Edith Ann "Toni" Balot passed away peacefully in her home on February 1, 2020, at the age of 86. She was born in New Orleans, LA to the union of Louis and Dorothy Balot. She lived most of her life in New Orleans, where she graduated from Eleanor McMain High school. Toni served as a Benedictine nun for twenty-three years. During this time, she worked as an elementary school teacher for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. She spent many years teaching and serving in Columbia, South America, where she worked as a school principal and co-founded the Colegio San Vincent de Paul in Medellin, Columbia. Upon returning home, she worked among the poor in Covington, LA before pursuing her social work degree from Tulane University. She received her master's degree in religious education from Loyola University. Toni was many years professed as a Secular Franciscan in the St. Theresa of Avila Fraternity. She was also a member of the New Orleans chapter of the Catholic Christian peace group for Pax Christi International, a Community Organizer on the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish Staff for nine years, and a social worker for the New Orleans Public School System for over twenty years. Toni is preceded in death by her parents Louis Henry Balot and Dorothy Hille Balot, her brother Louis H. Balot, Jr. and her nephew Louis H. Balot, III. She is survived by her son William "Louis" Balot and wife Michelle, her son Christopher Balot, her granddaughters Dana Balot and Gabrielle Balot, who affectionately called her "Nina", her niece Angela Wallace and husband Ed, her nephew Michael Balot and wife Elise, and her nephew Renee Balot and wife Yoko. She is also survived by her cousins, great-nieces, great-nephews, and a host of cherished friends. Special thanks to the staff at Homelife in the Gardens, Assuring Hearts, Patio Drugs and Passages Hospice for their care and support. Family and friends are invited to celebrate her life on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 10:30 AM with a Christian Funeral Mass at St. Clare's Monastery, 720 Henry Clay Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118. She will be interred alongside her parents in St. Patrick Cemetery #3. Jacob Schoen & Son in charge of the arrangements. To view and sign the family guestbook, please go to www.schoenfh.com.
Published by The Times-Picayune from Mar. 4 to Mar. 7, 2020.