LOUISIANA, LA. (THECOUNT) — Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who became the first woman elected governor of Louisiana and then saw her political career derailed by the costliest hurricane to ever hit the United States, died Sunday from complications from melanoma. She was 76.
Her trailblazing career began modestly enough.
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At 21, she married Raymond “Coach” Blanco and over the next 14 years, she gave birth to six children. During that time, politics was not present in her life as she cooked for the family, changed diapers, ferried her children to and fro and cleaned the Blanco home in Lafayette.
After she went public with her terminal illness, Blanco said her deep religious faith left her unafraid to die.
“I don’t want to leave this Earth,” she said. “I don’t want to leave my family. Some of them are into young adulthood and toddlers. We have this great spectrum of energy that’s here. It’s not that you want to leave anybody, but when your body’s worn out, what can you do? It’s kind of what I’ve always thought of.”