Isabelle “Dear” was born March 6, 1921, in New Orleans, Louisiana. She died peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, at age 97 on September 10, 2018, in Nashville, Tennessee. She is survived by four daughters, Suzanne “Suzy” Kemker, Cynthia “Cindy” Asbury, Nancy Malooly (Michael), and Patricia “Patty” Finn (William); her 7 grandchildren, Frank Kemker, Jr. (Jan), Stanley Kemker (Heather), James Smith, Jr. (Stephanie), Michelle Stagner (Gabe), Matthew Finn (Marianne), Timothy Finn (Natalie), and Kendall Finn; 10 great grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, Stanley Vincent Asbury, Jr.; parents, Andrew Emanuel Hoffmann and Ursula Decker Hoffmann; and her brothers Andrew Charles Hoffmann and Roy Euclid Hoffmann, Sr.
Born and raised in New Orleans, a city she loved dearly, Isabelle traveled widely throughout her life. She lived in Lagos, Nigeria; Luanda, Angola; Tripoli, Libya;, Houston, Texas; Covington, Louisiana; and most recently with her daughter Cindy in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Isabelle graduated from Sophie B. Wright High School and Comptroller Business College. She was a nationally accredited flower show judge and one of the original officers of the Federated Council of New Orleans Garden Clubs, Inc., founded in 1947. She served as president and was Woman of the Year of Aurora Plantation Gardeners, was president of the New Orleans Council of Nationally Accredited Flower Show judges, and was a founder of the New Orleans City Beautification Association. She was a past president of Covington Country Club Ladies Golf Association and actively served in Republican Women’s organizations on the Northshore. An avid bridge player, she had a great number of friends in many bridge clubs in Covington and Brentwood.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend a visitation on Friday, September 21, 2018, at 11:00 am, Lake Lawn Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans. Words of Remembrance will be shared beginning at 12:45 pm, followed by a celebration of life Mass at 1:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Koolen-de Vries Syndrome Foundation, online at http://kdvsfoundation.org/donations/ or to Koolen-de Vries Syndrome Foundation, P.O. Box 470218, Fort Worth, Texas 76147.
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