A three-day celebration of the life of Kathleen Babineaux Blanco begins Thursday in Baton Rouge.
Memorabilia from Blanco’s time in office lines the Capitol Rotunda, where the former governor will lie in state.
The three-day celebration begins with an interfaith service in downtown Baton Rouge at St. Joseph Cathedral. Her former staff and cabinet members will then line the steps of the Capitol, as state troopers who protected Blanco while governor will walk her casket into the Rotunda.
The public is welcome to pay their respects there from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Services on Friday and Saturday will take place in Lafayette, where Blanco will be laid to rest.
Kathleen Blanco was Louisiana’s first female governor, serving from 2004 to 2008, and led the state through Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated the region.
The former governor died Sunday after a battle with cancer. She was 76.