Bessie Lee"Boots"Buard Pope

Bessie Lee "Boots" Baynard Pope (Mrs. Dudley L. Pope, Jr.), born Feb. 10, 1923, in Alexandria, moved to Baton Rouge in 1924, where she resided until her death on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2011, at the age of 88. Visiting will be at St. Luke's Episcopal Church on Thursday, Dec. 29, from 12:30 p.m. until funeral service at 1:30 p.m., officiated by the Rev. Brien Koelher. Burial in Greenoaks Memorial Park. Preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Dudley L. Pope Jr.; her parents, Ludlow Buard and Mabel Heloise Henry Baynard; sisters, Mell Baynard Litton and Mabel Baynard Martin; and brothers, L.B. Baynard III, Joseph Henry Baynard and William Tait Baynard. She is survived by daughter, Celia Pope; son and daughter-in-law, Chris M. and Lori M. Pope; two granddaughters, Stephanie Pope and Christina Roy; two great-grandchildren, Kaitlyn and Sydney Roy; a sister, Anne Elizabeth Aymond; a sister-in-law, May John Baynard; along with numerous nieces and nephews. Mrs. Pope was a graduate of Convention Street Elementary School, University High School and a 1943 graduate of LSU. She was past president of LSU Kappa Delta Sorority and Baton Rouge K.D. Alumni Association, a sustaining member of the Junior League of Baton Rouge, a member of La Lecture Book Club, the Baton Rouge Woman's Club and a member of AARP. Along with her husband, she was an early member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. She was a member of the St. Elizabeth's Guild, a past volunteer for the Baton Rouge Food Bank, a longtime member of the Baton Rouge Women's Tennis Association and organized the "Nifty Fifty's" Tennis group. She was also a former member of the Aquatic Club, a member of the U.S. Tennis Association and had been a participant in the Senior Olympics where she won gold medals in tennis. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the St. James Foundation, 333 Lee Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808. The family wishes to express their sincere appreciation for the loving care given Mrs. Pope by the nurses and staff of St. James Place Highland Court Nursing and Dr. Robert Chasuk and Dr. Leon Kraft.