Lenora LeBlanc Sayers

Lenora LeBlanc Sayers is the eldest child of Mayo and Juanita LeBlanc.  Mayo was born near Youngsville, Louisiana, and Juanita was born in Erath, Louisiana.  Lenora was born in Abbeville, Louisiana, in 1951, and her family moved to Bridge City in 1952.  Lenora graduated from Bridge City High School in 1970 in the first senior class that had cosmetology classes.  She received her cosmetology license from Mims Beauty School in Port Arthur and worked as a beautician for two years before she met her husband, Brenner Sayers.  Lenora became a military wife.

Brenner Sayers was a U.S. Army recruiter in Orange when they met and married in 1972.  He had already served in the US Army for ten years with 12 months of active duty in Vietnam in the 11^th Armored Calvary Regiment (Blackhorse).  After they married, they made the first of many moves with the military.  Brenner worked as a recruiter in Brenham and Houston, Texas then they moved to Fort Knox, Kentucky, Fort Hood, Texas, and then Germany for 2 ½ years.  Their oldest daughter, Wenona, was born while they were stationed in Houston in 1974.  Their youngest daughter, Renee, was born in Nuremberg, Germany.   Brenner retired in 1986 as First Sargent with 22 years.  They returned to Bridge City to live.  All along the way, Lenora was active with the Army wives who remodeled the Day Room for the men, made baked goods and curtains, and decorating with the little funds they had.  Anything to make the troops more comfortable.  When Lenora meets a veteran, she always always thanks them for their service and gives them a handshake.  “It never gets old,” commented Lenora.  “we have to remember what they’ve done for our country”.  

Lenora began crocheting in the mid-1970s when her mother and mother-in-law taught her.  She continues to crocket caps for the Oncology Clinic in Longview, Texas.  She makes 100s of baby caps for Little Hats for Big Hearts organization.  Each year, she makes red caps that are given away to sick babies around Valentine’s Day.  She is one of many ladies who crocket for the American Heart Association.  Lenora also volunteers for the Southeast Texas Hospice Organization, assisting patients with whatever support is needed, like Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets.  Each year, she designs and makes the set for the annual dinner theater fundraiser for S.E. Texas Hospice held at St. Mary Catholic Church hall in Orange.  Lenora has done the design and decorating for the theater for the past 15 years.  She also works as a clerk for Bridge City ISD elections. 

Lenora likes to travel with her two sisters, Sharon Ellis and Nita Daigle.    Lenora and her husband, Brenner, enjoy deer hunting with her sister Sharon and brother-in-law Buddy.   

Lenora and Brenner have three children: Edie Schlegel of Germany, Wenona Harris of Crosby, Texas, and Renee Droddy of Bridge City.  Their hobbies include going to all their grandchildren’s sporting events, whether it be cheering or playing basketball.  Sometimes, they have two different grandchildren with an event on the same day, so they either choose one or drive several hours to Crosby between events and attend both.  Lenora loves to text her grandchildren each night.    The Brenner grandchildren include Gavin Harris, a junior at Crosby High School, and twins Caitlin and Cortni, who are freshmen in Crosby ISD.  Their daughter Renee has three children: Kaylene Droddy, 18 years old, Brooklyn, 10 years old, and Ella, eight years old.  Their daughter Edie has two children, Peter and Lukas.  

Mayo and Juanita LeBlanc's children, besides Lenora include Sharon LeBlanc Ellis of Bridge City, Carl LeBlanc also of Bridge City, Nita LeBlanc Daigle of Silsbee, Texas, and Caroll LeBlanc of Bridge City.