly, the patriarch of one of the large and proud LeBlanc families in New Iberia is being besieged by calls from family members who want to be in their number at a reserved table in the Cajundome Convention Center in mid-November.

“We’ve got to get a lot of tables,” Thomas LeBlanc Sr. of New Iberia said with a chuckle early Sunday afternoon from his home in New Iberia, where he and his wife, Mary Carol, were relaxing on the last day of the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival and Fair, having just returned from the game and tailgating at LSU.

LeBlanc said relatives are hopeful of attending the Community Foundation of Acadiana awards luncheon  Nov. 15 in Lafayette, where the LeBlancs will be recipients of the 2018 Leaders in Philanthropy Award for Iberia Parish, an honor presented by the CFA and Hancock Whitney Bank and sponsored by IberiaBank and the Shea Family.

“We’re going to have a good time. We’ll enjoy it,” he said.

Leaders in Philanthropy Awards are bestowed each year to outstanding people from each of the eight parishes in the tax-exempt, donor-centric foundation’s primary service area — Iberia, St. Mary, St. Martin, Vermilion, Acadia, Evangeline, St. Landry and Lafayette.

Raymond J. Hébert, CFA president and CEO, said in a prepared statement announcing the selection of the LeBlancs, “Our annual Leaders in Philanthropy Luncheon is an appropriate way to recognize those who have contributed so much to our communities through charitable giving or philanthropic work. We appreciate the community’s help in identifying worthy recipients through this nominations process.”

Called “good stewards in a community” by the Community Foundation of Acadiana, the LeBlancs give to charitable organizations and causes and, naturally, their beloved CHS. They were instrumental in securing the Doc Voorhies Wing, a new addition to the Bayou Teche Museum in New Iberia, and they play host to an annual fundraiser to support the Iberia Performing Arts League.

They also support many organizations, including the Catholic chursch, Sisters of Mt. Carmel, St. Edward School and Haiti and Guatemala missions, as well as the Unexpected Pregnancy Center, Wounded War Heroes and Shadow-on-the-Teche.

They have provided significant resources to CHS through participation and charitably giving to the wildly popular and highly successful Dancing with the Stars – CHS Panther Style. Their generosity included donating new pole vaulting equipment to the track and field program at CHS.

“Well, I’m kind of like amazed they even selected me. There really are so many people who give so much,” LeBlanc said. “We do appreciate the honor. I’m honored but embarrassed.”

The LeBlancs’ first reaction to being named the recipients was negative. They were reluctant to being singled out.

LeBlanc said, “We don’t like to be put in the spotlight. We told them

‘no,’ actually. The kids found out and said, ‘No, daddy, you’ve got to do that.’”

The kids are their sons Lee LeBlanc and Tom LeBlanc Jr. and their daughters Kay and twins Sharon and Sheila.

LeBlanc was in the first graduating class at Catholic High School in 1959. The year before, he was a junior at St. Peter’s College, which closed to complete the move to the new location at CHS.

His wife graduated in 1960 from Mt. Carmel Academy, which closed its door 28 years later.

They were married in 1961.

LeBlanc worked for a local company for approximately six years before he left and signed a three-year non-compete agreement. In 1971 he opened Service Tool Co. LLC, which has grown to become the leading importer, distributor and merchandiser of hand tools in the U.S.

Its brand and logo, a red/black/white crown above the word Regal, is in stores across North America and Europe.

“I started with $156 (in inventory) in my mama’s garage,” LeBlanc said. 

“Anyway, it’s been a lot of fun throughout the years. We have been lucky enough to have some success at business,” said LeBlanc, who, at 78, still works in the company’s distribution center at 2501 S. Lewis St.

“We’ve got a lot out of living here in the community. We felt it was time to give back. I love to give back to people where it’s going to the betterment of the community.”

To reserve seats and tables for the event, go to www.cfacadiana.org/lip.

The LeBlancs and their extended family will be there, as will the honorees from seven other parishes across Acadiana.

“As in life, when you have the means, it’s important to give back to the community because the community has given so much to you. Giving has a lot of value. It’s a great feeling. I think everybody should do it,” LeBlanc was quoted in the prepared statement released by the CFA.