Cemetery workers reunite to share Katrina memories

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in the fall of 2005, Catholics from around the U.S. volunteered in many different ways to help with recovery efforts.

One of the more unusual set of volunteers came from cemetery offices in the Archdiocese of Newark and the Albany Diocese. In October 2005, the two teams met in Mississippi to clean up St. Paul's Cemetery in Pass Christian.

Because of their common time there, the team members developed a bond. Last week, they gathered at St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands for a one-year reunion and to share information about the work they do.

Andrew Schafer, executive director, and Tom Melito, general foreman of the Cemeteries Office of Newark, met with Richard Touchette, cemeteries director in the Albany Diocese; Andrew Linehan, cemeteries manager; Luke McGarry, field operations manager; and Bob Barrows, general foreman.

Tragic experience

"Because of what we went through on 9/11, you might say we were sensitized to a tragedy such as Hurricane Katrina," Mr. Schafer told The Evangelist.

Many organizations had reached out to his office after the terrorist attacks in 2001.

Last year, when they learned of the widespread damage done by Katrina, his staff immediately wanted to offer their services.

Linked

The two offices both contacted the national Catholic Cemeteries Conference in Des Plaines, Illinois, to offer their services. That office linked their efforts.

The two groups met in Pass Christian, a city devastated by the hurricane and subsequent tornadoes that hit the area.

"We brought one pickup truck, one dump truck and towed a backhoe," Mr. Touchette recalled. "We also brought chain saws, shovels, rakes, pry bars -- anything we thought might be of use to us in restoring the cemetery."

"The first thing we had to do was clear houses off the main road going into the cemetery," Mr. Linehan recalled. "They had been lifted up from their foundations and dropped back down again by the flood waters."

Mr. Melito recalled his first impressions of the area: "There were houses sitting in the middle of the roads. You could see the paths that tornadoes had taken right through the trees. We were speechless. It was overwhelming and went far beyond what the news was reporting."

Restoration

The two crews worked for five days. The Newark crew removed trees, limbs and debris, while the Albany crew removed houses and remnants of buildings.

When they left at the end of the week, other cemetery crews replaced them. Mr. Melito said that his crew did not want to leave. "We started something when we arrived, and it wasn't finished," he said.

Mr. Barrows of the Albany crew said, "We felt the same way. We looked at the project as our project. It was hard to leave it unfinished."

"No matter where you go now in the country, these cemetery crews share a bond with each other," noted Mr. Schafer. "Many came forward to help that area in its recovery."

Connected

Mr. Touchette said that the two crews wanted to keep in touch after their experience.

"We decided that getting together occasionally is a good opportunity to share ideas and technology," he explained. "We can always learn from each other."

Said Mr. Schafer: "Right now in Newark, we're in the process of choosing construction techniques and contractors for new mausoleums. Albany has just completed some, and we wanted to see what they look like. This is a great way of sharing ideas and information. It's nice to know we can call and know the person on the other end of the phone. It's good to have these bonds."

(12/13/06) [[In-content Ad]]