Each week, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person – someone who is well-known, successful, and/or influential, and asks, “What’s Your Story?”
By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
It was a setup, pure and simple.
Divorced and having moved back home from Memphis, some old friends invited her to a picnic.
“It was at someone’s home. There were going to be Christians, couples, and singles.”
She didn’t have a reason to decline.
“I said, ‘Sure!’ I had been single for some time. They basically didn’t tell me anything about him. They just asked him to take me home from the party.”
In other words, “They left me. They had it all planned.”
He took her home, but that wasn’t the last time they would see each other. In fact, for the next nine months, they built a relationship.
“We had both been married. We both had children. We both liked being married. We talked with our priest. We talked with our pastor.”
And they became husband and wife. 32 years later, they are still married. But little did she know on that beautiful 82-degree October Sunday in 1992, when they were “set up”, she would become the First Lady of Shreveport.
“I’m constantly campaigning for our city because we love it so much.”
74-year-old Elizabeth Arceneaux, wife of Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux, told me that story – and her story – during lunch at a place she chose, Rhino’ Coffee – downtown and a stone’s throw from her husband’s office. Elizabeth, wearing an I (heart) Shreveport button, had a scoop of chicken salad, and black coffee with whole milk. I enjoyed the Southfield Avocado Wrap, and water with lemon.
“I’ve been taking it one day at a time. I really believe in my husband and the vision he has.”
Elizabeth was born and raised in Shreveport’s Highland neighborhood, and area where she still lives.
“Growing up in Highland was wonderful. There were such large families – 11, 12, 17 kids. I had a whole neighborhood of children around me that went to school in the neighborhood.”
Those kids, including Elizabeth, did the usual kid things – riding bikes, playing kickball, and roller skating. And Elizabeth took piano, baton, and swimming lessons. But in her heart, she was a self-described tomboy.
“I really liked to build things, so my father gave me free reign – or I took free reign – of the garage. I got a saw and built go-karts and tree houses. There were mostly boys I played with. I remember we would save up our coke bottles to get our money. I saved up my money and bought a muskrat from a little boy for 50 cents. That was one of our pets, along with the feral cats, and the dogs.”
She didn’t know it at the time, but Elizabeth’s talent for building was a sign of what she would become. After graduating from C.E. Byrd High School, Elizabeth had visions of being a designer.
“My father said, ‘Honey, I don’t know what a designer does. What are you going to do? There’s only one person hiring!’”
So, Elizabeth went to LSU in Baton Rouge to pursue a business degree. But she never lost her desire to design. So, Elizabeth took some art classes, then transferred to the American Society of Interior Designers. She spent her last semester in Italy.
“I had never been anywhere before . . . . It was a little scary. I didn’t speak the language. There were about 25 American students living in Rome behind the Vatican. We were in Vatican City . . . . We had classrooms within the city, so we had to physically map, and walk there or get on the bus or the train. We walked a lot . . . . We went all over and studied archeology, architecture, and art.”
With her bachelor’s degree in interior design, Elizabeth returned to Shreveport and worked for an office furnishing business. She married and moved to Memphis, where her husband was an attorney. While there, Elizabeth continued her career.
“I worked on a lot of incredible homes. Entertainer’s homes. Politician’s homes. I did a lot of hospitals. I was doing pretty good at (age) 24.”
Elizabeth spent nine years in Memphis, before getting divorced and moving back home. Her father had died, and her mother was by herself. “I really wanted to establish some roots with family.” Elizabeth continued to work as an interior designer, for a business, as well as for individual clients.
Then came the picnic, the courtship, and the blended marriage – Elizabeth had one son, and Tom had a son and a daughter. When Elizabeth met Tom, he was out of politics (a two-term city councilman) and practicing law. So, when Tom told her he was thinking of running for mayor, Elizabeth had no idea what to expect.
“I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know what to do.”
But you don’t know what you don’t know.
“I said, ‘I’m in. He’s always had that desire. He loves the city. We both love the city. We both love everything about it. All the different cultures. The people. I know he is a visionary. Us working together as a family, I was with it. I come from an artist perspective. He has a more legal perspective. But we’re on the same page.”
During the summer campaign of 2022, Elizabeth walked to 55,000 houses, losing 25 pounds. Call it sweat equity.
“I felt even deeper about the city. It was amazing. I went every place, every district. I met some wonderful people and realized how big Shreveport is. We all wanted the same thing. We all wanted our city to be well. It really wasn’t about us. It was about the people of the city.”
But campaigns are not all shaking hands and kissing babies. Elizabeth had to watch as her husband took incoming fire from political opponents.
“As a believer in Christ (Elizabeth has traveled to places like South Africa, Turkey, and India as a missionary working in prayer ministry), it is what HE says I am, not what anybody else says. I knew (some things being said) were not true, and I knew it’s just part of it. So, I just had to let it roll off. There were times when I had to take a step back, then I just moved forward. You don’t look around you. You just go and do what you’re supposed to do.”
Now that Elizabeth has been the mayor’s wife for close to three years, I was curious as to what is her favorite perk of the position? Not having to mess with those downtown parking meters? Skipping the line at the movie theatre?
“I got to decorate his office.”
Remember, Elizabeth is a licensed interior designer.
But surely Shreveport’s First Couple doesn’t have to wait for a table at a popular restaurant, do they?
“We have been offered that, but we will not do that. My husband will wait until the end of the line. We just don’t do that. That’s what I love about him.”
Whether it’s the 2026 mayoral election, or in 2030 when her husband, should he win re-election, would be term-limited, the day will come when Elizabeth is not married to the mayor. And she’s fine with that.
“I’m always prepared for what God has. It’s in his hands, so I don’t have to worry.”
Not wanting to keep Elizabeth, whose next stop was to pick out local artwork for her husband’s office (the art is rotated every few months), I asked my final question. As always, what has she learned during her life that might be helpful to others?
“Lean into the purpose God has for you, or the purpose you’re being drawn to. Follow that. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I can tell you what I’ve gone through. It’s a daily walk. Don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged. You will have days. Maybe there’s a different direction. There are things you have to plan for, but there’s a path God has for you. Just step into that and seek that.”
And don’t say ‘No’ to picnic invitations from friends.
Do you know someone with a story? Email SBJTonyT@gmail.com.
The Journal’s weekly “What’s Your Story?” series is sponsored by Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers.