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Belair Cemetery before Katrina: Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish…

A wooded cemetery with a white picket fence enclosing a small tomb topped with a cross, a weathered headstone and metal post in the foreground, and a vintage photo border.
Several rusted metal grave markers in the shape of crosses stand in front of a corrugated metal wall with a vintage "Coca-Cola In Bottles" sign and a vintage bathtub planter.
A man in a hat sits on a plastic chair in Belair Cemetery, holding a long blade, beside a white cross headstone and a weathered above-ground tomb among bare trees.

Collection

Do You Know What it Means

Belair Cemetery before Katrina: Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish

The first set of images are of the Belair Cemetery, on the East side of the Mississippi in Plaquimines Parish. The cemetery once belonged to the Diamond family, who had a plantation home on the property adjacent to where the cemetery is. Is is said that slaves are buried there and also Jeff Chauppetta's grandfather, Salvadore Chaupetta. In 1980 Jeff Chauppetta visited the cemetery with his father to learn more about his grandfather's life. His grandfather's tomb was the only remaining one in the Belair Cemetery. In 2000 Jeff began cleaning up his grandfather's gravesite and served as the unofficial caretaker of the cemetery until Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005.

Belair Cemetery before Katrina: Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish

The first set of images are of the Belair Cemetery, on the East side of the Mississippi in Plaquimines Parish. The cemetery once belonged to the Diamond family, who had a plantation home on the property adjacent to where the cemetery is. Is is said that slaves are buried there and also Jeff Chauppetta's grandfather, Salvadore Chaupetta. In 1980 Jeff Chauppetta visited the cemetery with his father to learn more about his grandfather's life. His grandfather's tomb was the only remaining one in the Belair Cemetery. In 2000 Jeff began cleaning up his grandfather's gravesite and served as the unofficial caretaker of the cemetery until Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005.

Belair Cemetery before Katrina: Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish

The first set of images are of the Belair Cemetery, on the East side of the Mississippi in Plaquimines Parish. The cemetery once belonged to the Diamond family, who had a plantation home on the property adjacent to where the cemetery is. Is is said that slaves are buried there and also Jeff Chauppetta's grandfather, Salvadore Chaupetta. In 1980 Jeff Chauppetta visited the cemetery with his father to learn more about his grandfather's life. His grandfather's tomb was the only remaining one in the Belair Cemetery. In 2000 Jeff began cleaning up his grandfather's gravesite and served as the unofficial caretaker of the cemetery until Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005.

Original title

Item 26103

Citation

“Belair Cemetery before Katrina: Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish…,” Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, accessed November 3, 2026, https://hurricanearchive.org/items/show/26103.