Anna Mae Blanchard

Published 12:00 am Sunday, June 14, 2020

Anna Mae Blanchard died peacefully in her sleep due to a long illness, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Vascular Dementia, on April 1, 2020.

She was born in New Iberia on May 21, 1933, to Cleus and Omeria Lopez.

She was an excellent cook who embraced her Cajun heritage and could make the best shrimp and okra gumbo. She owned a daycare and loved all of the children she took care of. As the kids got older, they would stop by her house to reminisce about the days when they were little.

She married the late Paul Blanchard Sr. in 1951. Then moved in with her daughter in Florida when her health got bad in 2012.

She was preceded in death by her late husband, Paul Blanchard Sr.; her grandson Tate Blanchard II (Lil Tate); mother and father, Cleus and Omeria Lopez; sisters Una Maxwell, Alicia Bayard and husband, Baron and Verla Murusak; brothers Preston Lopez and Lester Lopez and wife, Cynthia.

Anna is survived by her sister Mary Copell and husband Wayne; brother Bob Lopez and wife Trudy; four children, Paul Blanchard Jr. of Cebu, Philippines, and first wife Annette of New Iberia, Deborah Hoffman of Orlando, Florida, Timothy Blanchard of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Tate Blanchard and wife Georgette, of Houston; eight grandchildren, Paul Blanchard III and wife Guenervere of Palm Springs, California, Courtney Blanchard and wife Bethany of London, Gannon Brimer and wife Staci of Baton Rouge, Brandon Brimer and wife Natalie, of Minneapolis, Dr. Samuel Cooper III and girlfriend LeeAnn of Baton Rouge, Lacy Blanchard of Erath, Chantelle Orson of Breaux Bridge and Allie Blanchard of Houston; nine great-grandchildren, Allie, Dani, Jolie, Camden, Kinsie, Kaylee, Braydon, Avery and Jude.

Burial will be private at Memorial Park Cemetery in New Iberia.