Private thoughts at a public farewell

They came to the great cathedral of St. Francis de Sales, filling it to capacity, bidding farewell to a man they called a lion of the courtroom, a humanitarian without equal, and a fighter for the underdog.

Yes there were judges, and other lawyers and politicians and all those kinds of folks who came to the funeral of Joe Waitz Sr., who entered eternal rest last Tuesday after a long struggle. But there were others like roughnecks and mariners, the kind of folks he stood up for in his practice, the ones he always said deserved a break, and whom he taught those around him to respect as much as any guy in a suit, if not more so.

Among the family members seated there was one of his grandchildren, Joe Waitz III, who is not yet a lawyer but working hard at Southern University Law School to make that happen. The 26-year-old student’s father, Joe Waitz Jr., who is the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney, has had considerably more years to soak up the lessons the patriarch had to teach, to contextualize them and to put them in motion during his day-to-day existence.

But this means Joe III has a view of his grandfather that is unique, seeing how the elder man’s influence has affected the father who has taught him lessons of his own, and making what he has gleaned from his grandfather that much more precious.

“The amount of people that came, it was overwhelming to see that amount of people pay their respects,” said Joe III, who is serving as a clerk at the family law firm this summer. “It just went to show how many lives he had actually touched. The stories from these individuals of how great a man he was, how much he has helped people, it was pretty amazing.”

He had a booming baritone voice that could have easily filled this cathedral all the way up to the great vaulted ceiling. But for his grandson, for Joe III, the memory of that voice is most prominent when recalling the fishing trips that resulted in so many lessons about life, love and family, witnessed only by those aboard, God’s stars and the foam that sprayed from Gulf or Caribbean waves.

“He could sound stern, very loud,” Joe III said. “When he was in the room you knew he was in the room. He spoke with confidence.”

The confidence, the grandson said, was fueled by compassion.

“You could see it in the way he communicated with clients, so caring, letting them know he was there for them,” Joe III said. “I never did get to see him in court, I guess that is one of my regrets. But I did see him in the office, very often.”

For a good few years Joe III wasn’t sure where his own path might lead. There was a stint as a Terrebonne deputy working a water patrol boat. There were other thoughts about what to do. But ultimately it was the legacy of his grandfather and a desire to carry that out that led him to law school.

“I just kind of matured and figured how it was like a family business and I wanted to be a part of it, a major part of it,” Joe III said.

His own father, the District Attorney, is an inspiration as well. But the day-to-day recollections of his grandfather at the office turned the key that led to a legal education.

And while it may baffle some people how this man who turned law into a legacy came to be so caring about plain working guys, to the grandson it makes perfect sense.

“His father was a firefighter who was killed in the line of duty,” Joe III said, explaining how the parallels are easy to draw.

So now this Waitz, who is a law student, prepares for his final year of school, half-dreading and half-anticipating the bar exam to come. And a thought that came to mind as he said his own private goodbyes to a great man in that great cathedral, the man who was there for birthdays, the confirmations, the first communions, all the graduations of all the grandchildren.

Might he find time from his new heavenly venues to be present on exam day, as a purveyor of strength and an aid to the all-important focus of thought?

“Absolutely,” Joe III said. “I think he will be right there with me while I am taking it.”