WILLARD
Mary Jane Jordan Willard “SweetMoma” was born on November 1, 1935 in Crowley, LA. She earned her Heavenly Wings on October 2, 2018 after a courageous battle with Dementia. Her parents were the late Abraham Jordan and Marie Guillory Jordan. She was preceded in death by her eight siblings. In 2012, she laid to rest the love of her life and husband of more than 60 years, Dr. Elliot C. Willard. From their union 12 children were born, Cynthia, Elliot Jr., Regina (Joseph), Jacinta, Walter, Christopher (Rhonda), Bernadette (Rufus), Dominic (Terrie), Martin (Nia), Benedict (Diane), Lucita, and Katherine. In addition to her more than 40 grandchildren and over 25 great-grandchildren, she was loved by the thousands of school children whom she taught. She was a graduate of Booker T. Washington H.S. and earned her B.A. degree (Magna Cum Laude) at the age of 54 from Southern University at New Orleans. She began assisting in the classroom as a volunteer when she realized her true calling. For several years she prepared students for their G.E.D. with the New Orleans Urban League Street Academy. She was also a counselor with La. Dept. of Family Services. For over 20 years she was a Social Studies instructor at Alfred Lawless and John McDonough High. During Mayor Sidney Barthelemy’s Administration, Mrs. Willard also founded and directed the Total Achievement Problem Prevention (TAPP) program which operated at the St. Bernard Gym. Her program reduced the rate of girls dropping out of school and became a model for other programs throughout New Orleans. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Celebration of life on Saturday October 6, 2018 at St. Raymond/St. Leo Catholic Church, 2916 Paris Avenue. Visitation to begin at 9:00 a.m. until Mass time, 11:00 a.m. Rosary at 10:15 a.m. Rev. Anthony Bozeman, Celebrant. Interment Mount Olivet Cemetery
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Thank you for shedding much-needed light on the mental health issues our people are dying from every day.
It’s ironic: Ten minutes ago, I e-mailed my own mother’s obit (which I wrote earlier this year), to audition for work. I made sure to say by the second line of the historical document “after a sustained battle with delusional disorder.”