06/30/2024
Forty five years ago a woman musician from California, Jeanie McLerie, came to Eunice to study the music of Dennis McGee. She was a very friendly, powerful, talented musician and inspired me, then 26 years old and feeling lost in Cajun country, to form an all woman's Cajun band. We would call it the Magnolia Sisters. We needed to find an accordion player and finally found Bois Sec's niece, Mary Jane Broussard , to play with us. We had a lot of fun and even played at Festival Acadien in 1980-I was pregnant with Joel. Jeanie lived in a little house house behind our house with her husband Ken Keppeler. Jeanie and Ken helped us fix up Marc's grandfather's house (where we live now), Jeanie would babysit, help me clean my house, teach me all kinds of songs, taught me how to make yogurt in a jar in the hot sun in my yard, lots of organic recipes-she was a master organic gardener and had even written a book on the subject. She sewed, made dolls and coats of many colors. Her daughter Nellie lived there, too, and she was a big part of our lives also. Jeanie's other musical groups at that time were The Delta Sisters (her with Frannie Leopold) and The Harmony Sisters (her with Alice Gerrard and Irene Herrman). These two group were fantastic and I got to hang out with all of these great women musicians as they came and went on our farm. Eric and Suzy Thompson would also come to stay with Jeanie and Ken in those days. Jeanie passed away yesterday, and it is hard to understand that she is gone. I will miss the idea that she is there, in her recent home in Silver City, New Mexico, creating brilliant mix tapes that she sent out every Christmas, writing songs, cooking up amazing Mexican meals, teaching fiddle to children, generally giving her all, all her creativity, to the world. We will all miss her so so much. We send her husband, Ken, our love and deep condolences.
Photo: The original Magnolia Sisters at Festival Acadien 1980, (l to r) Jeanie McLerie, Ann Savoy, Mary Jane Broussard See less