Funeral director recounts complex tale of recovery after hurricane

Published: 2006-10-30

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- Eight days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Gerard L. Schoen III, community outreach director of Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries, walked along the railroad tracks adjacent to the cemetery, which was still under 3 to 8 feet of water. Schoen decided his first priority had to be the recovery and identification of every deceased person who had been prepared for burial before Katrina hit but had not yet been interred. As Schoen recounts the complex story of disaster recovery to funeral directors across the country -- he is a regular on the industry's speaking circuit -- they are left spellbound by the obstacles that funeral homes and cemeteries had to overcome in the metropolitan New Orleans area. "They've told us they are proud as funeral directors to see what we have accomplished under such adverse circumstances," Schoen told the Clarion Herald, New Orleans archdiocesan newspaper. "You can have everything taken away from you, but it's all just a matter of attitude. We were able to serve families during the tough times."

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