BLANCO PASSING - Louisiana’s Former Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco died yesterday afternoon after a long battle with cancer. According to a statement released by her family, she peacefully passed away on Sunday, August 18, at St. Joseph’s Hospice Carpenter House in Lafayette, Louisiana -- surrounded by her beloved husband Raymond, her children and family." Upon learning the news Governor John Bel Edwards ordered flags at the capital in Baton Rouge to be lowered to half-staff and issued a brief statement yesterday from the Governor’s mansion.
"Governor Blanco was a trailblazer as Louisiana's first female governor," Edwards said. "A true Cajun, she felt the calling to bring about Evangeline's dream for a better Louisiana for all of her people."
Blanco, a Democrat was the 54th Governor and the first woman to hold the office for Louisiana. During one of her last public appearances last month at a ceremony in Lafayette where a portion of highway 90 was dedicated in her honor, Blanco made a brief
statement acknowledging her final days.
"I think we kind of think we'd all like to die in our sleep peacefully and just move on to the next life," Blanco explained. "But let me tell you, when people have a chance to make up like they had all these last few months, that is a remarkable way to go, and I deeply appreciate it."
Before embarking into politics, Blanco was a high school business education teacher from the small Cajun village of Coteau. She began her political journey first as a consultant with her husband Raymond on local redistricting issues before going on to serve 24 years in elective office. Her first, in 1984, was a seat in the state House. Then came positions on the state utility regulatory commission and as lieutenant governor. Blanco held Louisiana's top elected job from 2004 to 2008, her legacy as governor is mixed, she had been given credit as a champion for education and improving business in the state but her administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina was highly criticized as being unprepared and slow. The devastation helped derail her political career.
Blanco had a rare eye cancer that she battled successfully in 2011, but it later returned and spread to her liver. She was the mother of 6, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was 76 years of age.
