Mary Ellen Arceneaux Coco

May 20, 1944 – August 28, 2026

Mary Ellen Arceneaux Coco, 82, of Moreauville, LA, died at home on Friday, August 28, 2026, surrounded by the love of her six daughters. Mary was born in Lafayette on May 20, 1944, to Benjamin Louis and Palmyre Ann Martin Arceneaux and grew up surrounded by a large extended family eventually graduating from Mount Carmel High School. While attending University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Mary traveled with her cousin one weekend to the Mansura Cochon de Lait Festival and met Robert Smith Coco. Six months later they married on December 26, 1964.

In their early years of marriage, her mother-in-law, Bobbie Smith Coco taught her how to cook, quilt and introduced her to daylilies. There were 4-H years, cold nights at livestock shows, fundraisers, school fairs, sewing circles and summer gardens making maque choux and canning figs. Dinners made in 30 minutes that were restaurant quality with the best rice and gravy, pralines, pecan pies and wet coconut cakes. There was always room at the round table for any family or friend who dropped by.

In 1988 she went to work at the Cottonport Post Office and carried the mail on Rural Route 1. After retiring, she turned a lifelong craft into a business of her own, Good Intentions Quilting, teaching, sewing and quilting to anyone who wanted to learn. If you did not find her in her quilt room, she was usually on her front porch, where the neighbors called her the mayoress of Cowbridge, tending to her daylilies and drinking coffee in the morning, talking and texting good friends and grandkids.

Mary was a parishioner of Sacred Heart Catholic Church for fifty-two years, Secretary of Cenla Daylily Society and a member of Cottonport Quilters Guild. From the daylily society road trips, quilt shows and Monday morning money counting at church, she developed a network of the most loving and amazing friends that she truly cherished.

Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Robert S. Coco; her parents, Benjamin Louis and Palmyre Ann Martin Arceneaux; her grandchildren, Benjamin Michael Serrano and Nina Claire Coco-Senyszyn; her brother, James Lewis Arceneaux and our beloved Anna Marie Martin.

She is survived by her six daughters, Bobbie Anne Coco Serrano (Jeff) of Katy, TX; Claire Marie Coco (Richard Senyszyn) of New Braunfels, TX; Esther Louise Coco Boe (David) of Mansura, LA; Anna Coco (Bruce Templeton) of Lake Wales, FL; Carey Elizabeth Coco (Christopher Mason) of Winter Haven, FL and Julie Dominica Inman (James) of Prairieville, LA; her grandchildren: Luke Vanderlick, William Vanderlick (Shanna), Katie Coco-Senyszyn, Kevin Coco (Holly), Martin Vanderlick, Joseph Serrano, Mariana Templeton, Anna Serrano, Collin Mason, Kenneth Coco-Senyszyn, Lyla Inman, Isabella Serrano, Cade Mason, Cora Inman, Stephanie Green, Brandon Templeton, Christopher Templeton, Tyler Boe and Cayla Boe; her great-grandchildren: Skylarr Webb, Liam Webb, Elias Green, Macsen Green, Joon Templeton, Stella Williamson and Natalie Templeton; and her brother, Benjamin Louis Arceneaux, Jr.

Visitation will be held from 5:00 pm until 10:00 pm on Friday, September 4, 2026, at Escude Funeral Home in Moreauville, LA, with the Holy Rosary recited at 7:00 pm. Visitation will resume Saturday, September 5, 2026 from 8:00 am until 10:30 am. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 am at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Moreauville, LA with Father Brian Seiler officiating. Interment will follow at Sacred Heart Catholic Mausoleum.

Pall bearers will be Joseph Serrano, Kevin Coco, Kenneth Coco-Senyszyn, Luke Vanderlick, William Vanderlick, Martin Vanderlick, Collin Mason and Cade Mason.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Cenla Daylily Society or the Cottonport Quilters Guild.

Mary had lots of names. Granny was the best one. She loved her daughters and the men they married, and her grandchildren delighted her. If you knew Granny, you knew you were loved. We like to think she is somewhere with endless daylilies and a perfect selection of quilt fabric, rocking the grandbabies who got there ahead of her.