It’s been a long five years for Marilyn Dufrene, but the happy memories she had restored thanks to the efforts of Congressman Steve Scalise has helped bring closure to the Katrina survivor that now calls Covington home.

Two months before Hurricane Katrina destroyed her and husband Richard’s Chalmette home, her father, World War II Pacific veteran Charles Demerest, had passed away.

Then Katrina hit and the couple lost everything. Her first grandchild was born to her son Craig in October. Then, in January 2006, her mother Lucille passed away in Lafayette where her nursing home had evacuated.

Congressman Steve Scalise holds a picture of Charles Demerest as he presents Katrina lost medals to Dufrene’s daughter, Marilyn Dufrene and her husband Richard. (Staff photo by Debbie Glover)

In the space of a few months, she’d lost her home and both parents. The worst part was she no longer had pictures, not even a baby picture of her son. They did not take their pictures when they evacuated and her photos and mementos, including her father’s scrapbook of his military service and his medals, were all destroyed.

Last year, she called Scalise’s office to inquire about getting replacements for her father’s medals. During the town hall meeting in Mandeville, she received her father’s medals from Scalise, framed and with honor.

Her father had served in the Pacific and had received six awards for service in the U. S. Army, including the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, sharpshooter badge and the American Campaign Medal.

“He was always a gentleman, never spoke ill of anyone,” Dufrene said. She said that he never talked about the war, but if she asked, he would answer questions. He served from 1943-46 in Japan and the Philippines.

She said he did not see combat that she knows about; he drove a Jeep and a supply truck. “Of course, looking back, I wished I had asked more questions,” she said.

Demerest worked in a warehouse after the war for S.A. Kress Company and then Loubat’s restaurant supply company. Her mother had retired from Woolworth’s. Dufrene said that her parents worked hard all their lives and then retired.

After Katrina, they tried to salvage what they could. “The smell was awful,” she said. “It was crazy the stuff that survived. My Lenox figurines and my husband’s shot glass collection were fine. But paper – the mold was awful. The roof was still intact on the house and wind damage was nothing. It was the water, which filled the house, and the oil from the refinery tank that leaked. What the water didn’t get, the oil did. You can replacement everything else, furniture, clothes—but not pictures.”

She and her husband Richard, a retired banker, now live in Covington. Retired herself, she worked at Michoud most of her life. After Katrina, she worked at the after care at St. Peter’s Catholic School and then the Clerk of Court’s office.

Her son Craig and his wife Anna live in Madisonville with their son Landyn, now 4 1/2 years old.

Someday Landyn’s great-grandfather’s medals may be his, but until then, Marilyn is happy to have her father’s medals and the memories they bring to life.