Jean-Robert Spichiger

Jean-Robert Spichiger, 1936-2005

By Louann Dorrough
Staff writer

Jean-Robert Spichiger arrived in New Orleans in the early 1950s to attend Loyola University, where he earned a business administration degree, and then Tulane University, where he received a master's in economics.

"We grew up in Nicaragua," said his younger brother, Michel, who now lives in Metairie. "My father went down there right after the 1931 earthquake." Their Swiss father, Robert Spichiger, met their Nicaraguan mother, Matilde Calero, in Managua, where they lived for many years.

"Life wasn't too easy," Michel said. "We were growing up during World War II. We had to make our own toys, but we had a lot of love. My mother died when we were very young. I was 60 days old, my brother was 21/2 when she died. We were raised by our two aunts who never married, my mother's sisters, Angela and Rosa Maria. They took care of us and were wonderful to us. We lost one mother, but we gained two."

In 1961 Jean-Robert married Denise Bonne, whom he had met while she was working as a secretary in the French Department at Tulane, Michel said. They moved to Paris, where he got a job with UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Jean-Robert spoke five languages: Spanish, French, English, Portuguese and Italian.

"They lived at 20 Rue Mozart, in the 16th Arrondissement," Michel said.

They returned to New Orleans in 1981, when Jean-Robert retired and bought a house at 318 Lane St. in Lakeview.

"My brother was very reserved," Michel said. "He was completely different from me. They were very much to themselves, not the kind of people who go from party to party. He liked to read a lot, he was that type of person, very private.

"He liked to collect all kinds of things."

The Saturday before Katrina, "I tried to get him out of the house," Michel said. "They didn't have a car and they didn't want to leave. I said, 'I think you're making the wrong decision. I'm going to stay with friends in the French Quarter.' "

The day Katrina hit, Michel talked to his brother about 7 a.m. "Everything was fine. Trees had fallen, but there was not major damage. When I tried to call later on, I couldn't get through."

His sister-in-law, Denise, told Michel that when the water started rising, she and Jean-Robert went into the attic.

"He went downstairs to retrieve identification papers," Michel said. "He never came back up."

Neighbors on the corner of Milne Boulevard and Lane Street knew the Spichigers were in their house and rescued Denise on a boat when the water was as high as the house, Michel said.

"I found him a month later," when some residents were allowed to return, Michel said. The doors were swollen and the ceiling had fallen, so he asked for help from patrolling police officers, who called in a rescue unit.

"They found the body. I'm glad they found it instead of me," Michel said. "They took it to St. Gabriel, and I tried to give them as much identification as I could. They did DNA testing, and I told them who his dentist was, what his Social Security number was, his wedding band. Less than a month later, they released his body to a funeral home."

Jean-Robert's body was cremated, and a memorial service was held Oct. 29 at Tau House in the French Quarter. His ashes are buried next to his mother in Nicaragua.

Published in The Times-Picayune