Charmaine Cambre Beverung

This is a little update as to what has happened in the last 10 years since the last reunion.

Physically, we are all pretty good. My husband is fighting diabetes but his health otherwise is good.  We have our aches and pains like so many others, but we can't complain...

We have had our ups and downs in the last few years. As many of you know, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was hit by Katrina really bad. It was a nightmare but we survived. I knew several people that didn't make it through the storm. Like us, our children had a lot of damage to their homes also. We had seven feet of water in our home even though we are about 4 miles from the gulf. Also had about 12 feet in our business on Highway 90 in Waveland. Needless to say we lost everything except the house, we were able to "gut" it out and remodel  it.

Here's a picture of a road in our area after Katrina.

Here's a few pictures of our house after the storm.  Note the plywood panel on the roof.  That's where Beany cut a hole in the roof to get out after he was forced into the attic by the rising water. His bother talked to him that morning and told him he had better put a cordless saw in the attic, just in case.  Thank goodness he did.  We had a twin size mattress that he had put on one of the  other beds  before the storm in case he had to get into the bathroom because of a tornado or winds.  No one had any clue we would get that much water.  I guess when the water came in it pushed the whole thing up against the ceiling and it stayed dried, so he threw it up in the attic after the water went down, and that is where he spent the night.  Spent the other two nights, before his daughter came to find him, sleeping on the dining room table. So many crazy stories to tell.....

And here's our house today after a lot of work. 

Here's a couple of pictures of our living room after the restoration:

My oldest son had 5 feet of water in his, my daughter had 3 trees punched in the roof of her kitchen, and my youngest son had 8 feet of water in his. Beany's daughter was getting ready to move into their new home which was 10 feet up in the air in Pass Christian. It was washed off the pilings.

Beany stayed  for the storm and had to go into the attic, (he was here for 3 days before his daughter and son in law found him), my oldest son stayed with his neighbor and they had to get on the roof of his house. My youngest son was a Waveland Fireman. Naturally, they had to stay and wound up having  to swim in 10 feet of water to the nearby two story Sewer Plant building where they had to break open an elevator to get people out that were trapped in it. It was something we will never forget.

But good things come out of tragedies...

The day before Katrina, my daughter (who was 34 weeks pregnant with twins) my two grandsons and I left for Florida. Actually, we really didn't know where we were going at the time. It took us 14 hours to get to Lake City, FL We stayed there three days until one of her friends invited us to stay with him in Hoover, AL. We were so relieved since my daughter was so close to delivering. It was three days before I heard from my husband and sons to let me know they were ok.   It was a very traumatic time.....

Anyway, three weeks after Katrina, Caylee and Cameron was born in Birmingham.  The doctors and nurses were awesome there and we couldn't thank them enough. Here's a current picture of Caylee and Cameron - aren't they good looking kids?

We were so lucky to have someone to take us in. We stayed in Birmingham two months until we were able to come home to a place to stay. FEMA provided campers and they put a tarp over the hole in my daughter's kitchen ceiling and she was able to stay there with the twins.  We stayed in the camper for a year until we got the house back together. I really need to say, thank God for those campers and all the people and churches that helped us. It was incredible. It has been almost 7 years and sometimes it feels like yesterday. The coast is coming back strong but some areas will take much longer to grow again...

And more good news, June 23, Beany's granddaughter made us great-grandparents. A little girl....

In 2003, after serving time in Iraq, my oldest son retired from the Marine Corp with almost 22 years of service. My oldest grandson spent three years in the Army with one year in Iraq and my middle grandson is in Marine boot camp at Parris Island.

My daughter has been working for Hancock Bank going on 20 years in November.   She is a Senior Branch Manager for Harrison Finance.

We still have the Air Conditioning business, but we work out of the house. We fixed the business  building up, but we are hoping to sell it.

Looking forward to the reunion and seeing everyone.....

