Ledoux, Elizabeth Anne

Elizabeth (Betty) Anne LeDoux, 84, of Blacksburg, died Sunday, May 30, 2010 at Montgomery Regional Hospital. Betty was born in Columbus, Ohio on March 31, 1926 to the late Nathan John and Eula Hess Eicher. She was also preceded in death by a son, Jeffrey LeDoux. She graduated from West High School in 1943. Her family moved to Long Beach, California in 1945 when her father was employed by an aircraft defense plant. Betty worked at the Naval Shipyard in Long Beach as a clerk typist. She met her future husband John on a blind date in November 1947. John was a Navy officer on the USS Astoria CL90 that was home ported in Long Beach. They were married on May 8, 1948 in Long Beach. During her husband’s Navy career the family moved many times during his 24 years in the Navy. In one nine year period, the family moved eight times coast to coast. Their eight children were born in California, Virginia, New York and Tennessee. After retiring from the Navy in 1967 they remained in the Northern Virginia area where John worked for several companies. In 1973 they moved to Boulder, Colorado where her husband was associated with the University of Colorado. They returned to Virginia in 1976 when John joined the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In 1982 they moved to Blacksburg where her husband was an Associate Professor of Engineering. During this time Betty was active in their church, Triedstone Christian Center where for several years she taught the children’s super church. She then led the intercessory women’s prayer group until 2002. As the mother of eight, the grandmother of eleven and the great-grandmother of nine, she has been an inspiration and advisor to her children and grandchildren and a model of what a mother and wife should be. She was esteemed and loved by all who knew who her. She is survived by her husband, John C. LeDoux; four daughters, Janelle Anderson and husband, Robert, Christiansburg, Judith LeDoux, Raleigh, N.C., Jean LeDoux, Hawaii, Joyce Carter, Marshall, Va.; three sons, John LeDoux and wife, Chick, Bristow, Va., James LeDoux, Sacramento, Calif., Joseph LeDoux and wife, Debra, Decatur, Ga.; eleven grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 3 p.m. in the McCoy Funeral Home Chapel with the Rev. Vince Guerra officiating. Interment will follow in Westview Cemetery, Blacksburg. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday evening at McCoy Funeral Home, 150 Country Club Drive, SW, Blacksburg.