Elsie Blair Staggs

Elsie was born on March 17, 1937 in Sicily Island, LA to father Arthur LaRue Blair and mother Lillian Katherine Bailey Blair. She spent her growing years in Shreveport, LA and attended Fair Park High School, where she was an active competitor in bowling, basketball, and softball.

On July 30, 1953, Elsie married to the love of her life, husband Leslie Massey Staggs. The couple lived in the Houston and Warren, TX areas for several years before settling in Lufkin, where she has spent the past 40 years, most recently as a resident of Countryside Senior Living.

First and foremost, Elsie was a fearless follower of Christ, and she and Leslie attended Bald Hill Baptist Church, where she made many friends over the years, and was a known listener and prayer warrior for all those who called upon her. She instilled this love in her family, both in the way she loved and supported her husband and in how she raised their four sons.

Elsie loved to laugh, loved life, and loved those around her. She made her home a welcome place for both friends and family, regularly filling it to the brim to bring the entire Staggs family together for holidays.

She was preceded in death by her parents Arthur and mother Lillian, sister Emogene Blair Burch, and Leslie, her husband of 69 years in February of 2022.

She is survived by her four sons and daughters-in-law: Larry and Mary Staggs of Lufkin, TX, Mark and Diana Staggs of Crowley, TX, Alan and Donna Staggs of Mineola, TX, and Paul and Becky Staggs of Mineral Wells, TX. With them are her many grandchildren: Sarah and Joseph Guedry, Micah and Brittany Staggs, Nathan and Melissa Staggs, Matthew and Jessica Staggs, Jessica and Vance Shivers, Ruth and Trent Hurley, Jacob and Michelle Staggs, Phillip Staggs, JoAnna Gaines, Emily Leykum, and Lydia Staggs. Her great-grandchildren include: Lily, Eliana, Cruse, Vida, Luke, Blake, Kate, Adelyn, Ainsley, June, Wesley, Gwyneth, Jonathan, Karter, Talia, Leonidas, Henry, Jaycen, and Alayna Joy.

Pallbearers will be Micah Staggs, Nathan Staggs, Matthew Staggs, Jacob Staggs, Phillip Staggs, Joseph Guedry, Jaycen Basinski, Cruse Guedry, with Blake Beard as honorary pallbearer.

We would like to give special thanks to the staff and Elsie’s fellow residents at Countryside Senior living for making her feel like family during her final years, as well as to Harbor Hospice for your tender care during her final days.