 2002 Biography 

After finishing school, I went to work for the New Orleans Retailers Credit Bureau where I worked in the collection department.   I rode Greyhound bus to get to work everyday for about a year, until I found a ride. Most of the people who rode the bus worked in New Orleans and had come from as far away as Gonzales.

In 1963 I married A.J. Krementz. We have 3 children.

Artie, 37, a Master Sergeant (E8) in the U.S. Marine Corps, is currently stationed at Camp Le Jeune, N.C. where he is with the 2^nd Marine Division. Recently, he was awarded his second Navy/Marine Commendation Medal.  He is planning on retiring next year with 21 years service. But, I guess that will depend on what is happening in the world. 

Kelley, 36, is a Branch Manager for a finance company in Gulfport.  She lives in Saucier, MS with her two sons, Brandon 16, and Dylan 13. About 2 months ago, I took Brandon to get his driver’s license. He was so proud of himself and so was I. 

Kevin, 32, is an Air Conditioning Tech. and installer and lives in Waveland, MS. with his wife, Canellie, his two sons Forrest 9 and Hunter 5 and his two stepchildren, Kyndra 17 and William 13 and a step granddaughter, Natalie 4 months.

 When A.J. and I were married, we moved 11 times in 10 years.  It was mostly because of his job. We lived in Waveland, MS about a year before Hurricane Camille hit. We moved back to Waveland about 10 months after Camille and have been in Mississippi ever since.  After 22 years of marriage, A.J. and I divorced in 1985.  I married Anthony “Beany” Beverung from Chalmette, La. in 1987.  Beany was 1961 Mr. Chalmette High and All State Center. He has a daughter Sherry, 34 and a granddaughter Ashley, 16. They live in Pass Christian, MS.

Beany has owned an Air Conditioning and Heating Business in Waveland for 24 years.  We have been in Mississippi Power’s Top Guns program for the last 14 years.  We have won trips and awards every year for meeting the criteria to be in the program. That is quite an accomplishment considering the company consists of Beany, Kevin and me.  

For 13 years, Beany and I did A/C contract service work for MCI/ WorldCom. We serviced 48 sites from the Texas/Louisiana borderline to the Alabama/ Florida borderline and as far north as Montgomery, Ala and Crystal Springs, MS. We did that on weekends and sometimes weekdays if they had an emergency. We gave it up in 2000 because Beany had a mild heart attack and it really got to be too time consuming, not to mention the stress. But it was an adventure and we could probably write a book on some of the stuff we saw. We still service their south Mississippi sites if they have an emergency. 

I have been in the Bay St. Louis/Waveland area for 32 years. Although I didn’t like it when I first moved here, the Coast is a great place to live. The traffic and population has grown a lot since the Casinos opened almost 11 years ago.  We actually live outside the city limits, where we built our home on 3 ½ acres.   

When my youngest child started school, I got a job selling ads for a local by-monthly newspaper in Bay St. Louis. I also collected club and social news. The paper closed up in 1980 and I got a job as secretary for a roofing company. That is where I learned to work on my first computer. I quit after 4 ½ years because there was not much to do and I got bored. I got a job at a plumbing supply company in Waveland doing computer work and   some light bookkeeping. About a year later the owner’s brother-in-law offered me a job as secretary for him at his air conditioning business. (no, not Beany). 

I spend my time at the office or at home where I love to cook and bake. I try and spend as much time with the grandkids as I can. We love going to the movies and yes, we also go to the casinos where we sometimes run into people from Louisiana that we know.

After my Mom died in 1993, we sold the “old homestead” to Shell Oil. My Dad died in 1970. I still have a sister living in New Sarpy and one in La Place, so we try and get down that way as often as we can.

I guess you know Mildred and I have been friends’ since she moved to Norco from Mississippi in 1957. In fact, we laugh about the fact that I have been in Mississippi longer than she lived here. Life can be funny.  We have been blessed with a special friendship that has lasted all these years, even though we live many miles apart.

Funny, 40 years doesn’t seem so long when you are looking at it behind you. If you are ever on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, give me a call.