Natchitoches Arrangements: Public Visitation in the funeral home chapel Thursday, July 19, 2012 5:00 p. m. to 7:00 p. m. Memorial Service at 7:00 p. m. with the Rev. Altorio Holden of Living Word Ministries presiding. New Orleans services are set for Saturday, July 21, 2012, 11:00 a. m., at the Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, 4128 Franklin Avenue with entombment following in the St. Roch Cemetery of New Orleans (1725 St. Roch Street). Repast will follow at the Mt. Tabor Church.

Mrs. Elvira Johnson Marchand was born in New Orleans, LA to the parentage of the late Mr. Raymond Johnson and Mrs. Dorothy McDonald Johnson, the third of three children and the only girl. By nature she was a giving person who often thought of others before she did her own needs. A classic example of this generous lady was her cooking on July 13, 2012 to sell dinners to defray expense of a church trip. This was the day that the Lord called her home. She was very well known for her vibrant personality, her quick wit and her expressing herself whenever and where ever she pleased.
She was preceded in death by her parents and both of her brothers, Mr. Rodney Johnson and Mr. Raymond Johnson, Jr.

Her education was secured from the public schools in Orleans Parish and she was a graduate of Booker T. Washington High School.

Mrs. Marchand was reared in the St. Peter Claver Catholic Church of New Orleans prior to her relocation to Natchitoches after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She found a church home there and was led to work as if she was an official member of the Living Word Ministries Church pastored by the Rev. Altorio Holden, Sr. She will be long remembered for her outstanding contributions in the Food Ministry of this congregation.

This woman of great resolve had a gift in the culinary arts and she refined it through more than three decades of association with Martin Wine Cellar and thirteen years of food service designation with Dillard University.

Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Ronald Marchand, her daughter Tanesha, two grandchildren, Dallas and Ryann and a large circle of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Mrs. Marchand nurtured her stepchildren and many other children who were blessed by her God-given mothering instinct.