Falgout Funeral Homes

Joseph Catholic Church were traveling up Bayou Little Caillou on their way to a special mission service at the church. It is unlikely that anyone who witnessed the incident has survived to tell the story.This account was found in the Houma Courier published the following Friday:"Tragedy struck without warning at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening among a cheerful party going by boat to the Mission services at the St. Joseph church at Little Caillou."With an ear-splitting crash, a bolt of lightning struck the boat belonging to Mr. Davidson Kieff and killed Mrs. Kieff instantly, fatally injured his daughter, Verna and blasted overboard Norman Pellegrin.""When the bolt struck, piercing a hole through the boat and setting it afire, it had just reached Moonlight Hall, about 18 miles below Houma on Bayou Little Caillou."Unguided, the vessel plowed into the bank opposite the hall. Excited residents attracted by the loud report, rushed to the aid of the stricken occupants."Verna Pellegrin survived the injury long enough to receive the last rites of the Catholic church, administered by Father Charles Beauvais. Searchers thronged the banks of the bayou for hours searching for the body of Norman Pellegrin, and found it at 11:30 that night."There were survivors: "Of the eleven occupants of the boat three were rendered unconscious and burned. The injured were Lydia Pellegrin, Laura Lee Pellegrin and Ida Chauvin. All three were rushed to Ellender Memorial Hospital in Houma where they were treated for burns and shock." Until Terrebonne General was built in the 50s, there was no public hospital in Houma."Besides the three above, it is understood that Mr. Kieff, the owner of the boat, was deafened, as was another girl occupant. It was impossible to determine at the time of going to press whether it was a temporary or permanent deafness."Miss Ida Chauvin, 24, one of the injured, added little to what was known about the incident:"We were all on the boat going to the mission, and that is all I remember until I came to, in bed."Those aboard Kieff's ... (Houma Courier)