Alligators and Drinking

As we clean up formatting errors in the archives, occasionally we find amusing tidbits. Here’s another one, this time from the August/September 2006 Public Square :

This is, I suppose, a Louisiana turn on Hilaire Belloc’s little rhyme: “Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, / There’s laughter and dancing and good red wine. / At least I’ve always found it so. / Benedicamus Domino !” It happened some months ago, but the clipping has just come to my attention. Kraemer is a very small and very poor little town down in the bayou in which people make what living they can from selling alligator skins and skulls. The local paper, the Beauregard Daily , carried the following obituary: “Willie ‘One Eye’ Kraemer, 91, a native and resident of Kraemer, died Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005. Visitation will be from 5 to 10 p.m. today and from 8 a.m. to funeral time Thursday at St. Lawrence Church in Kraemer. Mass will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the church, with burial in the church cemetery.” After listing numerous survivors and those who went before, the obituary concludes with this: “He hunted alligators and enjoyed drinking. He was Catholic.” Rest in peace, One Eye.