Mary Irene (M.I.) Richeson Scoggin passed away peacefully surrounded by her family at the age of 87 on May 4, 2019. Preceded in death by her parents, Edward Richeson and Mary Viguerie Richeson; grandson, William Lyle Scoggin; and her beloved husband of 61 years, Guy Bruce Scoggin. She is survived by her sons, Guy Bruce Scoggin, Jr., David Hopkins Scoggin (Sandra), Matthew Richeson Scoggin (Darcy); her brother, Edward Richeson, Jr. (Aline); and four grandchildren, Mia Scoggin Jahncke (Minor), Guy Lanier Scoggin, Stewart Hopkins Scoggin, and Philip Edward Scoggin; and one great-grandchild, Davis Lanier Jahncke.
M.I. was a rare blend of God-given attributes. A devoted alumna of the Academy of the Sacred Heart, she attended Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University, where was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity and was introduced to her husband, Guy, by their mutual friend, Grace Parker LeCorgne. A legendary beauty, she was a member of Fashion Mannequins of New Orleans and was an exquisite star of the runway. M.I. was a talented actress who was a force in theater; she could take the stage and inhabit a role so completely and so fearlessly that she brought to brilliant life characters as varied as, among many others, Peter Pan, Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh, the wicked step-mother in Cinderella, for Gallery Circle Theater. (Although she was miscast in the wicked step-mother role.) She was a founding member of the pro-bono traveling theatrical troupe Taradiddle with dear friends Jane Bright, Wendy Reily and Sissy Reynoir. She also played a Bourbon Street stripper and a nun for All Kinds of Theatre’s Native Tongues I and II, directed by Carl Walker.
A lifelong Francophile born into a family of French descent that settled in the Louisiana sugarcane town of Montague, M.I.’s natural gifts at the piano, combined with a dazzling vocal talent and a passion for all things Parisian, culminated in perhaps her best known and critically acclaimed work of theatrical art: the story of Edith Piaf, the Little Sparrow, in a long-running, perpetually sold-out theatrical masterpiece that she herself wrote, produced, and starred in.
M.I. enjoyed her memberships and friendships in many organizations, including the Junior of League of New Orleans, the Garden Study Club (where she served as President), and the Quarante Club.
Mary Irene, the beloved M.I. Scoggin, gave generously and continuously to all those blessed to have known her, onstage and in life.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Memorial Mass at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd. in New Orleans, on Friday, May 10, 2019 at 1:00PM. A visitation will be held at the funeral home beginning at 11:00AM. Interment will follow at Metairie Cemetery.
To view and sign the guest book, please visit www.lakelawnmetairie.com
