She wears a flared black skirt, a crisp white blouse with ruffles down the front and glamorous earrings that flash now and then through her tousled, curly chestnut hair. "She thinks she could take over today. (Photo by Ted Jackson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive), (L to R) Rita Benson-Leblanc, Tom Benson, Gayle Benson, Dennis Lauscha, and Mickey Loomis take in the game from courtside during the game between the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday, October 31, 2012. (Photo by Alex Brandon, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive), The New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, with his grand daughter Rita LeBlanc before the St. Louis Rams game at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis on Sunday,Oct. The will appears to make Gayle his prime beneficiary and excludes the estranged relatives by name. And then she begins to cry. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive). Benson did not face questioning from either side’s attorneys. Benson describes the upper management of the Saints in his usual earthy way: "You got me; you got her; you got Dennis Lauscha, chief financial officer; and you got Mickey Loomis, general manager, who runs the football operation.". "I think she'll be good for the team. The center is named after his deceased wife who was a member of St. Cecilia. But she just kept showing more and more interest.". (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive), New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, left, stands next to his granddaughter, Rita Benson Leblanc, at the Saints Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday, May 18, 2012 in New Orleans at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Meanwhile, though the will as it stands leaves them with nothing more, it's not like daughter Renee Benson, granddaughter Rita LeBlanc and grandson Ryan LeBlanc were left with nothing. Eventually, she took over marketing, which had always been her niche. You couldn't pay me enough to do that.". "I have no intention of retiring. Other questions:subscriberservices@theadvocate.com. "She wasn't just a college kid. She worked from the bottom up -- didn't wait for them to throw it in her lap. At 12, at 14, at 18 -- I always felt it was my role, what I needed to do.". It was amid this poisonous climate that the owner of the NFL’s Saints and NBA’s Pelicans finally decided to turn his back on the “3 R’s” — Rita, Ryan and Renee, his daughter from a previous marriage — and make Gayle the heir to his billion-dollar business empire. At Texas A&M, where she studied agribusiness, she spent her summers doing internships in National Football League offices in New York, Los Angeles and Mount Laurel, N.J. "It's an education going to those meetings," she says. Follow Ramon Antonio Vargas on Twitter, @RVargasAdvocate. “Sir, you may not like it, like I said the other day, but we have to maintain decorum in this court.”, Benson replied, “Excuse me. (AP archive Photo/Gerald Herbert), Gayle Benson, Tom Benson and Rita Benson-LeBlanc celebrate the Saints' big win over the New York Giants following the game. They said the billionaire businessman had been receiving pain medication through an IV and was in no condition to talk when he was approached by Rita — who had already been on thin ice with her grandfather since he had temporarily suspended her years earlier from her position as a Saints executive. (Photo by Matt Rose, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive), Sunday December 28, 2003, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson celebrates with his granddaughter and team executive Rita LeBlanc after the Saints 13-7 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the Superdome.
Her office is plain and distinctly unglamorous. "She's going to be tapped to be one of the leaders -- not just of the Saints but of the NFL.". (AP Photo/Stacy Revere). That psychiatrist, Ted Bloch, had been selected by his estranged relatives. She does the same.
Advocate staff photo by ELIOT KAMENITZ-- Rita LeBlanc, grand daughter of Tom Benson, follows her lawyer Randy Smith into the Louisiana Supreme Court in New Orleans, La. Benson said the medication was making him feel loopy and repeatedly tried to cut the conversation off, “but she spent 90 minutes” badgering him, insisting that her grandfather was overreacting to Renee’s efforts to get financial information from his bookkeeper, according to Benson’s legal team. Finally, she cups her hands around her mouth and hollers like the Texan she is.
When she started going to the meetings, there were about five other women in the room. So I started in -- it's kind of embarrassing now -- on Accounting 101: debits and credits, financial statements.". (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive), Left to right, Gayle and Tom Benson and Rita Benson LeBlanc pose for a photo at a Super Bowl kickoff luncheon honoring Tom Benson in New Orleans on Wednesday October 31, 2012. It was, she says, where she always wanted to be. Outbursts in court, secret recordings, more: Inside look at Tom Benson family's legal battle, BY RAMON ANTONIO VARGAS | rvargas@theadvocate.com, National media outlets seek to unseal files from 2015 Tom Benson mental competency lawsuit, Attorneys for late Saints, Pelicans owner Tom Benson fight to keep mental competency case sealed, Late Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson's mental competency case to remain sealed, judge rules. (Photo by Scott Threlkeld NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune archive), Framed by Voodoo coach Mike Neu's sweatshirt, Arena Football League commissioner David Baker, left, Tom Benson and New Orleans Voodoo future owner Rita LeBlanc conduct a tour of the team's new training facility Friday February 13, 2004.