NEW ORLEANS -- Jerelyn "Pixie" Naquin, a crucial figure in the growth and success of Mardi Gras in New Orleans through her role as executive vice president of the city’s largest float-building company, died Tuesday after a lengthy illness. She was 63.
Naquin was the executive vice president of Blaine Kern Artists, where she began working when she was just 16.
Kern said Naquin, as one of his top executives, had a hand in every facet of the company and was deeply involved the selection of Carnival themes, float sketches and the development of Mardi Gras World, which grew into a major local tourist attraction.
Kern's company, based in his native Algiers, has a hand in the development and production of most of the city's major Carnival krewes, including Rex, Bacchus, Endymion and Zulu, as well as producing floats and parades for dozens of suburban krewes and special events worldwide.
Naquin was also the secretary of the West bank-based Krewe of Alla for 40 years and secretary of the Krewe of Bacchus in its formative years.
Kern, who has been known for decades as “Mr. Mardi Gras,” says if anyone would ever have been called “Miss Mardi Gras,” it would have been Naquin.
She is survived by a husband, son and grandson.
The wake will be held Thursday evening from 6 to 10 p.m. at Mothe Funeral Home in Algiers at 1300 Vallette St.
