Jennifer Lawrence Bordelon, 35, died in New Orleans, LA on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Jen was born November 6, 1986 in Birmingham, AL, and graduated in 2005 from Shelby County High School, Shelbyville, KY. Miss Shelby County High School, Jen began a legacy of academic and social success at a young age. In the fall of 2005, she enrolled at the University of Mississippi as an Ole Miss Women’s Council Scholar and Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors Scholar. Quickly followed by other honors and offices, Jen was elected president of Kappa Delta Sorority and elected by the university as Miss Ole Miss in 2009. Of all of Jen’s triumphant accomplishments at Ole Miss, she would say her most great honor was to meet and fall in love with James Bordelon of Hattiesburg, MS. Jen dazzled the entire Ole Miss community, but no more than James. When Jen received awards and recognition, it was the support of her best friend and eventual husband that mattered most. In the style of Jen and James, they married in secret at the Colorado Springs, CO courthouse on March 15, 2011, two weeks before James’ first deployment to the United States Army. They didn’t tell anyone. Jen completed one of the toughest assignments in graduate work with the Mississippi Teacher Corps in Tunica before moving to Colorado Springs.
They celebrated publicly in a grand and elegant fashion in December 2012 at the New Orleans Museum of Art and made their home together in Washington, D.C. Jen went on to earn her JD from Campbell University School of Law when they moved to Fayetteville, in North Carolina. It was to their historic downtown Fayetteville loft that they brought home their eldest sons, Theodore James Bordelon and Henry Fitzgerald Bordelon. Following her husband’s honorable discharge from the US Army, Jen and her adorable boys moved to Bayou Lafourche. James and Jen kept a second home in New Orleans with dreams of growing old together in the city. They welcomed their youngest son, Louis Lawrence Bordelon in July 2021. At the edge of the sleepy waters of the bayou, surrounded by moss adorned with cypresses and living oaks, Jen and James have made a home for their young family.
Jen’s world was in Technicolor. She’s been through it all, from a good book to an exotic vacation to playing with her sons in bright hues. For those who knew her, Jen herself was Technicolor. Wherever Jen was, the world was brighter and the colors sharper because of her simple presence and perspective. The lens with which Jen viewed the world found beauty and poetry in even the most mundane, for nothing with Jen was mundane. Her sharp sense of art, fashion and literature comes from her passionate love of others. Jen’s gravitational pull was like the waves to the moon, you couldn’t help but be drawn to her. To be with Jen was to be enchanted by her warmth, her wisdom and her unparalleled ability to make you feel special, no matter if you had known her for years or just met her. Jen understood beauty because she loved others so deeply and immensely.
Her greatest loves were her husband and three sons. Often described as the love of her life, James has always been Jen’s hero. Their love was the kind found in the pages of books and immortalized in legend. The passion and dedication Jen had for James was multiplied in the greatest economic feat of loving parenthood when they had their sons together. Their many years together, Jen would say, allowed them to grow in tandem, making their love a partnership of sincere devotion and a true gift of having grown up with each other. Becoming a parent to James explained Jen’s ability to, as Bob Dylan put it, “contain multitudes.” Jen patiently pushed the boys to be their best, fostering curiosity, joy, and the same love of learning that their mother had. Above all, she created a family that knew home was with each other. On a military base or on the bayou or in Crescent City, home was where Jen, James and the boys were together.
While Jen’s tenure as a student in the classroom came to an end after the Ole Miss and Campbell Act, her quest for knowledge never stopped for a moment. Jen aimed to learn something new every day. William Faulkner must have referred to Jen Lawrence Bordelon when he wrote, “You can’t swim to new horizons until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. Jen was still swimming towards the horizon, fearless and determined. Her success as a political consultant and strategist demonstrates the grit and courage that those close to Jen have always admired in her. James always said she was “tougher than a Green Beret”.
Jen will be remembered for her beautiful smile, her full, infectious laugh, her flowing chestnut hair and her gifted ability to make everyone feel at home. Called best friend by many, Jen was friends of the fire and loved ones gathered around to bask in the embers of its glow. And Jen was still beaming. Accomplished, radiant and inspiring with numerous honours, degrees and awards, Jen will be most remembered for how much she loved her friends and family. It was because of her deep love for them that Jen was so dazzling – she reflected the light she saw in those she loved, and she loved so many.
She was predeceased by her grandparents Winston and Geneva Gentry of Jemison, AL, Kenneth and June Garner of Calera, AL and Ray Lawrence of Bessemer; his uncle, Joe Gentry of Jemison; and her aunt, Elaine Gentry Headley of Jemison, AL.
Jen is survived by her husband of 10 years, James Gerald Bordelon; his sons Theodore James Bordelon (4), Henry Fitzgerald “Fitz” Bordelon (2) and Louis Lawrence Bordelon (11 months). She is also survived by her parents, Carol Hance of Pleasureville, KY, and RobertLawrence of New Orleans, LA; his brother, Daniel Lawrence of Pensacola, FL; and her in-laws, Dale and Tina McDonald of Hattiesburg, MS. She is survived by many beloved brothers and sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces, cousins and countless dear friends.
A celebration of Jen’s life will be held on Saturday, June 18, 2022. Friends and family are respectfully invited to dress in green and white in honor of the busy life of Jen Lawrence Bordelon, and in respite from the heat New Orleans summer. The visit will be held at the Parkview Terrace Room in the Casino Building at New Orleans City Park from 2-5 p.m. Immediately afterwards, a service will take place on the lawn under the terrace. (56 Dreyfous Dr., New Orleans, LA)
In lieu of flowers, Jen Bordelon’s family kindly asks that donations be made to support the future needs of her young sons Theo, Fitz and Louis. A GoFundMe titled “Son of Jen and James Bordelon” has been created. Please contact an immediate family member for details. If you have a memory or photo of Jen that you would like to share with the family, please submit to:[email protected]
Posted by Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home – New Orleans on June 11, 2022.
