Lily Louise Caudel Blue Medbourn's Obituary
Lily Louise Caudel Blue Medbourn, known lovingly as Louise, was born on April 14, 1928, in Umatilla, Florida, and passed away on December 1, 2025, at the age of 97. Her long life was rooted in Central Florida—in Mount Dora, Tavares, and Leesburg—where she raised her family, built lifelong friendships, and created a home that welcomed all who stepped into it.
Louise’s childhood carried the spirit of the times: a mixture of hardship, adventure, and resourcefulness. She grew up between Florida and Kentucky, the daughter of hardworking parents, Gordon and Agnes Mae Caudel, who made the best of what they had during the lean years of the 1930s. She remembered walking with her mother to the Umatilla grocery store where the butcher would hand out hot dogs and crackers to the children, trapping soft-shelled turtles by the pond, and receiving canned corned beef during the hardest stretches.
Her years in Frenchburg, Kentucky were filled with family, school, and simple joys—eating biscuits from her grandmother’s warming closet, listening to “The Guiding Light” on the family radio, skating on the sidewalk with her best friend Pauline, sitting around the campfire for Friday-night ghost stories, and drying apples on a sheet laid out in the sun. She helped garden, shell beans, pickle vegetables, and watch the men cure hams in the smokehouse. These early rhythms of home, food, and family shaped her for the rest of her life.
As a teenager, Louise spent time with her Aunt Will in Altoona, Florida, where life was equally rooted in the land—drawing water from a well bucket, raking the sand yard each day, and baking sweet potatoes in the wood stove. It was during these years that she met Larry Blue, fell in love, and began her young adult life.
In her late teens, while working in Mount Dora at the Piggly Wiggly, Louise’s life changed in a single lunch break when a handsome soldier named Lawrence Cyrus “Larry” Blue sat down uninvited and boldly ate her grilled cheese sandwich. From that moment on, their story was set in motion. They married in 1946, beginning their life together in a tiny upstairs room in New York with an icebox that overflowed if she forgot to empty the pan and a two-burner stovetop for all her cooking. It was humble, but they were happy.
They welcomed two children, Anita Louise and David Lawrence, and eventually returned to Florida, where they built a life rich with family, orange groves, neighborhood gatherings, and the steady work of raising children. Louise created a home filled with warmth, food, and small joys. She gardened, cooked, collected little keepsakes and curios that delighted her, and stitched together family traditions that now stretch across five generations.
Louise and Larry’s home was a place where people were always welcome, with good food, good company, and a space that felt lived-in and loved. After losing Larry in 1985, she eventually found companionship again with Leo Medbourn, with whom she shared six years of marriage, travel, and laughter before his passing in 1996.
Louise spent four decades in Mobile Home Estates in Tavares, where she built another circle of community. She organized trips for local seniors, contributed to gatherings, forged friendships, and wrote the neighborhood newsletter for 13 years. She loved being involved and loved bringing people together.
In 2011, she moved to Royal Oaks in Leesburg, where she found peace, comfort, and independence in what she joyfully called “the best house I have ever lived in.”
Louise was preceded in death by her husbands, Lawrence Cyrus Blue and Leo Medbourn; her daughter, Anita Louise Blue Memmoli; and family members whose stories and memories she treasured deeply.
She is survived by her son, David (Sheila) Blue; seven grandchildren; fourteen great-grandchildren; and sixteen-and-a-half great-great-grandchildren. Her legacy continues in the love, resilience, humor, and stories she passed on to each generation.
Louise lived a long, remarkable, and deeply meaningful life—one filled with family, beautiful gardens, good food, keepsakes, and community. She loved wholeheartedly, worked willingly, laughed often, and cherished every branch of her growing family tree.
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