NEW ORLEANS — Former Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will be the fourth Louisiana governor to lie in state in the State Capitol when memorial services for her begin in Baton Rouge on Thursday.
She will also be the first woman ever afforded the honor.
The first governor to lie in state there was Huey P. Long, who pushed for construction of the Capitol while in office and was assassinated inside the building in 1935. The State Capitol opened three years earlier in May 1932.
The most recent governor to lie in state in the building’s Memorial Hall was former Gov. Dave Treen, who served as governor from 1980 to 1984. When he died in 2009, he was the seventh person to have the honor of lying in state there.
According to The Times-Picayune archives, the other governor to lie in state at the Capitol was Long’s brother, Gov. Earl K. Long in 1960.
Others who have had the honor of lying in state inside the building are legendary Grambling State University football coach Eddie Robinson in 2007, state Sen. John Hainkel in 2005, civil rights leader A.Z. Young in 1993 and U.S. Sen. Allen Ellender in 1972.
Blanco will lie in state in the Capitol Thursday afternoon as part of a three-day celebration of her life. She died of complications from cancer on Sunday at age 76.
Memorial events for the former governor will begin Thursday with an interfaith service at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Baton Rouge beginning at 10 a.m.
Blanco's body will be brought to the Capitol at 12:30 p.m.
An honor guard will carry her casket up the Capitol's steps, where she was inaugurated as governor in January 2004. There will be a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps. After state dignitaries and her family pay their respects, the general public will be allowed in from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
A public visitation will take place on Friday at St. John the Evangelist Cathedral in Lafayette from 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
There will be a second public visitation at St. John's on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., a combined "Reflections and Mass of Christian Burial" will take place at St. John's.
WWLTV.com will provide live coverage on its digital platforms of the funeral events courtesy Louisiana Public Broadcasting.
MORE
4 THINGS TO KNOW NEWSLETTER
► Stay in the know with Southeast Louisiana's top stories to start your workday. Sign up for the 4 Things to Know email newsletter to get headlines delivered to your inbox. Click here to sign up!