Linda Lavender Ford

It is with heavy hearts and profound sadness that we announce the passing of beloved matriarch and community icon, Linda Lavender Ford, who passed away peacefully in her home, lovingly surrounded by her family. Born on June 9, 1941, Mrs. Linda passed away June 4, 2025, just a few days shy of her 84th birthday. A celebration of her extraordinary life and legacy will be held Sunday, June 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at Fair Park Baptist Church, West Monroe, Louisiana, with her dear friend, Darris Waren officiating. Visitation will be held at Fair Park on Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Interment will immediately follow the service at Hasley Cemetery in West Monroe.

It has been asked how a funeral service could ever adequately honor someone who was larger than life. In Mrs. Linda’s case, you don’t have to look any further than how she lived her life to tell her story. The heart and soul and founder of Linda Lavender School of Dance and the Twin City Ballet Company, no one could have guessed that her extraordinary journey would begin with childhood dance lessons as she studied under her adored teachers, Mary Lou Shephard and Pat Young. These lessons would lead to her dancing into the community’s hearts in her television debut on the Happiness Exchange, where she was featured every Saturday morning on the Birthday Show. Always the performer, Mrs. Linda’s mother would make her new costumes each week for these performances, and thus, a star was born.

With divine inspiration and the self-confidence nurtured by her teachers, Mrs. Linda knew from an early age that she wanted to teach dance and devote her life to the art of teaching it. She opened her first studio in her garage, teaching her cousins and neighborhood friends. With that same unwavering confidence, she grew out of her garage and into her next studio on Trenton Street. As her studio grew, so did her desire to expose as many students as she could to her beloved art form. From Trenton Street to Haynes Street, Mrs. Linda continued to expand her reach, leaving her fingerprints from her studio to the Jack Howard Civic Center, where hundreds of recitals have been performed under her watchful eye. Expansion continued into Monroe, and then a larger studio in West Monroe, which her beloved “Mr. Joe” built for her with state-of-the-art resources so she could continue to pour into her students. Mrs. Linda liked to say, “Mediocracy is a personal choice,” and it is safe to say that nothing Mrs. Linda touched was mediocre. She set high expectations for her students and herself, and spent over 65 years standing on the simple principle, “Dance with your heart and your feet will follow.”

Mrs. Linda felt it was a great honor to be trusted with thousands of dance students and a privilege to influence their lives, teaching discipline, grace, dedication, and kindness. It cannot be argued that a special privilege was being able to teach her daughter, and then her granddaughter, to dance, and she has said, “It was a privilege to teach Linda Lou, but a dream come true for her to teach alongside me.” Mrs. Linda’s childhood dreams became her calling as she spent her life teaching the art of dance and using her unique gifts to bring arts education to thousands of dance students.

Mrs. Linda’s dance story must also include the confidence it took to further expand the regional dance community when she founded the Twin City Ballet Company in 1969. “The Ballet Company” was born from two places for her: to enhance her students' dance education in local, professional classes and to provide an outreach to her community that would expose them to the arts. Under her tutelage, Twin City Ballet has brought professional-level performances to the stage for decades and given young dancers the rare opportunity to train and perform in a professional setting. Her productions were original and impeccably executed, reflecting Mrs. Linda’s level of excellence. Under her leadership, the company has transformed into a beloved cornerstone in Northeast Louisiana and delivered both Christmas and spring school performances to literally hundreds of thousands of children for nearly 55 years. As artistic director, she knew the value of exposing her students to professional dancers, and took great pride in creating a summer Workshop for yearly summer intensive training, with teachers she brought in from all over the country, in every genre of dance.

Because of her tireless advocacy for art education and her love for her community, Mrs. Linda has been honored with countless awards and recognitions throughout her life and career. A few of those include the Governor’s Art Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Regional Dance America, the A.O. Evans award, the WMWO Female Champion, the WMWO Chamber Johnny Huntsman Entrepreneurial Success Award, and the Edmundson Williamson Award for Outstanding Artist.

Of all the accolades Mrs. Linda received in her life, her most cherished roles were those of wife to “Mr. Joe,” “Mama,” and “Nana.” Mr. Joe was unquestionably the love of her life, and they began their love story by marrying in 1960. There has never been a day that Mr. Joe didn’t support Mrs. Linda’s dreams and encouraged her at every growth opportunity. This support would often include having her dinner ready for her when she got home from a long day of dance, or building her not one but three dance studios, including a headquarters for Twin City Ballet. Mr. Joe and Mrs. Linda spent years building a home that was always open to their children, their children’s friends, community friends, and guest artists who relished in staying at the “Fords” for weeks at a time. They created this home and loved carving out special times with their families, from “Sunday Night at the Fords” to over-the-top Christmas and holiday celebrations. Mr. Joe was definitely the cook, but Mrs. Linda enjoyed being in the kitchen with him, listening to their music, and simply spending time together.

For years, the family would take the infamous beach vacations, times that Mr. Joe and Mrs. Linda loved spending with their family and extended family, and friends. It was a time to rest and reset for Mrs. Linda, who loved the beach so much. The home they created was built on their devotion to one another, and Mr. Joe never left her side. The performances Mr. Joe has endured through the years are too numbered to count, but he was always there, without complaint, and always supporting “Mrs. Linda.”

While much has been written about her career, Mrs. Linda was quite simply a person who loved beautiful things. She was a clothes champion and was always impeccably dressed, and certainly smelling good! She had a love affair with shoes and in her later years, owned every color of UGG slippers! She loved her home and, as with everything else she touched, filled it with beautiful things that had special meaning to her. Often you could find her working in her beautiful yard, or sitting on her swing under her patio listening to her beautiful music, or watching her birds.

Her children and grandchildren brought her much joy, and she loved splurging on them and creating holiday magic with generous gifts from Nana and Daz. Their family has learned from the best, in what true devotion, respect, and love mean by watching their Nana and Daz. The family will miss their beautiful, graceful, and elegant mother and grandmother, but take comfort in knowing that she is at the foot of Jesus conducting ballet class, completely healed, while singing the song she loved to sing to her students, “I think you are wonderful.”

Mrs. Linda, we indeed think “you” are wonderful.

In 2015, Mrs. Linda told BayouLife magazine, “I want everybody to appreciate what we’re doing and understand that there’s talent all around us. These kids need the chance to perform and to be trained, to have the opportunities, and I want that to continue forever.” Mrs. Linda, generations of dancers will continue to flourish because of your extraordinary vision and commitment to their dance education, even in your absence.

Mrs. Linda is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Joe A. Ford, Jr., her children, Joe A. Ford, III and Renee Moore, Johnnye Ford and wife Paula, Linda Lou Bourland and husband, Sam. She is survived by her adoring grandchildren, John Ford, Benjamin Ford, Samuel Bourland, Ford Bourland, Clayton Ford and wife Natalie, and Emma Lou Ford, and her brother Rusty Lavender and his wife, Pam. Mrs. Linda is also survived by cousins, legions of friends and thousands of adoring dance students. Mrs. Linda also leaves behind her precious and devoted furry companion, Jack Ford, who never left her side.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Edward Lavender and Johnye McClain Drane, and her grandson, Joseph A. Ford, IV.

Serving as pallbearers are her grandsons, John Ford, Benjamin Ford, Samuel Bourland, Ford Bourland, and Clayton Ford, and honoring her late grandson, Joseph Ford, will be his best friend, Will Blackwell.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her honor and memory may be made to Twin City Ballet, 2905 DeSoto Street, Monroe, Louisiana 71201.