All of the people I remember in New Orleans are church members. I don’t remember anyone from IBM or from the businesses I frequented. Unfortunately, I can remember mostly faces, but don’t have names to go with them. I remember the Varner’s. His name was Billy. He was a good guy and one of my best friends in New Orleans. They moved to New Mexico just before we left town and we stopped to see them on our way to Utah in 1968. Shortly after seeing him in New Mexico, he was killed in a auto accident in his new town in New Mexico. A real shame. I liked him a lot. I’ve already mentioned the Roberts. Marshall was about my best friend and we stayed in touch with them for a while, but I have no idea where they are today. Sister Shilling was an important person to us in New Orleans. She was an older lady and a convert to the church, I believe. Probably in her 70’s when we knew her. And she was completely deaf. One of my clearest memories is sitting in the back of the chapel next to Sister Schilling and writing down everything that was said in the sacrament talks.
When we moved to Utah, Sister Schilling came with us so she could go to the temple. When we went to the Salt Lake Temple, they didn’t have sign sessions in those days. And even if they did, I don’t think Sister Schilling knew sign language anyway. So, they let her sit in an office in the temple and read the entire temple session and ordinances. They said she would just have to depend on the spirit to get her through. Of course, Karen was there to help, too. I really hated putting her on a plane to send her back to New Orleans. I told her I would see her again. I really wanted to, but, of course, we never got back to New Orleans. At least not before she died. Maybe I can keep that promise to her in the here after.
I remember the Gilotti family. I hope I’m spelling that right. He was our Bishop for the 2 years we lived there. We saw them later when they moved out of New Orleans, but I’m not sure where. I met Bishop Gilotti when I first moved to New Orleans before we were married. He called me to be a ward clerk for a while even though I was a Priest and a recent convert. I remember sitting on his porch in front of his house and him telling me that he could sense my spirit when he first met me. I’m not saying this to brag but he seemed to think I was a spiritual person right from the moment he met me. I was really humbled by the statement.
Dad