NEW ORLEANS — Margaret Carriere said she remembers her husband's favorite quote.
"Always be a gentleman: Quick to listen, slow to speak and never angry," Carrieres said. "And he didn't just read that — that's how he lived. He was fair. He was patient. He was kind. He put up with me for god sake."
Quarantined in her Lambeth House apartment, she remembers Jim Carriere's 80th birthday in February. The man who loved to garden, collect stamps and coins and who adores their children and 11 grandsons.
"He's a wonderful speaker, an historian. I was attracted to his mind," Margaret said. "He just has a passion for history. He's a Civil War scholar."
Margaret remembers Judge Carriere's last days in the hospital at Ochsner. Jim jokingly hoped the priest who gave the last rights was a Jesuit because he loved the school.
Jim, a diehard Notre Dame Fighting Irish fan, died on St. Patrick's Day.
"He finally understood that he had a bad illness— and it probably wasn't going to go away, so we started talking about the important thing," Margaret said.
Jim never lost his sense of humor, Margaret said.
"Like many New Orleanians, he asked if I could smuggle a glass of wine into him or bourbon with some water," Margaret said.
To add to the misfortune of losing her husband, during the time when she needs her family and friends most, Margaret can not have the loving arms of her loved ones wrapped around her.
Although she hasn't gotten sick, she has been exposed to coronavirus. She can't leave her Lambeth House apartment.
"They're not inside my apartment, but I know they are all around me and love me," Margaret said. "Out of all the few tested —and few postive — in the state, it's unbelievable to me that he was positive and got it and actually died from it, so I'm just grieving."
Judge Carriere taught law at LSU, Loyola and Tulane. Funeral arrangements were pending.
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