Jean Boese

Who was Jean Boese?

Elsie Jean McGivney Boese, known as Jean Boese, was the poet laureate of Louisiana from 1972 to 1980, and from 1984 until her death. She was also the Republican national committeewoman from Louisiana, having served from 1968 to 1974. She was the first woman to serve on the Alexandria Civil Service Commission.

She was born in New Orleans to John Roderick McGivney and the former Elsie Buist. She graduated from the Louise S. McGehee School in New Orleans in 1942. In 1945, at the age of twenty, she graduated from the former H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, the women's division of Tulane University. On May 20, 1946, she married Herman Lamar Boese. The couple moved to Alexandria, where Dr. Boese, a proctologist, established his medical practice.