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Vigil mourns student

There will be a memorial service for Amanda Liandra Lee on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. at St. Benedicts Catholic Church in Grambling Louisiana.

A Candle Light vigil for Amanda was held Wednesday, Dec. 2 at The Tiger Statue on the Grambling State University campus. The program began at 5 p.m. The vigil was sponsored by The Center of International Affairs and Programs.  

An account has been set up at the Shreveport Federal Credit Union in Grambling to help pay for the burial expenses for Miss Lee. Anyone who would like to donate may visit the credit union at 113 Edith Rose Lane in Grambling and make a donation to Account #5025645004.

 Amanda, an international 2013 graduate of Grambling State University, passed away Friday, Nov. 27 over the Thanksgiving holidays. She was found unresponsive in her apartment, after complaints throughout the week of not feeling well, according to her roommate and friend  Fernanda Azouz.

She was a December 2013 graduate of Grambling State University, receiving her bachelors of sciences degree in accounting. Amanda worked with an accounting firm based out of Shreveport.

 She was set to return to GSU in the spring 2016 to pursue a graduate degree.

“She was passionate about pursuing a master’s in teaching and passing her CPA exams,” said Azouz, a native of Roseau, Dominica and a graduate student at Grambling, working on her master’s in public administration with a concentration in human resources. 

Amanda, 29-years-old, first arrived in Grambling in 2010 from Riviere Cyrique, Dominica, she was accompanied by her two siblings, sister Jodi-Ann Lee, who is a medical student in Cuba and brother Alleyne Polydore who works in New York. Mandy, as she was affectionately known, was born on December 18, 1985. 

Anyone who knew Mandy, the middle child of three, knew how she felt about family. Her nieces and nephews, Amelia, Jayden, Ethan, Kayshla and Tyra were her world. Having lost their mother in July of 2014, the family lost their pillar but suffice to say Mandy lost her everything.     

Some of her organizations included St. Benedict’s very own CSO, NABA, Phi Beta Lambda, and The Society of Distinguished Black Women. This amazing young woman did it all. Her academic performance was outstanding and her social life was abundant.  

Courtesy photo Amanda Liandra Lee gives one of her famous smiles.

Many remembered Amanda as a cheerful and fun loving spirited person.

“At Thanksgiving dinner we were praying and saying what we were thankful for, she said, “I am so grateful for Chrissie, without her, I don’t know where I would be,” said Azouz.

“She was the greatest listener, confident … She was there for everybody,” said Azouz.

The night before she passed I went to check on her and she said to me, “Cinderella, do you still love me?” 

“Mandy” as we, love to call her was a beautiful spirit. Where ever she saw you she would brighten your day and she will be sorely missed by all that new her, Dr. David “Rusty” Ponton, GSU interim vice president for student Affairs, said.

Dr. Ponton said, “As I shared with the student at the vigil, lets take her spirit with us and share it with others who didn’t know Mandy.”

Mandy leaves behind:

Family: Alleyne, Jode-anne, Sherline, Gertrude, Amelia, Tyra, Kayshla, Delani, other family members. Close friends: Masara, Shari, Stanell, Larisa, Roxanne, Donna, Amanda, Elouise, Rosette.    

Her GSU family: CSO, NABA, Phi Beta Lambda, The Cover Girls of the Society of Distinguished Black Women, Drs. Valentine, Witherspoon, Nwoha and Nonso Okpala, Youlia Rabon, Mildred Gallot, Hannah McCarty, Coach Ponton, Fr. Pat and many more. Her entire Dominica family.