Anita Blair

Opelousas – Funeral services will be held for Anita Mae Amy Blair at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 16, 2021, in the Skip Montet Memorial Chapel at Lafond Ardoin Funeral Home in Opelousas.  She will be buried in Bellevue Memorial Park in Opelousas alongside her husband. Rev. Perry Hubbs and Mr. Earl Taylor will officiate the service.

Anita Mae (Amy) Blair, age 85, died peacefully on Sunday, September 12, 2021.

Anita (Nita) was born on November 30, 1935, in Opelousas, Louisiana. She was the second of five children (siblings Norma, Bonnie, Janell, and Herbert, Jr.) born to Herbert August & Bonnie Prudhomme Amy.

The Amy Family was a fixture in the City of Opelousas where Herbert Amy was the owner of Amy Lumber Company, one of the founding directors of American Bank, and the builder of First Baptist Church's previous location on Bellevue Street. It was at that church where Nita met the love of her life, Thomas Craddock Blair, Jr., a WWII Army veteran from the Hill country of Texas and an accountant for Mobil Oil Company.

After six months of dating, they married on September 20, 1958. Family was the mainstay of Nita's life as she and Tom raised three children – David, Mark, and Connie. Nita and Tom lived in Lafayette, Gonzales, and New Iberia, before ultimately retiring and settling on the Amy family farm near Plaisance and Prairie Ronde, just north of Opelousas.

Nita and Tom were lifelong parishioners of both the Louisiana Memorial United Methodist Church and the First Baptist Church of Opelousas and were active and regular volunteers. She participated in numerous service mission trips in Mexico and Romania. She continued her mission work by serving meals to Latinx immigrant families living in the local area. Nita was also a gifted and talented painter, a point she would always argue was simply not true (though her work attests otherwise). Her canned figs are legendary and were always crafted from figs grown on the family farm.

In retirement, Nita and Tom enjoyed traveling while Nita worked as a tour guide for Good Time Tours in Opelousas which afforded them the opportunity to see every American state (with the exception of Hawaii), most of Canada, and a number of countries throughout the Caribbean and Europe.

For her family, Nita was the Cajun role model of tenacity, loyalty, resilience, and hard work – truly a quintessential Cajun Mawmaw. Nita is predeceased by her parents and husband. She is survived by her children – David Brian Blair (Jennifer) of New Iberia, Mark Winston Blair (Stephanie) of Zachary, and Connie Ruth Blair Savoy (Chris) of Zachary – her grandchildren – Tyler Craddock Savoy (Lauren) of Washington, D.C., Brandon Paul Savoy (Robyn) of Lafayette, Elizabeth Blair Benzer (Dustin) of Zachary, Stephanie Savoy Falcon (Christian) of Zachary, Jared Brian Blair of New Iberia, Rebecca Blair Babin (Bond) of Zachary, Aaron David Blair of New Iberia, and Dylan James Blair of New Iberia; and her eight great grandchildren.`

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you spend time with your loved ones and take a moment to treasure those who are still with us today, remembering what is most important in life.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, September 16, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. in the Skip Montet Memorial Chapel in the Lafond Ardoin Funeral Home of Opelousas.

Pallbearers will be Tyler Savoy, Brandon Savoy, Christian Falcon, Jared Blair, Aaron Blair, Dylan Blair, Dustin Benzer and Bond Babin.

Family and friends are invited to sign and view the online guestbook at www.lafondardoin.com.

LaFond-Ardoin Funeral Home, 2845 South Union Street, Opelousas, LA 70570, (337-942-2638) has been entrusted with the funeral arrangements.