Barbara Ann Link "Bobbie" Leonards rites set for Saturday
Funeral services for Mrs. Barbara Ann Link Leonards, beloved wife of Leonard Lawrence “Buck” Leonards and mother of Bryan, David, Gretchen, Doug and Julie, will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2010, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Crowley at 1:00 p.m. She passed away at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, March 24, 2010, at her home surrounded by her family. Rt. Rev. Msgr. Keith Derouen, former pastor of St. Michael Catholic Church, will officiate at the funeral. Altar boys will be her grandsons Ben Faulk, Jack Faulk, Douglas Leonards, and John “Beau” Wallace Leonards. Her granddaughters Claire Leonards and Anne Catherine Venable will read from scripture. Having composed the Prayers of the Faithful, her granddaughters Ellen, Jane, Sarah, Michelle and Amy Leonards will deliver the prayers in honor of their Oma. Her granddaughters will serve as gift bearers. Family members will also serve as pall bearers including her grandsons Bryan Leonards Jr., Nicholas Leonards, Luke Venable along with her nephews Bob Braun, Billy Link and Cy Link. Alberta Lyons will accompany members of the St. Michael’s Mixed and Men’s Choir as organist.
Born on September 17, 1938, Bobbie was the second of four children born to William Joseph and Regina Marie Heinen Link of Roberts Cove. She is survived by her brothers William Benjamin Link and Wallace Lambert Link. Her parents and sister Sylvia Jane Link Beard predeceased her. A graduate of St. Joseph High School in Rayne in 1956, she married “Buck” on November 27, 1958 at St. Leo Catholic Church in Roberts Cove. They celebrated their 51st anniversary last November, celebrating the blessings of their five children and 22 grandchildren: Bryan Sr, wife Charlotte Moody Leonards and their children Bryan Jr., Claire, her fiancé Son Hoang, Nicholas, Anne Theresa, Mary Grace, Ellen, Jane, Sarah and Audrey; David, wife Kim Soileau Leonards and their children Amy and Beau; Gretchen, her husband Tommy Faulk, and their children Jennifer, her husband Shiloh Kidder, Andrea, Hannah, her husband Kris Katira, Luke, Anne Catherine, Benjamin and Jack; Doug, his wife Julia Guidry Leonards and their children Michelle, Douglas, Mary and Frances; and her daughter Julie Leonards. Her granddaughter Faith Anne Leonards predeceased her.
Bobbie was a loving wife and mother, devoted to her husband Buck and their children She was affectionately known as Oma to her grandchildren and beyond. She proudly wore Pio Red, lifeguarded her grandchildren as they swam for hours in the family pool, and cooked and baked endless treats for them. Treasuring her family, Bobbie kept a loving and beautiful home always making family times memorable. She met one and all at her door with a happy “Guten Morgen!” She gathered her children and grandchildren each Christmas Eve after Mass, keeping them away from the curtained-off living room with Christmas tree until Santa had passed and then lining them up to be led in singing “Silent Night.” Oma preserved many German traditions including placement of a pickle in the Christmas tree with a surprise awaiting the lucky finder. At Easter, the children picked wild flowers to make small nests on the lawn which the Easter Bunny inevitably found to fill with goodies. Her Sunday dinner and holiday tables were always laden with her gifted cooking including her famous brisket, spicy breadsticks and incredible Crawfish Bisque that she developed with crawfish boulettes. On the day of her diagnosis, she baked cranberry walnut bread for her rosary group so she would have it ready for them at their next gathering.
Gathering weekly with her Our Lady Queen of all Saints rosary group for some thirty years was very important to Bobbie, and her faith-filled activities never ended. She was a charter member of the St. Michael’s Mixed Choir and enjoyed going to Mass early to set up the music for its members. She cared for family members and friends in hours of need and bereavement, carrying her special brisket to many. She visited shut-ins before church services with treats in tow and was a dedicated Pink Lady. Bobbie enjoyed happy times with her first cousins as each was her “favorite” and with her ‘56ers group of lifelong friends and classmates all having grown up as “cove girls.” She always looked forward to her card groups, well known as the Cadillac group, the Town Club Bourre group and her First Cousins group. She and Buck, the love of her life, enjoyed travel and did so extensively. Bobbie loved and lived life to its fullest with each and every day. She was truly a woman of God, a model of living faith, who generously shared an inner strength with her husband, children, grandchildren, family and friends through her final illness as she had all of her life.
Following the funeral, graveside services will be conducted at the St. Leo Catholic Church cemetery in Roberts Cove. Visitation is scheduled at Geesey Ferguson Funeral Home in Crowley for Friday, March 26, 2010, from 3:00 until 9:00 p.m. with recitation of the Rosary at 7:00 p.m. with Sr. Justine Baker. The family will also receive visitors on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until the 1:00 p.m. funeral service at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Crowley. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her name to her beloved schools: Notre Dame High School, St. Michael Elementary, and Rayne Catholic Elementary.