Remembering Roger G.

The last time I drank an alcoholic beverage was in August of 1983.  At that time, my "home group" in Alcoholics Anonymous was the Fayetteville Group in Fayetteville, Tennessee.  We met on Tuesday and Friday nights.  On the last Friday of the month, we had a guest speaker and celebrated the AA birthdays of anyone in the group whose birthday occurred during that month.  We were always on the lookout for new speakers to tell their stories at these so-called "eatin' meetings."

Sometime in 1984, the guest speaker was a gentleman introduced as Roger G. from Manchester, Tennessee.  My wife, Margo, and I listened intently to Roger's story.  He and I had a lot in common.  He had been raised in the north (the Boston area) in a devoutly Catholic family.  He was a college graduate.  He had migrated to the South fairly recently.  I could identify with much of his story.  After he had finished his story and the meeting had ended, Margo and I asked him if he'd care to join us at Shoney's for coffee and dessert.  We learned later that "coffee" was the magic word.  He would join anyone for a cup of coffee any time.  Roger joined us and within the next couple of hours, we became friends and Roger Gaudet became my first real AA sponsor.  Over the next several years, he would be my guide and mentor through the twelve step recovery program.

Roger's story was unusual in a number of ways.  He was only 3 years older than I but he had been sober for nearly 25 years.  He had gotten sober in an AA group in Newton, Massachusetts, when he was around twenty years old.  That was a rarity in the early 1960's.  He spoke of the reaction of the older AA members when he attended his first meeting and stated that he was an alcoholic.  Many of the older members said that he wasn't old enough to be an alcoholic.  But Roger kept going to meetings, got a sponsor, worked the 12 steps of the program, and remained sober.  When we met, he was the director of a treatment facility in Manchester, Tennessee.

An ad for one of Roger's concerts,
in Spokane, in 1976

Roger became a fixture at our home on weekends.  Our guest bedroom became known as "Roger's Room."  He and I spent countless hours together and our common interests kept the conversation lively.  He had been formally trained as a keyboard artist at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and for several years had made his living as a concert organist, representing the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York. 

Roger would travel from city to city under the sponsorship of a local music company that sold the Wurlitzer line of electronic organs.  The company would send tickets to local residents who were potential customers.  Roger would put on a show at a local auditorium, demonstrating what could be done on the latest Wurlitzer instrument.  The dealer was ready to sign up potential customers at the conclusion of the concert.  After Wurlitzer, he was hired as the Manager of Training and Sales for Thomas International, another manufacturer of electronic organs.  He continued to travel the world doing promotional concerts.  He even published a book of organ arrangements for the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, "Roger Gaudet, Volume 1."  I don't think there was ever a follow-on volume.

The cover of "Roger Gaudet, Volume 1,"
a book of organ arrangements

He could spin yarns for hours with stories of those years as a travelling musician.  When he would arrive in a city, he'd call the AA answering service to determine the location of a nearby meeting.  If there were none nearby, he'd sometimes ask if an AA member could pick him up at his hotel to take him to a meeting.  Naturally he had met hundreds of AA members all over the world by this practice.  At one point, he was doing a series of concerts in Australia and encountered an AA member who was a Qantas Airlines 747 pilot.  The gentleman lived on a ranch and insisted that Roger live with his family throughout the duration of his Australia tour.  On Roger's return flight to Hawaii enroute to California, he was invited to sit in a spare engineer's seat in the cockpit of his plane.  The Qantas pilot happened to know the pilot of Roger's flight and had suggested this extra hospitality, knowing of Roger's interest in aviation.  Another time, while in L.A., Roger was picked up at his hotel by a couple of black recovering alcoholics driving a pink cadillac convertible.  They took him to an AA meeting in Watts at which, as Roger would tell it, his was the only white face.

Roger the Performer

One time, Roger told me to set aside a Saturday night for him and Margo and me to attend an AA "Roundup" being held at Guntersville State Lodge in Alabama.  As Roger put it, "There's a speaker that I want you to meet."  We went to the meeting and the speaker turned out to be a fellow who called himself "John the Indian."  His story was one of the most incredible recovery stories ever and it turned out that he and Roger had become close friends in the earliest days of their sobriety.  They had an almost identical sobriety date and had started their recovery in the same groups near Boston.  It was like old home week when Roger went up to John after his talk and asked, "Do I look any older?"  They hadn't seen each other for about twenty years.

