Clara Antoinette Ledbetter passed peacefully in her sleep May 20 with her daughters at her side. Born in Tallassee, Alabama on March 14, 1927 to William Calvin and Effie Lee Lett Wilbanks, she started life where a brook fed water to a hand pump in the house and the family farmed cotton. According to her siblings, when it was time to get their hands dirty and tend to the cotton fields, “Nettie” as they affectionately called her was nowhere to be found. She was more interested in going against her parent’s wishes and taking the family car for a spin. After graduating Tallassee High School in 1945, Clara attended business school in Montgomery and returned to Tallassee. It was then she fell in love with Bishop Warren Ledbetter, and they were wed on November 16, 1947.
Clara and Warren moved to Opelika where she became a stay-at-home mom when they had their first child, Libbie Claire. Warren enrolled in the Navy, serving the USA in both WW II and the Korean War, while Clara took care of their home. They made moves to Blackville, South Carolina and to Orangeburg, South Carolina, where their second child, Jane Bishop, was born. Finally, in 1957, they put down roots and bought their forever home in Kenner, Louisiana, where Warren worked and retired from Kaiser Aluminum Chemical Plant.
Clara enjoyed living a simple life at home and didn’t travel much, unless there was a Hurricane headed her way, a Wilbanks family gathering planned, or any reason to visit Libbie Claire. Her interests included spending time and chatting on the phone with her family, dressing up and attending church to fellowship with her friends, playing cards, exercising, eating soup that her longtime hairdresser, Linda, made for her with love, sitting on her porch in the warm weather, chatting with her kitty she named “Tooty”, and watching her LSU Tigers beat those Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers.
Known as Antoinette, Momma, Grandmama, Meme, Nettie, Clara, and Toni, she was known to all around her as a steadfast, loyal wife, mother, and friend, a woman who cared and was able to find many moments of humor in life's twists and turns.
Though some of her bones were broken this past year, her spirit was not broken. Her declining eyesight, caused by macular degeneration, did not keep her from seeing the bright side of things. She was invested in and hopeful for America’s future, determined not to get Coronavirus that sadly took two of her sweet friends, and looking forward to the day she would meet her newest great-grandson, born in October. Clara remained strong and resilient as she went in and out of the rehabilitation facility and held on long enough to meet that great-grandson this May 9 (Mother’s Day).
The ripples of Clara’s journey will be seen for years to come: in every grandchild and great-grandchild she bounced on her knee and in every azalea flower that blooms in front of her house. Her legacy lives on in her children, Libbie Claire and Jane Bishop, whom she loved more than anything. Ripples can also be seen in the people she impacted in her community and at First Baptist Church of Kenner where her spirit, her laughter, and her regal demeanor left an imprint on those around her.
Right up until the final days of her life, Clara went on commenting on the weather, the flowers, her family, and her desire to go home, usually with grace but with a touch of vinegar when she thought it was warranted. She decided it was time to go to her heavenly home and be with her Lord and Savior, and will rest in Hope Haven Cemetery, near the love of her life.
She is preceded in death by her parents William Calvin Wilbanks and Effie Lee Lett Wilbanks; siblings William Calvin Wilbanks (Joan), Elizabeth Wilbanks Leonard Coker (Frank and E.C.), Lynward Collins Wilbanks (Juanita), William Theris Wilbanks (Mavis), Robert Frank Wilbanks (Nita), and Charles Wayne Wilbanks (Sue); and her husband Warren Bishop Ledbetter.
She is survived by her sister Yvonne Wilbanks Howard Shelley (Paul); brothers Daniel Pinkney Wilbanks, Thomas Newton Wilbanks (Judy); sister-in-laws/dear confidants Sue Wilbanks and Judy Ledbetter; daughter Libbie Eaker (Gus) and their children Christopher Eaker (Elizabeth) and Jason (Sarah) Eaker, daughter Jane Bozeman (Warren, Jr.) and their children Jonathan (Melody) Bozeman, Rebecca (Brian) Boles, and Elizabeth (Joshua) Braud, as well as nine great-children: Hannah, Chase, Jett, Mason, Luke, Lilly, Annie, Brylie, and Britton.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on Wednesday, May 26, 2021 at Ourso Funeral Home, 13533 Airline Highway, in Gonzales. Visitation will be followed by a 1:00 pm memorial service, a procession to nearby Hope Haven Cemetery, and an open reception back at the funeral home at which family will share appetizers and stories in celebration of the great Clara Antoinette Ledbetter.
Clara’s family would like to thank Ochsner Medical Center Main Campus, Ochsner Medical Center of Kenner, Ormond Nursing and Care Center, and Compassus Hospice and Palliative Care for the wonderful support and care they provided.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial donation in Clara’s name to Bright Focus Foundation, a nonprofit organization that funds research toward a cure for macular degeneration.
