Barbara Janssen LeBlanc

Barbara Janssen LeBlanc, age 71, a resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, died at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas on September 10, 2019. Barbara fell ill during a visit to Dallas and passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and loving friends. Born Barbara Joan Janssen in Peoria, Illinois and raised in McPherson, Kansas, Barbara received a degree in Art from Bethany College in neighboring Lindsborg in 1972. She taught art in elementary schools before moving to Dallas in 1976 where she pursued a career in catering, eventually establishing her own catering business, The Moveable Feast. In 1988 she married Jim LeBlanc and over the following years patiently transformed their small house in the old Dallas Lakewood neighborhood into a warm inviting home surrounded by thriving seasonal gardens. Barbara and Jim were inseparable, but she was also loyal and attentive to her many close and dear friends, including the Elizabeth Circle group at Central Lutheran Church and the Woodrow Wilson Classics in Dallas, and the Dancers Workshop, Bluebonnet Library Knitting Nook, and Cottage Hill Book Club in Baton Rouge. Barbara and Jim retired to Baton Rouge in 2016, but frequently returned to Dallas to reunite with family and friends. Barbara was preceded in death by her father William Dean Janssen, mother Pearl Lorensen Janssen, sister Deborah Janssen, brother Jerald Janssen, step-brother Rick Baise, aunt Dorothy Janssen Warnke, and first husband Harlin Sexton III. She is survived by her husband Jim LeBlanc, son Harlin (James) Sexton IV and grandchildren Alyssa Sexton and Dylan Sexton of The Colony, Texas, stepmother Nancy Blair Baise Janssen of McPherson, Kansas, brother William Janssen of McPherson, Kansas, aunt Wilma Janssen Allenspach of Peoria, Illinois, cousins Jim Allenspach of Dunedin, Florida, Janet Allenspach of Los Osos, California, Ilene Warnke of Houston, Dennis Warnke of Houston, and Carol Warnke Peters of Livingston, Texas. A memorial gathering for Barbara took place on Saturday, September 14 at a private home in Dallas and was attended by her family and many close and loving longtime friends. Memorial contributions are welcome at Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance at www.ocrahope.org.