Roger was a natural musician and every weekend was enriched by his playing at Margo's Baldwin Acrosonic spinet piano.  He would simply sit on the bench and start to play.  It might be Mozart or Chopin or Rachmaninoff.  It might just as easily be Cole Porter or Rodgers and Hammerstein.  His repertoire was unlimited.  And Margo would toss out requests and Roger would invariably play them from memory.  He was astonishing.

His musical skill led to an amusing incident one Saturday afternoon at Parkway City Mall in Huntsville.  There was a store there called "Tony Barone's Organ Center."  The store was a long-time fixture in Huntsville, and the store was designed to be open on two sides.  If someone was playing one of the several display instruments, they could be heard throughout the mall.  Roger and I were shopping and he noticed the organ center.  He said, "Let's have a little fun" as he strolled into the store and sat at one of the more elaborate electronic organs.  Soon a salesman descended on us.  Roger asked how you turned on the instrument.  The salesman brushed Roger aside as he slipped onto the bench.  "Let me show you gentlemen a few features of this marvelous organ."  He proceeded to go through his routine, describing the capabilities and gadgetry, and even playing a few simple tunes.  Roger asked if he could try it out.  As Roger centered himself on the bench, he reached up and started to flip various stop tabs to reset the organ's registry, and launched into an astounding version of the Colonel Bogey March, employing pedals and both keyboards.  It was Roger at his flamboyant best!  By the time he finished, a crowd of several dozen bystanders had come into the store to see who was playing.  The salesman realized that he had been set up.  The owner of the store came out of his office to meet Roger.  We stayed for a couple of hours as Roger played request after request to the appreciative audience.

In about 1986, Roger informed us that he had been praying for guidance and had concluded that he was being called to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood.  This was an interesting turn of events for a man who had been married twice and had four daughters.  It turned out that his first marriage had been annulled and his second was never valid in the eyes of the church.  He was also nearly 50 years old.  He would have to find a bishop willing to support him through a seminary path of at least three years.  The sponsoring bishop would be unlikely to get too many years of pastoral service from a man who would be ordained in his fifties.  But Roger succeeded in getting Archbishop Edward T. O'Meara of Indianapolis, Indiana, to sponsor him.  Roger attended a "late vocations" seminary, Sacred Heart School of Theology, in Hales Corners, Wisconsin.  And on June 3, 1989, Margo and I (as well as a lot of other Huntsville AA members) were in SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis for his ordination to the priesthood.  By this time in his life, he had reconciled with his children.  One of his daughters sat near him during the ceremony, and Roger carried his grandchild down the aisle in the processional, handing the baby to her mother before he took his place for the ceremony.  And the next time we spoke to him, he was Father Roger!

One of his first assignments was as associate chaplain for the Sisters of Providence at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, with residence at St. Mary-of-the-Woods Parish near Terre Haute.  Here was this world-travelled former drunk serving as chaplain to a group of retired nuns!  He told me it was evidence of God's sense of humor.  As Roger put it, "That will teach me to pray to be surrounded by beautiful women."

In 1994, Roger was named pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville, Indiana.  Margo and I visited him there and he was a very happy man.  He was loved by his parishioners, was composing lots of liturgical music, was performing organ concerts for some cloistered nuns at a nearby convent, and was still in demand as an AA speaker (and what a wonderful recovery story he had to share).

Roger took an early retirement in 2001 for health reasons and on August 2, 2002, he left us.  The tribute that follows appeared in the Criterion, a regional Catholic newspaper, the week after his death.  Unfortunately, it's impossible to capture in print the bigger-than-life presence that was Father Roger.  I am very blessed and grateful to have had him in my life in a very important and treasured way.

Father Roger Gaudet, retired diocesan priest,
dies on Aug. 2 by Mary Ann Wyand

Father Roger B. Gaudet, who retired as pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville last year, died in his sleep on Aug. 2 at St. Paul Hermitage in Beech Grove. He was 65. He was granted early retirement for health reasons in January 2002 and lived at St. Paul Hermitage, where he served as chaplain. Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Father Gaudet at 11 a.m. on Aug. 6 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis. Father Thomas Schliessmann, pastor of American Martyrs Parish in Scottsburg and St. Patrick Parish in Salem, was the homilist. Burial followed in the Priests’ Circle at Calvary Cemetery in Indianapolis.

