As most of you already know, Lawrence Chatagnier has announced that he will be retiring at the end of March this year. At that time, I will become Bayou Catholic’s third editor and general manager, so I would like to help our readers get to know me.
I am a native of Schriever and lifelong parishioner of St. Bridget Church in Schriever. I graduated from H.L. Bourgeois High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and an MBA from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux.
My daughter, Kelsi Mason, has been teaching at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma since 2013. I have a 13 year old grandson Carter, who is an eighth grader at Vandebilt; and a 20 year old step granddaughter, Alayna.
I began working for the diocese in October 1998 as administrative assistant for the Catholic Schools Office, a position I held until June 2016. In 2000, I began working part-time as proofreader for Bayou Catholic newspaper, and in August 2005, my responsibilities for the publication were expanded to staff writer. Yes, those three jobs kept me quite busy! In June 2016, I began working full-time for Bayou Catholic and my responsibilities increased.
I was blessed to work for Sister Immaculata (Mac) Paisant, M.S.C., who served as diocesan superintendent of Catholic Schools for 24 years. Her extraordinary leadership, passion and dedication for Catholic education and Catholic schools in the diocese was commendable. She always expected me to put forth my best effort and working for someone with such a strong work ethic made me determined to work hard and learn whatever I needed to do to support her and the Catholic schools.
After Sister Mac retired, Marian Fertitta was appointed superintendent. Marian always encouraged me, believed in me and allowed me to grow. She gave me the confidence to trust that whatever I set my mind to, I could accomplish.
During the time I worked for Bayou Catholic, I learned so much from the founding editor Louis Aguirre. Louis was so knowledgeable about everything having to do with the Catholic press and the inner workings of the diocese. If those of us who worked for him didn’t know something, we always knew without a doubt that Louis would have the answer.
During the past six and a half years, I have had the pleasure of working side by side with my outgoing editor Lawrence. Lawrence’s unassuming presence and calm demeanor stand in stark contrast to the fast paced environment of publishing a magazine, making it a joy to work with him. Like his predecessor, he has a keen understanding of the Catholic media, and his knowledge of the Catholic Church always amazes me.
I am thankful I had the opportunity to work for these outstanding people, each with their own unique talents and abilities, who supported me and taught me so much about my faith and serving the church. I enjoyed working with school personnel, priests and lay people in the church parishes as well as the staff here in the Pastoral Center during my 24 plus years in the diocese and I hope to continue cultivating these relationships as we work together in my new role.
I am excited and ready to take on the challenge of leading the Bayou Catholic magazine into the future to inform, educate and inspire the faithful of the diocese.
If you enjoy reading the Bayou Catholic magazine, pick up an extra copy to give to a friend or neighbor. Hopefully they will read something that inspires them to learn more about the Catholic faith.