My brother, John O. Schreve, evacuated a few hours after I evacuated with my elderly parents, daughter, and son-in-law. We had planned to stay at a facility in Jasper, but FEMA then directed all of Jasper to evacuate, so we had to get in our cars and keep driving, eventually staying with friends in Longview. My poor brother made it to Jasper during the night of Thursday the 23rd, and had to remain at the facility where we were to stay, along with Dr. Joe Dickerson. FEMA understood that there was no gas or any way for him to leave, so they allowed him to stay. When the hurricane came through on Saturday, the 25th, it frightened my brother so much that it triggered a heart attack. He died the next day, the 26th, and I had to break the news to my sweet, elderly parents who were devastated with the news of my brother\'s death. With cell phone lines jammed, I then had the daunting task of attempting to get him enbalmed by a local funeral home and retrieved by Broussard\'s in Beaumont, with no gasoline and trees covering the highways and transportation paths. He eventually was retrieved by Broussard\'s and contained in one of the four large FEMA vans at their Major Drive location until we returned and made preparations for his funeral. My mother had been in and out of Good Shepherd Hospital for her long-time congestive heart failure, and was ambulanced directly into St. Elizabeth\'s when we returned early in October. She was not able to attend her only son\'s funeral.

Citation

“[Untitled],” Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, accessed May 4, 2024, https://hurricanearchive.org/items/show/28075.