Sylvia McKenzie Bellau

Sylvia McKenzie Bellau
Oct. 12, 1928 – July 1, 2023
Sylvia McKenzie Bellau, 94, died July 1, 2023, at her home in Slidell.
She was born Oct. 12, 1928, to the late Mary and Floyd McKenzie. She is preceded in death by her siblings Winnie Mae McKenzie, Darwin “Dub” McKenzie, Audrey Lewis, Larry McKenzie, Donis Brenteson, Carolyn Bergeron and Hilda Salers. She is also preceded in death by her husband, Eugene “Gene” Bellau.
Mrs. Bellau was born on her farm in Salem at the end of the Great Depression. While farm-life was hard in the ’20s and 30’s, the McKenzie kids all grew up with a level of manners and humor. She worked on the war effort as a teenager, sewing coats in Tylertown. She eventually moved to Baton Rouge with two of her sisters. It was here that Sylvia met the love of her life, Gene, an LSU diver, and cheerleader. After Gene graduated, they moved to New Orleans where they soon married and began a family. Once her boys grew old enough, she began a career in real estate, spending the next 40 years selling homes for Latter & Blum.
In 2005, she packed three days of clothes into her car and drove away from her family home for the last time. Katrina took everything she owned. During her exile from New Orleans she stayed with her sister-in-law Meb McKenzie. While there, one cousin mentioned to her, “Aunt Sylvia, you’re the best dressed homeless lady I’ve ever seen.”
Survivors include her three sons, Andrew Bellau (Darlene), Michael Bellau (Michelle) and Kenneth Bellau (Candy), four grandchildren, Eugene Bellau, Jennifer Bellau Baudier (Albert), Mary Bellau Murphy (Chad) and Sofia Bellau and two great-grandchildren, Alexis Messina (and her father Paul), McKenzie Murphy and Emily, Kayla, and Justin Baudier (Taylor). She is also survived by her sister Lucy McKenzie Saia and brother Nelson McKenzie.
Funeral services were at Honaker Funeral Home, Slidell July 12, 2023, a private family interment at Hope Mausoleum in New Orleans.
Honaker Funeral Home, Inc., Slidell, was in charge of the arrangements.