Katrina's Lives Lost:	Larive, Lurnice 'Billie' 1921-2005
			Larive, Leroy 1922-2005
Submitted By: 		N.O.V.A March 2006
Source:			Times Picayune 

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It often seemed as though everybody who worked downtown knew Leroy LaRive.

In the 1940s, he gave shaves and haircuts at a place called Mac's Tonsorial
Parlor - a place, he always said, that had "a fancy name for a barbershop."
First there, and later at the Roosevelt Hotel - now the Fairmont - he cut
the hair of everyday businessmen and such celebrities as Jimmy Durante,
Mickey Rooney and Gov. Earl Long. Family legend has it that he once trimmed
the sideburns of Elvis Presley.

In 1996, after 50 years of shear excellence, LaRive retired from his final
work place, the Canal Place Barber Shop.

"We did all kind of cuts, facials and shaves. We used to joke that we were
the last of the breed," said longtime co-worker Carl Bauder, who worked the
stall next to Leroy. "He was the type of barber who liked to listen.
Politics and sports weren't his thing; he liked to make his customers feel
relaxed and happy. That's why he had so many friends everywhere."

LaRive's best friend, according to Bauder and LaRive's three children, was
his wife, Lurnice "Billie" LaRive, 84. Leroy and Lurnice met in their
hometown of Lafayette and married 61 years ago. They always dreamed of
moving to the big city and took immense pride in their Gentilly home.

The LaRives' daughter, Cindy Jensen, said her parents were not wealthy but
that they always sought the best for their children. Cindy recalled how
every day her father would dress in sharp business suits and take the bus
to work downtown.

"He always looked like a million bucks in his starched white shirts and
best suit pants and jacket," Jensen said. "You'd never guess my father was
a barber by the way he dressed. He'd put that smock on at work and stand on
his feet all day, but when it came time to leave he'd put his nice jacket
back on and head for the bus."

Their father was just as meticulous about his children's clothing. Each
Easter and Christmas, the children would be "dressed to the max," including
suits and fancy gloves and purses, for Mass at St. Raphael Church just
around the corner from their house.

The couple decided to ride out Hurricane Katrina at home. As the storm
crossed New Orleans, Leroy phoned his daughter, who had evacuated to
Mississippi, and told her he could see the water beginning to rise.

"Neither Mom or Dad were worried," Jensen said. "Mom said it could all be
covered by insurance."

The children lost all contact with their parents. Days later, a photo that
ran in a Lafayette newspaper showed a woman who looked like Lurnice being
rescued and dropped on Interstate 10. The family said they believe that the
couple perished either on the highway or at a shelter. Weeks passed before
the children were summoned by the St. Gabriel morgue to identify their
parents' bodies.

Jensen said that as tragic as the experience was, she considers it a
blessing that her mother and father apparently were together when they
died.

"They were totally devoted to one another," Jensen said. "It is only
fitting that in the end it would happen that way."