[StBernard] Larry Ingargiola, St. Bernard public servant, dies at age 65

[Westley Annis]

Larry Ingargiola, St. Bernard public servant, dies at age 65
By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune 
December 02, 2009, 5:33PM
Larry Ingargiola, well-known for his work with the St. Bernard Parish
Sheriff's Office and parish government, died Tuesday at his home of
complications from cancer of the liver and pancreas. He was 65.

Mr. Ingargiola, a lifelong resident of St. Bernard Parish, held a number of
high-profile jobs in St. Bernard Parish over the years. He joined the
Sheriff's Office in 1967 and in 1995 became crime prevention director and
head of the Neighborhood Watch and emergency preparedness programs. 

He left the Sheriff's Office in 2003 and joined parish government, where he
took the position of head of homeland security and emergency preparedness.
In that role, Mr. Ingargiola was tasked with developing plans to deal with
emergencies, including hurricanes. 

Mr. Ingargiola headed the department when Hurricane Katrina barreled over
south Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005. Like other parish officials, he
spent the immediate aftermath of the storm on the roof of the parish
government building after the hurricane's surge decimated the overmatched
levee system and filled the parish with several feet of water. 

The scope of Katrina's damage was breathtaking, Mr. Ingargiola would later
say.

"I don't think anyone in their wildest imagination could have foreseen the
mass destruction Katrina caused," he said during the 2007 trial of a couple
who owned a nursing home where 35 residents died.

Ingargiola left his position as emergency preparedness director in January
2007 and took a position with the Governor's Office for Homeland Security
and Emergency Preparedness as a liaison between the state and St. Bernard
Parish.

Mr. Ingargiola's wife, Brenda, said he always put family first. 

"He loved his family. And he loved to cook,'' she said. Sunday dinners
consisted of Mr. Ingargiola's specialty, she said: spaghetti with meatballs
and fried chicken.

"And the more people at the table, the better,'' Brenda Ingargiola said. "He
loved having a lot of people around.''

Mr. Ingargiola was also involved with the Community Advisory Panel at Murphy
Oil and the Knights of Columbus, where he was a 4th Degree Knight. In
addition, he was active with the American Red Cross, where he taught CPR and
first aid for a number of years, his wife said.

"He loved to talk. He loved to teach people things,'' she said.

In addition to his wife, survivors include two daughters, Christina Bradbury
and Lisa Ingargiola; four sons, Larry Ingargiola Jr. and Michael, Stephen
and Nicholas Ingargiola; and four grandchildren. 

A Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Monday at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church
in Violet. Visitation will be held Sunday from 6 to 10 p.m. and on Monday
from 8 until 10:30 a.m. at St. Bernard Memorial Funeral Home, 701 W. Virtue
St., Chalmette. Interment will be private.