Obituary

Lee Audrey Cohea

May 30, 1940 - July 11, 2022

"To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ms. Lee Audrey ( Burnett/Ransfer) Cohea was born on May 14, 1930 in the City of Bogalusa to the late Solomen Ransfer and Eunice English. She transitioned from this life on July 11 , 2022 peacefully at the age of 92 at Resthaven Nursing home after a long illness.

Until her health would not allow, she was an active member of Saint Paul AME Church in Bogalusa.  She was a lifelong member and at the time of her passing was the mother of the Church. As a member and over the years, she was a strong choir member and often sing for weddings and funerals. Her late grandfather "Tom Pounds" was a founder of the church.

Although born in Bogalusa, she was raised by her father and stepmother the late Lenora Ransfer in Tucson, Arizona. That's where she gets her love for all things Mexican and Indian turquoise jewelry. She had an exotic beauty and was often mistaken for a Mexican girl. As a teenager she went to Mexico with her father and best friend Westona and was denied reentry by the border patrol, because they said she was a Mexican National. Her father had to travel back to Tucson to get her birth certificate before she was out allowed reentry.

Although raised in Arizona she often returned to Bogalusa to be around family on Lincoln Street. Many of her lifelong lessons came from her aunt, affectionately called "Big Mama", the late Lillie Pounds. Many of her critical comments of things started with "Big Mama said". It was on Lincoln Street, while picking roses, she met her husband the Late Collie Burnett, Sr. of Varnado Louisiana. From that union, she bore five children: Fortune, Collie, Jr., Brandon, the late Costroma Burnett and Eunice Ransfer.

Lee Audrey lived a full life in service to her family. When her mother passed, she traveled from Tucson to Bogalusa by car to pick up her siblings (Eugenia, Anthony and Sherman) to live with her in Tucson. So, she raised eight children as a single mom after her divorce from Collie Sr. She gave up her dreams of college (having attended Gambling) and as a poet. She loved to write poems.

"I look at the leaves. It appears that the sun is shining on the leaves, but it is really

the color of the leaves. It is December. The color of the leaves is here. Glow like

red and shine like the sun. Brings back memories long gone beyond."

Upon returning to Louisiana in the 1965, she studied to become a nurse and worked at Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. That's where she met her lifelong friend and fellow nurse Ms. Gloria Cordia. Sisters for life. She moved back to Bogalusa in the late 70's.

She lived a full life and kept smiles on her family and friends faces with her humor and occasionally slaty language. She was a firm person and took no prisoners. She believed in hard work and family. She was straight-forward and worthy of respect.

She was preceded in death by her mother Eunice English, father Solomon Ransfer, her beloved Aunt B, Lillie Pounds, her uncle Eusby English. Her uncle Willie Davis, her sister Eugenia Davis, her brother Sidney Davis, her brother Anthony Davis, her baby boy Costroma Burnett and former husband Collie Burnett, Sr.

Visitation will be from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM on July 20, 2022 at Cook-Richmond Funeral Home in Bogalusa, Louisiana. The Funeral will be at 11:00 AM on July 21, 2022 at St. Paul A.M.E. Church.