WHAT HE SAID…
December 2, 2015
Councilman forgives man who killed his dad
December 2, 2015
Houma resident Edna Willig DiSalvo’s devoted much of her life to her family and her favorite pastime, bowling. The two loves came together in October to honor the woman many came to know and care for and give back to the cancer center that offered so much to her.
DiSalvo, a New Orleans native, passed away in July after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer. Searching for a way to honor their loved one, her family banded together for what was originally a simple way to remember the woman they loved so much.
“She was better known as Maw D,” Edna’s husband, Russell, said. The pair met on a blind date in New Orleans and were married for 53 years. They have seven children and owned and operated Quality Office Supply together for 38 years. “She lived for her family. The only other outside interest she had was [bowling]. Unfortunately, for the last two years, she wasn’t able to.”
Inspired by her love of the game, her grandchildren worked tirelessly to put together a memorial celebration fitting for the avid bowler.
“The bowling tournament actually began as my brother’s idea,” DiSalvo’s granddaughter, Brittney Falgout, remembered. “My grandmother always liked to bowl and I think she was on a bowling league with some other women… When we first thought about it, we were just thinking, ‘Let’s get all the family together to bowl just to celebrate her life.'”
Soon after, phone calls were made to virtually anyone who knew the Terrebonne Parish resident and several local businesses committed to donating items to be raffled off during the event. Slowly but surely, word spread of the memorial and the bowling tournament turned into a full-fledged gathering of relatives and friends happy to do their part in passing on the kindness DiSalvo is remembered for.
On Oct. 25, participants lined the stations of Houma’s Creole Lanes, knocking down pins in an effort to strike out cancer during the Edna DiSalvo Memorial Bowling Tournament. The family raised a hefty $3,617 through their efforts, a check that was presented to the place where DiSalvo received much of her treatment, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at Terrebonne General Medical Center, on Nov. 10.
“We have a pretty big family. My dad is one of seven brothers and sisters,” Falgout said. “Between them, everybody has at least one child or like five in some families. We were thinking just the family would be a big turnout, but I think we had a total of 60 teams show up. That’s not including the people that came just to watch and hangout… [Giving back] was the main thing my family wanted to do. Everybody there at Mary Bird was just so good and so helpful and thoughtful.
They were there for everybody throughout the whole process that we kind of wanted to give back as a way of saying thank you and helping other people in need.”
“On that rainy day on the 25th of October, we closed the bowling alley down,” Russell added. “Every lane was filled.”
On the heels of this year’s event and donation, Falgout said the family is already in talks to plan an annual affair all in the name of honoring their beloved family member and giving back to the community she called home.
“Growing up, her biggest thing was love to all,” she said. “No matter who you were, if you knew her for a day or you knew her your entire life, you were best friends with her…Seeing how successful this one was, we definitely want to do it again next year. This was kind of like, ‘Let’s test this out. Let’s see how it goes.’ None of us really put anything like this together before so it was very much just testing the water and seeing what we could do. Next year, I think we’ll have a really big turnout.”
The family of New Orleans native and Houma resident Edna Willig DiSalvo presented Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at TGMC with a $3,617 check on Nov. 10. The money was raised through an October memorial bowling tournament in which 60 teams competed.
