Sarah Domingue Spence

1933 - 2024

Sarah was born in Lafayette, Louisiana on May 14, 1933, to Oran Antoine Domingue and Nola Richard Domingue, who pre-deceased her. Her husbands Dr. Maurice Ross Wingo and Lee Russell Spence pre-deceased her as well as her brother, Gerald Domingue; her sisters, Etta Domingue Barber and Nettie Domingue Trahan; her great-granddaughter Luna Marie Allen; and her step daughter-in-law, Serena Spence. She is survived by her six children, Diane Wingo, James Byron Wingo (Theresa Mysing), Camille Wingo, Melanie W. Hughes (Randy), Maurice Ross Wingo II (Eleesa Almand), Stella W. Hillegass (Carl). She is also survived by twelve grandchildren, Sarah B. Melody (Dave), Stewart Burns (Charlotte), Molly A. Gentry (Robby), Samuel Allen (Jenn Bocardo), Marissa H. Bottcher (Sean), Monica H. Smith (Charles), Hampton Hughes (Hannah Camilleri), Maurice Ross Wingo III (Lauren Brown), Eleanor Wingo (Alex May), Ronald Carl Hillegass III, Sarah Margaret Hillegass, and George Hillegass. She is also survived by her fifteen great-grandchildren. Additionally, she is survived by her brothers, Richard and Ronnie Domingue. Three stepchildren survive her: Lynn S. Vandenesse, Thomas Spence, and Cary Lee Spence (Elizabeth). Nine step-grandchildren and seven step great-grandchildren survive her. Sarah graduated as valedictorian of her class from Scott High School. Later in life, Sarah returned to school and completed a BA and MA English at SLU and a MA in English Education at University of New Orleans. She took a Doctorate of Philosophy at LSU. In December of 1951, Sarah was married to Dr. Maurice Ross Wingo. Sarah and Maurice lived in Scott, Louisiana, then moved to the Wingo Family Ranch in Plainview, TX, and subsequently to New Orleans, LA. During this time, they welcomed their first five children. The family then moved in 1960 to a family home in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where they welcomed their sixth child and where the children were raised. After Hurricane Camille and the death Maurice in 1969, Sarah and Lee R. Spence were married and lived in the Pass until moving to Louisiana in 1977. There, Sarah taught at SLU as an Associate Professor of English and was active in the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, for which she served as president. She was a charter member of Pi Delta Phi, the French Honor Society and served as its first president. Sarah was active in the yearly conferences of the South Central Society of Eighteenth Century Studies where she presented annually. She retired in 2008, after 28 years of teaching. After retirement, Sarah continued teaching English at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana. She was active at St. Anselm Catholic Church in Madisonville, where she was a lector and member of the choir. She belonged to the writing group, Inklings, and was a member of the Northshore Literary Society. In 2017, she published a novel, For the Duration, a historical fiction set in WWII Louisiana and France. Sarah and Lee enjoyed boating on the Gulf Coast and Tchefuncte River where they entertained family and friends. They were avid tennis players for fifty years, and enjoyed traveling, both in Europe and the American West. Following the loss of Lee in 2021, Sarah moved from Mandeville to Dallas, the home of many of her family members. The last two years of her life were filled with newfound friends, family visits and numerous activities that kept her young. She served as director of the Library at The Forum at Park Lane, keeping her charge well-organized and well-dusted. Sarah stepped on to the tennis court for the last time a week before her passing and was working on a memoir at the time of her death. A graveside service and burial will take place on Wednesday, April 10 at 3:00 pm at the Wingo Family Plot at Live Oak Cemetery, 399-301 St. Louis Street in Pass Christian, MS.