Ella Marie (LeJeune) Soileau passed away Tuesday, May, 9, 2017 at the age of 93. Ella was born on January 25, 1924 in the Southwest Louisiana farming community of Richard, LA. She grew up on a farm as one of the nine children of Gabriel LeJeune and Amada (Matte) LeJeune. She was preceded in death by Isaac Harris Soileau, Sr., her loving husband of 43years. She was also predeceased by her sisters Emily White (William), Alicia Dies (Melvin), Thelma Vincent (Willis), Leola Hanks (Freeman), and also by her brothers J.D. LeJune (Pearl) and Rodney LeJeune (Beatrice). She is survived by her children, Linda Grosz (Shelby), who reside in New Orleans, LA.; Peggy Soileau Simmons (James H.), who reside in Marrero, LA.; and, Isaac H. Soileau, Jr. (Karen Kovach) who reside in Mandeville, LA.; and, her grandchildren – Shelby Grosz, Jr., James J. and Jean-Pierre Simmons, Katherine A. and Kimberly E. Soileau. She is also survived by her brother, Dewey LeJeune (Mary Lois), her sister Jane Bordelon (Ferrell) and numerous nieces and nephews.
Ella spent much of her life in New Orleans and Chalmette, Louisiana happily cooking for students at the Academy of the Holy Angels, an all-girls High School in New Orleans where her daughters graduated, and later at Archbishop Hannan High School in Chalmette. She was a long-time resident of Chalmette, relocating to Marrero after hurricane Katrina. Ella loved sewing, gardening and collecting Mardi Gras doubloons. Ella never tired of working and was generous to a fault. She taught her children and her grandchildren grace, persistence and the value of hard work. She loved and spoiled her grandchildren and they adored her!
The family would like to thank the nurses and aides of St. Luke’s Nursing Home for their care and kindness to “Miss Ella.”
Family and friends are invited to attend the funeral on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. at St. Bernard Memorial Funeral Home, 701 W Virtue St, Chalmette, LA, followed by a funeral Mass at noon. Interment will follow after the funeral Mass at St. Bernard Memorial Gardens. As was her wish, she will be laid to rest next to her beloved husband for eternity.
To view and sign the family guestbook, please visit www.stbernardmemorial.com.
