Thomas Crofton Laughlin, advocate for elderly, dies at 80
August 13, 2010 Times Picayune
Submitted by N.O.V.A.


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Thomas Crofton Laughlin, a passionate advocate for the elderly who led the Jefferson Council on Aging for 35
years, died Wednesday evening of congestive heart failure at Cannon Hospice. He was 80. 

A statewide leader known as the "godfather of the aging," Mr. Laughlin was able to recite details of
geriatric law and convene people to work for better quality of life for a vulnerable population. Howard
Rodgers, executive director of the New Orleans Council on Aging, said Mr. Laughlin inspired and served as a
mentor to many. 

Mr. Laughlin, who until recently served as chief executive of the state's largest aging council, never
stopped working. He would help senior citizens at the grocery store, and use the opportunity to find more
comprehensive services for them. He also took in homeless people and helped them find jobs.

Mr. Laughlin had a warm, disarming sense of humor. Gordon Wadge, who served on Mr. Laughlin's board as co-
president of Catholic Charities in New Orleans, arrived for a meeting one day and noticed that Mr. Laughlin
had bullethole decals all over his car. Mr. Laughlin laughed, and explained that he wanted to look
intimidating in the many rough neighborhoods in which he worked.

Born in New Orleans in 1930, Mr. Laughlin grew up in Covington as one of four siblings and attended Saint
Paul's School. After his junior year, he left to join the Order of the Christian Brothers, working
throughout Louisiana and in New Mexico for six years.

Mr. Laughlin received a degree in education at Loyola University in New Orleans in 1954, which fueled his
interest in social justice work. After serving for two years in the Army at Fort Hood, Texas, Mr. Laughlin
returned to Loyola to earn a master's degree in guidance and counseling in 1958.

Upon graduation, Mr. Laughlin moved to Chicago to work as an organizer for the Young Christian Workers, a
Catholic action group that trained people to observe their surroundings, judge them in light of their faith,
and act to improve them.

Monisgnor Winus Roeten, a diocesan priest in River Ridge who met Mr. Laughlin through YCW, said that Mr.
Laughlin's work with young people in Chicago helped prepare him for his ultimate work with the elderly. "The
people who got that kind of experience have a formation of personal and social consciousness that most
people lack," Roeten said.

In 1963, Mr. Laughlin returned to Loyola to work with the Institute of Human Relations. He later joined the
Community Services Council Inc. to work on aging, special education, mental health and employment issues,
primarily in Jefferson Parish.

He joined the Council on Aging in 1973, just a few years after it was founded.

Mr. Laughlin served on the board of the Louisiana Geriatric Society, and worked with Wadge to help found a
local chapter of PACE, or Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, which helps elderly people get the
services they need to stay out of nursing homes. Most recently, he had been working on elder abuse issues.

Mr. Laughlin had an enormous family that was extended by his work. He is survived by his sister, Hilda
Suzanne Laughlin Kirsch; five nieces; 11 nephews; 11 grandnieces and 12 grandnephews; two great-grandnieces
and two great-grandnephews.

Visitation is Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Christopher the Martyr Catholic Church, 3900 Derbigny St. in
Metairie, followed by a Mass at noon.