Olga Northon

Olga Northon, 1912-2005

Kim Chatelain
Staff writer

In the 1940s, Olga Northon cashed in war bonds and bought a tidy home on Franklin Avenue in Gentilly. As neighbors came and went over the next half century, Northon stayed put, relishing New Orleans and its charms.

She worked as a nurse, taught neighborhood children how to play the piano at no charge and made shrimp étouffée that friends say was good enough to stop a parade. In her later years, she drove her 1989 Cutlass Sierra to Mass at St. James Major Catholic Church every day.

At 92, Northon, who never married, lived alone and had no close relatives, was fiercely independent and an inspiration to those who approach their golden years with trepidation.

So it came as little surprise when Katrina turned its fury toward the Louisiana coast that Northon stood her ground. Several neighbors asked her to evacuate with them, but she refused, noting that she didn't want to leave her cats alone. And, she said, "I'd have to bring a suitcase full of pills with me."

After the hurricane passed, several friends, including Leila Haydel of Mandeville, began looking for Northon, hoping that at the last minute she had changed her mind about staying home and evacuated to a shelter in Baton Rouge or elsewhere.

When floodwater receded from the Gentilly area, Haydel was able to contact a friend who said the spray-painted markings left by rescuers at the entrance to Northon's home indicated no bodies had been found there. Somewhat relieved, Haydel continued her fruitless search for Northon, who had befriended her mother many years ago at St. James Church.

Finally, on Oct. 8, some six weeks after the storm, Haydel and her husband Marvin went to Northon's home, which had taken in about 4 feet of water. They saw the painted symbols on the front of the house indicating it had been checked several times and that no bodies were inside.

They entered and found nasty debris where Northon's furnishings once graced the home. They found neatly folded clothes atop an antique bed that had somehow escaped damage. Moving through the home, the Haydels looked for clues that may have led them to Northon. Instead, they made the worst possible discovery.

Peering into the parlor, they spotted a body, presumably Northon's, lying on the floor near her beloved piano, which had been toppled by the floodwater.

The body was removed respectfully by a team of recovery workers, and a minister conducted a brief service in the yard of the home where Northon lived for almost six decades. It was then taken to the morgue at St. Gabriel where it awaits positive identification. But Haydel and other friends are certain that the body is that of Northon, who they believe died at the hands of Katrina, but on her own terms in the home that she loved. They envision her facing death the way she lived life.

"She was a gracious, kind, dignified lady," Leila Haydel said. "I'd like to think that as the storm approached, she played the piano for a while then just went to sleep."

Published in The Times-Picayune