Celia Vizard Watson Swords

Lifelong New Orleans citizen Celia Vizard Watson Swords died Sunday, February 19, after a brief illness. Born July 18, 1931, she was 91. Surviving Mrs. Swords are her three sons David, Daniel, and Denis; five grandchildren, Juliet Celia, Melanie, Katherine, Collins, and Alexander; and four great-grandchildren, Arabella, Dominic, Jonathan, and Travis. Her burial will be in Metairie Cemetery, Saturday, March 18, with visitation at Lake Lawn Funeral Home from 10 to noon, and a graveside commemoration directly after.

A skilled calligrapher, for many years Celia Swords wrote invitations for carnival balls and for weddings as a home business. She loved needlepoint and donated much of her work to churches.

Celia Watson was born to David L. Watson and Celia Vizard Watson, who died giving her birth. Raised on Camp Street by her grandmother Maud Watson, Celia married Robert M. Swords at 18. Upon graduation from Tulane, Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in geology, Robert became a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. From 1952-1956 the family moved several times in the United States until Lieutenant Swords was stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.

Upon returning to America, Swords left the service as a captain and began work for Pan American Oil Company in Houston, where the family lived for seven years. Celia was good at making friends, and among the best, most influential was Nita Weil, stepdaughter of a cousin. Nita had been paralyzed from the neck down by polio, able to move only two fingers and elbow of one hand and arm. Bravely, she left New Orleans for Houston and a job at the Texas Rehabilitation and Research Institute. The friendship led Celia to work as a volunteer at the Institute; to other meaningful friendships; and to work on other causes, such as the then deadly disease cystic fibrosis. During the Houston years, Celia, a good athlete, coached girls’ volleyball at All Saints School and helped her boys become decent ball players.

Celia missed New Orleans, and Bobby was able to secure a transfer to the city, where they raised their three sons on Nashville Avenue. She loved New Orleans social life, especially carnival and its balls. By lucky circumstance, Bobby’s sister Mary and her family lived three blocks away on Webster Street, which resulted in both mischief among the cousins and a busy social life for the adults. After almost 40 years of marriage, Celia and Bobby divorced. Even so, they continued to care for each other, and Bobby was the love of her life to its end.

Celia Swords spent her last years in Lambeth House, and her descendants thank the staff for their patience and care. They are also grateful to Mrs. Swords’s niece Charlotte Boehmer Fraissé for her devotion. And the family is deeply thankful for the love and attention given to Celia by her last and best friend of many years, Viola Fielder.