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It's hard to believe that it's been five years since Andrew Linehan, Luke McGarry, Bob Barrows and I set off for Pass Christian, Miss.

Bishop Rodi had asked the Catholic Cemetery Conference (CCC) for help in restoring St. Paul's Cemetery in Pass Christian, where the storm surge had washed four houses, nearly intact, into the cemetery. Trees were down and crypts and monuments were damaged.

We were part of a contingent that included cemeterians from Newark, Rockford and Chicago.

We loaded our two trucks with tools and materiel, protective gear, camping equipment, bottled water, Gatorade and Power Bars. We thought we were prepared for anything.

CCC had provided funds for expenses, so I stuffed $2,000 in cash into my pocket and we hit the road.

Twenty-four hours later, we drove into Pass Christian. The devastation is burned into my memory. A newscaster said it was like a Third World country, but I've lived in the Third World, and Pass Christian was much worse.

I stopped taking photos of damage, because there was always something worse.

The cemetery was about a quarter-mile from the Gulf coast. The storm surge, estimated to have been 27 feet high, had lifted four houses and deposited them in the cemetery.

Everything was covered in mud and debris. Trees were down and limbs were everywhere. A dishwasher was stuck in a tree 15 feet above the ground. There were no birds or animals.

We met the crews from the Archdiocese of Newark and the Diocese of Rockford. We dismantled four houses with chainsaws, pry bars and skid steer loaders. We hauled debris to the street and dumped it in piles to be removed by FEMA contractors.

People showed up, hoping to reclaim some possessions. One woman arrived hoping to find an heirloom bracelet. Another wanted something, anything, from her house to comfort her children. Others came seeking reassurance that their loved ones' graves were undefiled.

BY the end of the week, our crews had removed all the downed or dangerous trees and three of the four houses. Most of the monuments had been reset, and we had hand-raked the graves. St. Paul's Cemetery was the only place in Pass Christian that bore any resemblance to pre-Katrina days.

Our last day in Mississippi was Nov. 1, All Saints Day. All day long, people came to visit graves and pray for their beloved dead. I was glad to be there, and we were all grateful to CCC for the opportunity to help.

"This trip is something that will stay with me for the rest of my life," said Luke McGarry, cemetery manager for Albany Diocesan Cemeteries. "We went down there to help an entire community and we did just that. The conversations we had with the people who were displaced from Katrina and the thanks we received really touched me."

Bob Barrows, assistant cemetery manager, added "When I first arrived at Pass Christian, my heart dropped to see what these people had to endure. When I arrived home, I cried. This experience has made me realize that it is the little things in life that we take for granted and your life can change in an instant without any warning."

(Rick Touchette is director of cemeteries for the Albany Diocese.)

(12/09/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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