225BatonRouge.com

Baton Rouge’s First Lady smiles.

“I still think of myself as a little ol’ country girl from Jackson,” she says proudly.

Perhaps, but Lois (pronounced “Loyce,” and she doesn’t know why) Holden is hardly a country girl any longer.

Instead, she’s a long-time working mom whose husband, Kip, is the mayor of Louisiana’s largest city. And she couldn’t be prouder. The former Lois Stevenson is a 1972 graduate of Jackson High School and has spent every year since working at Southern University.

Kip took over Jan. 1, 2005, making Lois the First Lady, a role she relishes.

“Well, before, I was not as recognizable. Before, I was not nearly as political as Kip. I was more of a homebody-type person and put in more time with the kids. Knowing that his schedule was so hectic and crazy, I thought my role was more geared toward the home and the kids. You didn’t find me out and about as much as him.”

Few people could keep pace with the mayor. But Lois already had plenty going on for herself. Kip has two children from his first marriage, and Lois had one, plus together they have two: Myron, 20, a student at Xavier in New Orleans, and Brian, 19, who’s at LSU.

And she not only handles the banking and bookkeeping for the family’s Holden Café on Blount Road in Scotlandville, she’s now assistant to the vice president for finance and business affairs at Southern.

Lois is the youngest of 11 children. Her mother was a seamstress, her father a farmer. They were poor but happy, she says.

“I had a wonderful childhood and I credit my mother [Beatrice]. She was a terrific force in my life. I credit her for so many things I’m enjoying now. She taught me patience and endurance, and she taught me that you just can’t give up, that you need to keep trying and have persistence. And she taught me love and faith and belief in God and all those things that sustain me.”

Even with a husband who is mayor and 30 years at Southern, she has no plans to retire yet.

“There were opportunities to leave Southern, but something always kept me at Southern. I thought it was always a worthwhile field to be in education. I’ve never been in the classroom. I’ve never had the capabilities of being a teacher, but I’m a fan of education and what it can do. I’m a prime example; coming from a very poor background and education did so much for me.”