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BETTY DECAS REMEMBERS
I
became a part-time employee of St. Michael's parish in 1966. I
did all the clerical duties between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The rectory on Mimosa was a great place to work. Jeanette
Matzke came in to do all the bookkeeping, Alice Hybner kept the
parish membership files, and Justine Keprta did the files for St.
Jerome's.
Wilma
Fontenot was the housekeeper and cook. She was the best Cajun
cook in Lake Jackson and Fr. Titus showed signs of her good cooking
by expanding his waist size 2 inches.
I
remember going to the Chancery in Houston and visiting with the
Chancellor abou thte duties of a church secretary. He said I
would have to submit a financial report to the Chancery which
included the Cathedraticum Tax. I was speechless! I told
him (and Fr. Titus) that I was a people person - not a number
person.
While
setting up our office, we had to purchase desks, files, etc.
This included a duplicator to print our weekly church bulletin.
We bought the "top of the line" stencil/duplicator machine fro
Walzel's in El Campo. Believe it or not, this was one of the
toughest parts of my job. Anyone who knows about stencil
machines will support me. I always wore old clothes on Fridays
because it was always a sure thing that ink would be splattered all
over me while printing the Sunday Bulletin. (This machine was
retired in 1988 after 22 years of faithful splattering.)
Florence Perk was in charge of Religious Education at this time.
Florence attended numerous meetings, seminars, and classes.
There was always a wrap-up of her meeting when she got back, usually
at the rectory office.
Another thing I learned was how to handle beggars. As the
chancery people pointed out, church rectories were good targets for
people looking for money of food. I really had some difficulty
with this. I rarely answered the door, leaving that to Fr.
Titus or the housekeeper. One story I remember and have
re-told frequently since Fr. Leo has come to St. Michael's is the
one:
One day both the housekeeper and Fr. Titus were gone and the
doorbell rang. I opened the door to find a very scroungy-looking
fellow. He had on a small hat with the brim turned down and a
knit shirt that was very "holey". He asked if Fr. Titus was
there. I said, "No, but if you would pull weeds out of the
flower bed on the west side of the house then come back, I'll give
you a few dollars." I shut the door and went back to work.
The next morning Florence Perk came over, giggling. She said
she had a visitor the day before who talked about "that strange
woman working in the parish office". After a few minutes of
listening to Florence talk about the "priest" (Fr. Leo) who came by
to see her, I began to put the event together, with lots of
embarrassment. I was teased a lot after that. Florence
said she would make a sign for the rectory that stated only those
with proper I.D.'s would receive a hand-out. I seldom answered
the door after that!
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