St. Roch Parish in Indianapolis hosted a luncheon after the funeral. The wake was Aug. 5 at St. Paul Hermitage. “He had been under the care of a doctor,” Father Schliessmann said. “Several years ago, he asked me if I would preach at his funeral. He and Father Raymond Schafer and I were ordination classmates.” Father Gaudet’s last name means “rejoice” in Latin, Father Schliessmann said, “and that’s normally how he lived. He lived rejoicing and enjoyed his 13 years as a priest.”

A former Marine, he had been married and was the father of four daughters. After his divorce, his marriage was annulled and he began studies for the priesthood. “He was able to enter the seminary after proving that any financial obligations to his four grown children were taken care of,” Father Schliessmann said. “He was a talented musician and professional organist. Following his ordination, he wrote the music for a special Mass at every parish where he served. He also played the organ for concerts to raise funds for parishes.”

Before his ordination, he was a therapist and ministered to persons with drug and alcohol dependencies. He was a recovering alcoholic and had participated in the 12-Step Program for more than halfof his life. “He had a very intimate and even mystical relationship with our Lord and an understanding of what he did for us on the cross,” Father Schliessmann said. “He had a very deep devotion to the Eucharist.”

Born on June 11, 1937, he was ordained to the priesthood on June 3, 1989, at age 52 by the late Archbishop Edward T. O’Meara at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral. His first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. In 1991, he was named temporary associate pastor of St. Barnabas Parish in Indianapolis.

In 1992, he was named associate chaplain for the Sisters of Providence at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, with residence at St. Mary-of-the-Woods Parish near Terre Haute. The following year, he was named administrator of St. Mary-of-theWoods Parish while continuing as associate chaplain at the motherhouse.

In 1994, he was named pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Fortville, where he served until his early retirement last year. St. Michael the Archangel parishioner Jim Hession of Indianapolis knew Father Gaudet for a number of years and remembered him as a man of great faith and a talented musician.

“In a brief 13-year career as a priest, this man brought the true message of God’s love and mercy to those who needed it most,” Hession said. “He played [the organ] for the pure pleasure of it for the [Providence sisters] in the infirmary at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and at several nursing homes in the Indianapolis and Terre Haute areas.”

Hession said Father Gaudet also “worked tirelessly with the recovering alcoholic population” and served on the board of directors of Progress House, a recovery house for alcoholics and addicts. “I guess the most astounding part of Father Roger’s brief ministry is that he did most of his best work behind the scenes,” Hession said. “He had a way and an understanding and a belief that spoke volumes about spirituality, sobriety and serenity.”

Survivors include four daughters, Theresa Morese, Shannon Gaudet, Christen Pellitier and Susan Cabral, who reside in Massachusetts; two sisters, Rose Marie and Claire Gaudette of Henderson, Nev.; two grandchildren; and five great grandchildren.

Image courtesy of John D. Fitzgerald, a mutual friend of Father Roger

Further Evidence of Elf Infestation,,,

It's happened again!

Elf Sighting...

This weekend, several of Santa's elves were seen working in my workshop.  It looked like they were building little rocking horses for some good little boys and girls.  Can Christmas be far behind?

A Coastal Holiday...

For the past many months, I've been working on a job in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Naturally, I come home with stories about the people I work with and the places I've seen.  Mary Ann and I have talked for several months about bringing her down to Corpus for a vacation.  We finally did that, starting a couple of weeks ago.

Mary Ann elected to drive from Fayetteville to Corpus Christi.  She could take as much time as she wanted to see the sights and she could carry as much luggage as she desired without worrying about excess baggage fees.  She also enjoys driving and does not enjoy airports.  She left on Wednesday, October 29, with the idea of taking two days to cover the 1,000-mile distance.  She made reservations at a hotel in Lake Charles, LA, in anticipation of covering the longest leg on the first day, covering about 650 miles.

No trips in the Mead family are uneventful, and this one was no exception.  While in Lake Charles, Mary Ann put a nasty gash in her leg while loading the car.  She had to get some special antibiotic cream to put on it and ended up in a Wal-Mart pharmacy where it took several hours to get her prescription filled.  She got a late start out of Lake Charles and arrived in Corpus after 10:00 PM.  We unpacked her luggage and both crashed and didn't set the alarm.

