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Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish Jeff's potbelly pig, Mama, died…

A young boy feeds a large black potbelly pig over a low fence while another boy and two men look on, standing on a concrete walkway.
Four people, two adults and two children wearing life vests, crouch on a boat deck near signs reading "Keep Off Ladder" and "No Smoking, Turn Engine," with water visible behind them.
A crowd on a ferry deck watches thick plumes of smoke rising over the river in the distance, with a shirtless man in sunglasses smoking a cigarette in the foreground.
A taped-in photograph on a red album page shows a tangle of bare, storm-damaged tree branches and debris surrounding a metal fence or gate, resting on a wooden surface.

Collection

Do You Know What it Means

Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish

Jeff's potbelly pig, Mama, died during Hurricane Katrina; Jeff and his great neice and nephew, Kenneth and Heather Mcquaig, Jeff's girlfriend Rosie, at Algiers point during evacuation; crossings from East to West bank of Mississippi River; Belair Cemetery after Katrina

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.

Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish

Jeff's potbelly pig, Mama, died during Hurricane Katrina; Jeff and his great neice and nephew, Kenneth and Heather Mcquaig, Jeff's girlfriend Rosie, at Algiers point during evacuation; crossings from East to West bank of Mississippi River; Belair Cemetery after Katrina

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.

Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish

Jeff's potbelly pig, Mama, died during Hurricane Katrina; Jeff and his great neice and nephew, Kenneth and Heather Mcquaig, Jeff's girlfriend Rosie, at Algiers point during evacuation; crossings from East to West bank of Mississippi River; Belair Cemetery after Katrina

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.

Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish

Jeff's potbelly pig, Mama, died during Hurricane Katrina; Jeff and his great neice and nephew, Kenneth and Heather Mcquaig, Jeff's girlfriend Rosie, at Algiers point during evacuation; crossings from East to West bank of Mississippi River; Belair Cemetery after Katrina

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 26105

Citation

“Jeff Chauppetta, age 53, resident of St. Bernard Parish Jeff's potbelly pig, Mama, died…,” Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, accessed November 3, 2026, https://hurricanearchive.org/items/show/26105.