LAURA JANE BILODEAU
May 18, 1929 to January 17, 2024
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Laura's Obituary

Laura J. Bilodeau left this world to be with the Lord on January 17, 2024 at age 94 1/2 after a long and tenacious battle with COPD. Being a humorist until the very end, she wanted everyone to know that COPD did NOT stand for "Chronic Obnoxious Personality Disorder."

She was born May 18, 1929 on a farm East of Lawton, Oklahoma to Robert W. and Frances Rodgers. In the early years she was always known as Laura Jane but sometime in her forties, insisted on being called Laura.

She graduated from Lawton High School in 1947 and immediately set out on her own working as a bank teller. She married Edgar J. "Bill" Bilodeau on February 26, 1949, and made their home in Norfolk Virginia until 1962 when they moved to Oklahoma City with their four boys, Mark, Lynn, David and Craig. She converted to Catholicism when she married Bill. She insisted that the conversion had nothing to do with the marriage; she simply fell in love with the Catholic Church.

Laura and Bill sacrificed their own personal wants and needs in favor of those four boys. Despite a meager income, they managed to keep all four boys in private Catholic schools, something that Laura insisted upon.

She was one of the most frugal persons in history. She was a talented seamstress, just like her mother. She could even make a complete men's suit from scratch; and did. She would tackle any job. She was so in love with her church that she served as church secretary at St. Eugene for seventeen (17) years.

But her first love was her family. She would do anything for family. It didn't matter how tight money was, we always knew we were going to Lawton for Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter to spend time with her parents and her sister, Jeanne Shirley and Jeanne's four daughters.

Laura was extremely proud of her "four wonderful sons" and would do anything for them.

She was preceded in death by her parents and by her husband of nearly fifty (50) years, as well as her second husband, N.A. Fortune, and her sister, Jeanne Shirley. She is survived by her four boys, Mark and wife Sun, Lynn and wife Sherri, David and wife Glenda, and Craig and daughter in law Karen, with whom she shared many hours of kinship, especially in her last few years. Karen also provided an incredible amount of care for Laura in those years. Laura is also survived by grandchildren, Benjamin (Benny), Jenny, Rock, Christopher, Michael, Ted, Samantha (Sami) and Zachary (Zack), as well as six great grandchildren, twins Cade and Brian, Lorelei, Elijah, Piper and Hasia. She is also survived by her four (4) beloved nieces, who have been like sisters to her four sons; Debra Mead, Patricia Wiseman, Pamela Greenwell and Barb Clemons.

She loved deeply and was loved deeply.

Her sharp wit, warped sense of humor and never ending love will be missed beyond words.

Funeral Mass / Celebration of Life is scheduled for Wednesday, January 24 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Eugene Catholic Church, with a brief reception to follow for family and friends.