Friday, October 31
We both slept in.  About 9:30, I went to the lobby and brought breakfast up to the room.  We took our time getting ready and had a late lunch at LaPlaya, one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Corpus Christi.  Then we drove around the City using a list of points of interest that Mary Ann had printed from some Internet sources.  We spent some time along the downtown waterfront, drove past some elegant homes that face the bay, and found the district in which the museums and art galleries are located.  I had no previous idea where all these venues were located because when I am in Corpus Christi, I'm commuting from my motel to work and back or going to or from the airport.  After a quiet dinner at Harrison's Landing we returned to our hotel to get a good night's rest in preparation for a busy Saturday.

I had suggested to Mary Ann that we go out to a very special restaurant -- Yardarm -- on Saturday night.  I had eaten there with some of my business colleagues and it was a wonderful dining experience.  The restaurant is in an old bay-facing residence.  It is family owned and both the food and service are exceptional.  So after we returned to the hotel, I called and made reservations at the Yardarm for Saturday night.

Saturday, November 1

Our route the first day

I awoke first and brought coffee and bagels up to the room.  After getting cleaned up and dressed, we decided to do a scenic loop from Corpus Christi across to Padre Island, then north to Port Aransas, then back to the mainland via ferry boat to Aransas Pass, returning to Corpus Christi via Ingleside and Portland.  This would be a good way to see the general layout along some of the populated as well as unpopulated areas.

It was nearly lunchtime when we were ready to leave the hotel, so we decided to have lunch right away.  We headed southeast past my place of employment (We were saving that visit for Monday), then across the JFK Causeway to Padre Island.  We stopped at Snoopy's, a very casual, mostly seafood restaurant, and enjoyed a leisurely lunch on the open water-level patio.  After lunch, we proceeded to the business district of north Padre Island, turned northeast and crossed a small bridge and were now on Mustang Island headed for Port Aransas.  This is a small, picturesque town of around 4,000 permanent residents that caters to tourists and sport fisherman.

We drove past dozens of condominiums and beach home communities along the road that runs the length of Mustang Island.  I pointed out to Mary Ann the area in which I lived for a few weeks during which we resided in a beach house as a money-saving business residence.  As we arrived in Port Aransas, I pulled into the parking lot of Coffee Waves, a little coffee shop that I had frequented when I lived nearby.  We went in and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon cup of coffee, then left to find the ferry that would take us across Aransas Pass, which is only a few hundred yards wide at the point where the ferry transits.  We found the ferry landing with no trouble and soon were on the ferry and underway for probably no more than four or five minutes.  Then we were being ushered off to continue our circular drive on normal paved roads.

A sailboat practicing along
the T-Head channel

We proceeded to the town of Portland, drove around a bit looking for points of interest (There were none that we saw.), and then headed for Ingleside and on into Corpus Christi.  The view from the bridge that crosses the neck between Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay is quite impressive.  On one side, you are looking at the USS Lexington (CV-16), a World War II Essex-class aircraft carrier that now serves as a museum.  On the other side of the bridge is a large area of urban renewal development that includes an old historic district of Corpus Christi and Whataburger Field, home to the Hooks, Double-A Texas League affiliate of the Houston Astros.

Our dessert at Yardarm

Another visit to one of the so-called "T-Heads" filled the next hour, as we  walked along the waterfront looking at the private boats and yachts.  We proceeded to the Yardarm restaurant for the next couple of hours.  Our window table faced Corpus Christi Bay.   The meal was memorable.  We mentioned to our most-attentive server that we were celebrating our 10th anniversary (It was in July, but we decided we'd really celebrate with a nice dinner at a later date.  This was the date!).  She helped us celebrate by bringing a complimentary candle-laden piece of Key-lime pie.

Sunday, November 2

After another slow start, we decided today was a good day to go to the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.  I've been reading a wonderful book recently, From a Watery Grave : The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle's Shipwreck, La Belle.  A few years ago, the wreckage of this 300-year-old ship was discovered in Matagorda Bay, not far north of Corpus Christi.  The Texas Historical Commission and the Archeologists of Texas A&M University managed to raise the necessary funds to finance a multi-year excavation, including the construction of a giant cofferdam around the wreckage, that yielded over 2,000,000 artifacts!  Some of these artifacts are now on display at this and six other Texas museums.  Thus the interest in visiting the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History.

