Pat Allmendinger

HOME FROM KATRINA!
Late summer or early fall.
The perfect time, many people feel, to take a
vacation.
Patricia Allmendinger, a member of St.
Rosalie’s Parish, shared that feeling, and as a
result, headed for Folsom, LA.
Destination was the vacation home of her
son, Robert, who also lives in Hampton Bays.
Mrs. Allmendinger, who moved to St.
Rosalie’s from St. Boniface Parish, Elmont, 10
years ago, was accompanied on the flight by her
son, who returned before the Hurricane Katrina
struck.
“I was going for two weeks,” explained Pat
one morning after Mass in our church, ”and I
wound up on an extended vacation.”
Patricia (Pat) Allmendinger was a welcome sight to her
Hurricane Katrina struck…and the plans
grandchildren after her return from a Hurricane Katrina-interrupted
changed.
vacation in Folsom, Louisiana.
“I was there for it,” she continued, quickly
adding that the Feast of the Assumption was her departure date from Hampton Bays.
Knowing that she was alone, friends who lived across from her son’s home, Carol and Tuck Tucker,
invited her to come to their house.
“‘Bring your PJs,’” Tuck kiddingly said to me,” continued Pat, a Eucharistic Minister in our parish.
“It was scary. Their porch was glass enclosed and we could see the trees blowing all over the place.
“Other friends of the Tuckers were there, too, and all were members of a prayer group from St. John’s
Parish in Folsom. And we prayed the Rosary for God to spare us.”
Robert was able to re-join his mother after the hurricane struck and accompanied her home.
“Friends up here were calling constantly to find out where I was,” related Pat, who also is a member of
St. Rosalie’s Altar Rosary Society.
“There was no telephone working…no cell phone…no water…no electricity. They tried reaching me
through the Red Cross. I must say I was very calm.
“It was the Power of Prayer that got me and my friends through
it all.”
Rusty Tucker, a son of her friends, was finally able to get a
telephone call through to Pat’s sister, Sr. Virginia Walsh, a retired
member of the Sisters of Mercy who lives in our diocese.
“He told her that I was fine,” said Pat, “and in turn, she called
everyone else in the family.”
Included was John, another son who lives in Smithtown with
his wife Kathy, and their two children, and a daughter, Dr. Maria
Asevedo, her husband, Aaron, and their six children.
Tuck Tucker surveys the grounds around his
“Maria lived next door to Robert’s house until last year,”
house to assess the damage caused by the
explained Mrs. Allmendinger.
hurricane.
“She moved to Idaho and continues to practice medicine there.”
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 2, 2005
Returning to her description of the damage incurred by the
people in Louisiana, particularly in Folsom, Pat offered, “There was
a couple who were 73 and 80 and they lost everything.
“You had to be there to realize the full impact of what took
place. God took good care of us.
“The Tuckers were just great. They had a generator and shared it
with others. They took me in and told me I was a blessing to them. I
turned the tables and told them that they were a blessing to me.”
Pat, describing how food was distributed to the area, stated, “The
meal was in a plastic bag.
The gazebo on the grounds of the Tucker
“You opened it up, poured in some water, sealed the bag and in
house escaped damage, as Pat Allmendinger
14 minutes you had a hot meal.”
explained, “Probably because the strong winds
Returning to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, Mrs.
were able to pass through it.”
Allmendinger offered, “You couldn’t see houses from the road. The
Tuckers had two small holes in their roof.
“You had no idea if the houses were standing or flat until you got up close.”
Once things got settled…if that can be interpreted as the right word to use…Pat’s son was able to fly back
to Louisiana to bring his mother home.
“We went to Baton Rogue and got a flight from there,” she concluded. “It was great to get back to
Hampton Bays.
“However, I can’t emphasize enough how much the Power of Prayer played in all of this. Praise God.”
And with that, Pat returned to reciting her rosary!
Toppled trees landed on top of the Tucker house,
where Pat Allmendinger was a guest.
As Pat explained, you could hardly see any houses because of the
fallen trees.
Hurricane Katrina’s strong winds uprooted trees and caused damage to everything in the path of the storm.
October 2, 2005
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time