Ida Margaret Hernandez

Funeral services celebrating the life of Mrs. Ida Margaret Brossett Hernandez, 86, of West Monroe, LA will be held at 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, May 18, 2021 in the chapel of Mulhearn Funeral Home in West Monroe, LA with Rev. Frank Coens officiating. Cremation will follow the service according to her wishes.

Mrs. Hernandez died May 14, 2021 at her residence surrounded by her family after a sudden illness.

How quickly things can change. We never think about it because we just go about our daily lives and routine; however, now and again we will see a person whom we have not seen in awhile and think of how much they have changed in the interim. Or perhaps you see a child who has grown a bit, or more than a bit and exclaim how big they are getting and to stop growing!

There were many changes in mom’s life. At one point she was a girl in overalls only wanting to play but having to help pick cotton. Later she was her youngest sisters’ babysitter, again only wanting to play, she kept rocking the baby, even going so far as to hold the baby’s eyes shut.
Forward a few years, and she quit high school to go to Louisiana Business College to become a secretary. Typing, filing, and shorthand. At 17 she met and married J.C. “Buddy” Hernandez who worked at Brown Papermill. Once he came home and found she had completely moved from the apartment he had left to go to his shift. Talk about change! She had found a better apartment at a cheaper rent and just did it.

She became a secretary at several firms through the years, having five children along the way. Always working from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. At the end of the day, she picked up her kids from their grandmother’s house, went home, cooked, saw to homework, cleaned, and ironed (until she found her oldest daughter liked to iron.). She drove them to baseball practice, church events, baton practice, dance lessons, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, and parades without complaint.

She often never knew whom she would keep sleeping on the couch or floor when she got up in the morning (that was the days of unlocked doors). She kept a niece and nephew when their parents had to go pipelining, so the kids could stay in school. Now with seven children in the house, she still managed to do everything pretty much effortlessly, even when those seven kids brought home friends to frequently sleep over.

During all of this, she made her own clothes, the girls’ school uniforms, baton costumes, and repaired endless hems that somehow came undone. Even when she finally sat down, she had something in her hands to sew or crochet.

She had sad events in her life as well, of course: the deaths of her husband, her son, and her daughter, as well as the loss of her own mother and other family members. Through everything she was very calm, and took what life brought to her, and made the best of it. Her faith in God was unquestioned, and it was what got her through the hard and sad times.
In later years during her retirements, she took great pleasure in going to garage sales and estate sales, usually accompanied by her sisters. She made jams, jellies, pickled peppers, cakes, and candies of all sorts and sold them, along with a myriad of other things at local Arts and Crafts events. She canned tomatoes with her daughter, and recently taught her granddaughter to make jelly and jam. She also loved to sell things on e-bay and hold her own garage sales. She was for many years, a part of the “Cake Walk” at St. Paschal’s Fall Festival.

She was always doing something: babysitting her grandchildren and great-grandchildren when needed, being a chauffeur, helping someone in little ways by hemming pants, or sewing on buttons, quietly donating to her favorite charities, never wanting any recognition. She just calmly went on with her life, and probably never took too much notice of all the changes.
No, nobody ever knew what would be going on at her house, but they always knew they would find one constant thing: Mom’s welcoming smile.

Ida was a longtime member of St. Paschal Catholic Church in West Monroe, LA. She was a member of the St. Paschal Altar Society, where she was the treasurer. She was a member of the St. Paschal Ladies Auxiliary, and the Catholic Daughters of America, where she was treasurer. Ida was dedicated to her God, and to her family and friends. She always enjoyed the Sunday gatherings of her family, where she loved cooking for them. Ida was extremely generous with donating her blood to Life Share Blood Centers giving for over 25 years and received awards for the amount of blood given over her lifetime. She has also donated monthly for many years to Boy’s Town U.S.A.

Ida was preceded in death by her husband, J. C. Hernandez; son, Chrys Hernandez; Daughter, Cecily Fife; grandson, Jacob Evan Fife; her parents; and seven brothers.

Survivors: three daughters, Iris Hernandez Stevenson and husband, Mark, Toni Hernandez Worsham and husband, Roger, Alexis Hernandez Ellis and husband, Joey; Sisters, Lucille Henson, and Elizabeth Britt; 4 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and one on the way; numerous nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be from Noon until service time Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at Mulhearn Funeral Home in West Monroe, LA.

pallbearers will be Mark Stevenson, Roger Worsham, Joey Ellis, Steven Fife, Dexter Davis, Sr., Richie Roy, Ellis Josef, and Brandon Augustine.

Memorials may be made to Life Share Blood Center or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or Boys’ Town.

Online Registry/Condolences: www.mulhearnfuneralhome.com