We found the museum with only a couple of wrong turns and proceeded in.  There was substantial material on shipwrecks in general, a sizeable collection of geological and historical material suitable for teaching science classes, and finally, an entire section of the museum dedicated to the wreck of LaSalle's fleet and the LaBelle.  Unfortunately, much of the exhibit was in an area where the lighting system was not operable, so we couldn't see the displays.  But what we could see was remarkable.  It seems impossible that you are looking at a 300-year-old object that has survived being immersed in salt water.  The ceramic objects were not so surprising but there were many organic items made of wood and leather, and several metal objects as well.  And to top it off, I purchased another book on the subject.

Monday, November 3

The Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center, Home of
the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence and Innovation

This was the day we would visit the Lone Star UAS Center where I work.  Mary Ann and I left the hotel around 10:30 and went to the building, which was a bank building that was acquired by Texas A&M University Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) a few years ago.  When I came to Corpus a couple of years ago to work on the proposal to the FAA that resulted in this effort, we were given space in this building for the proposal team.  The primary function of the building is as a business incubation center.  We (the LSUASC) now occupy most of the 3rd floor.  So Mary Ann and I proceeded directly to the top floor.  She got to meet many of the people I work with every day and she saw the facilities in which we work.  I'm glad we got to do this, so she has a much better sense of what I'm doing when I go to Texas.

We had lunch with some of my co-workers at Howard's Barbecue, a locally-operated gem that's within a stone's throw of the building.  We're well known there.  My favorite is the "Jimmy Jr."  Imagine smoked sausage, brisked, and pulled pork, combined in a large flour tortilla.  Add barbecue sauce, onions, jalapenos... Perfection.  And Howard's has the best cole slaw in town, made with chopped apples in the mix.  It was a very nice lunch.

The beach at the Packery Channel, showing the rock-lined jetties
that define the opening to the channel.

Then, at the suggestion of one of my co-workers, we proceeded across the JFK causeway and went to the Packery Channel.  This is the body of water that separates Padre Island from Mustang Island.  We followed the driving directions we were given and soon found ourselves on an access road that goes directly to the beach!  We drove onto the beach, which was lined with several kite-boarders and fishermen in the surf.  Then I noticed a long rock-lined structure on which people were walking that extended several hundred feet out into the water.  I drove perhaps 500 yards and parked at this structure.  It was quite breezy and cool, and the surf was high.  Mary Ann stayed at the car while I walked out on the concrete walkway.  There were dozens of fishermen on either side, standing on the huge boulders that lined the structure.  I went until I got drenched by a breaking wave.  The jetty extended probably another couple hundred feet from where I turned around.  This was a very impressive structure!

We had planned to meet the gang for dinner at Port Aransa, so after about an hour exploring around the channel, we proceeded north up Mustang Island and once more stopped at Coffee Waves, the little coffee shop in Port A.  Mary Ann and I relaxed with some warm beverages and reading material in some big soft chairs preparing ourselves for a delicious dinner.

At 6:15, we and the Hendrixes (Jerry and Dee) and the Nelsons (Mat and Amber with children Luke [3 years] and Kana [2 months]) gathered at Shell's, one of our all-time favorite restaurants.  You have to try it to believe it.  It's a small, family-owned place in which I have never had a bad eating experience.  It's the kind of restaurant that makes you feel totally at home the first time you walk in the door.  And the food is exceptional.

After a great evening with friends we returned to our hotel for a good night's rest.

Tuesday, November 4
Today would be the day for museum visiting, to view more of the artifacts from the Belle.  We had a liesurely breakfast and headed for Rockport, home of the Texas Maritime Museum.

To be continued...

Just Another Day...

Guess what I drove to work on this beautiful 70-degree autumn day?

Weekend Project...

Mary Ann cuts our grass and maintains the other landscaping around the house.  I help out when asked.  She is the only one who operates the riding lawn mower.  I add the gas and check the oil.  Recently, she had acquired a sun canopy designed to mount on our Toro riding lawn mower.  Here's the finished product.

The Big Dog House in the Sky...

Sheila, on right, being chewed by Goldie

For a few weeks, Sheila, my shepherd mix dog, had been growing more feeble and losing weight.  Her abdomen appeared to be distended.  Monday, I took her to the vet where she was diagnosed with a large tumor.  I had to have her euthanized.  I could not bear to see her suffer.  She was a gentle, loving creature and I will miss her greatly.

Sheila sharing her dinner with Belle