Yvonne Bernos Songy Memorial Fund
As a woman of strong faith, Yvonne lived her life showing kindness and helping others. She
spent most of her childhood on the North Shore attending St. Peter’s Catholic grammar school and St. Scholastica Academy (SSA) High school until her family relocated to Bogalusa where she graduated. Her family has a deep connection to St. Joseph’s Abbey in Covington which will be her final resting place.
Yvonne received her nursing degree from Hotel Dieu in New Orleans and shared her
compassionate heart and nursing skills working in San Francisco, then New Orleans, where she was employed at Ochsner Clinic Foundation for 30 + years as a nurse and clinic administrator.
She truly loved life; her true passions were her family, taking care of everyone she could, nursing, and philanthropy for children’s charities. Her generous spirit and legacy will continue through the numerous lives she has touched and her loving family. Donations to Yvonne’s Memorial Fund will be used for a nursing scholarship and other nonprofit organizations that she was passionate about.
Read more about Yvonne’s life HERE.
Donate Here
Jim Waggenspack Memorial Fund
From Claire, Anne and John:
Jim was a pure soul, and a ton of fun. He was born in an era when babies with challenges were relegated to institutions. Our parents chose otherwise. They gave him an extraordinary life, and he in turn gave us an extraordinary life. Jim became the center of a loving family and a role model for our family, friends and total strangers. Jim grew up travelling with us, doing chores with us, cheering for our schools and LSU, and striving to get his siblings to heaven by setting a high holier-than-thou bar. We remember him:
- Saying mass in “Latin” and distributing Necco wafers as communion
- Delighting in his aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews
- Requesting “a little magazine” as a souvenir of every trip
- Trash-talking any teams playing LSU, especially Alabama
- Loving beach trips with all the cousins
- Reminding us to say grace before meals, although he shortened it to “Bless us O Lord, Jesus Christ AMEN.”
- Snoring!
- Caring deeply for anyone in need
- Chuckling at us and Daddy
- Surprising people with his vocabulary and understanding
- Being fast friends with the guys in his group home, and a favorite of the staff
- Reading the sports page cover to cover, and retaining piles of statistics
- Defying expectations
View more about Jim in his obituary
Donate Here