By LEONARD GRAY

DESTREHAN – Anyone who meets Wayne Gaupp, a Destrehan resident for 46 years, knows she loves her community. Historical activist, genealogist, community activist – Gaupp gets involved and stays involved.

The wife of Dr. Myles Kernion Gaupp Sr., the couple moved here from Metairie, in search of the country life. Dr. Gaupp wanted to ride horses and enjoy the rural life in St. Charles Parish. In time, though, conditions changed. Dr. Gaupp realized that riding was far too much a commitment of time than he realized, and the rural conditions he enjoyed were short-lived. “He thought it was going to be so much fun,” she said.

At the time they moved into their home on River Road, Destrehan consisted of a post office, a country store or two and a service station. “It’s been interesting watching the area grow up around us,” she said.

Gaupp, 71, is a native of Oxford, Miss., and as the young Wayne Quick, connected with an appreciation for history early in life, although she is a recent genealogist. In Oxford, the Quick home is now a bed-and-breakfast and one of the very few surviving structures pre-dating the Civil War in the area.

During her early years in St. Charles Parish, Wayne Gaupp spent most of her time raising three children. The couple now have five grandchildren as well.

However, early on, she noticed the abandoned and deteriorating Destrehan Plantation house, buried in weeds and falling victim to vandalism and the elements.

Finally, she and neighbors Paul and June Murray took enough of an interest to contact the Pan American Refinery which formerly operated their refinery behind the house, hoping to buy and restore it.

For years, the company used the old house as offices but for several years, the house itself was abandoned and was nearly lost forever.

Murray, an architect, persuaded the oil company to donate the house and five acres to a newly-formed River Road Historical Society, headed by Gaupp.

“We begged them to put a new roof on it, board it up and clean the grounds,” she added.

With that start, the society took possession and began the long, arduous task of reclaiming the house, then approaching 200 years old. “It was really in poor condition,” she recalled.

All the mantles had been stolen and, one day, she learned a group of men had broken into the house and removed the marble bathtub, intending to steal it. Gaupp, outraged, confronted the men at the front gate of the house and reclaimed the tub, a gift to early owners from Napoleon.

That first fall festival raised $10,000, and Gaupp was delighted. At about the same time, she applied for and received a $50,000 grant from a state preservationist agency, giving the society just the jump-start it needed.

Tours were begun and furnishings restored.

In the years since, the River Road Historical Society has saved the house, generating money through its annual Fall Festival and making the house one of the most popular tourist attractions in the state.

Gaupp commented, “The history of an area gives every generation something to look back on. The past, present and future are all tied together.”

However, with Destrehan Plantation reclaimed, Gaupp began looking restlessly around. In 1989, a concerned woman called her, seeking assistance on dealing with a child-abuse case coming up in local district court.

Sitting in as an observer at the trial, Gaupp realized the need for educating the community about child neglect and abuse, and soon found like-minded people to form a local chapter of the Louisiana Council on Child Abuse.

After 10 years, though, the local chapter broke away and formed its own organization, the St. Charles Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse.

Now housed in the Madere Parenting Center on Paul Maillard Road in Luling, Gaupp is the current president of the organization, which takes a stronger advocacy approach in the issues, along with providing educational resources, workshops and strong connections with the sheriff’s office and the district attorney and local judges.

Gaupp is still busy. Recently, area barge fleeting companies have sought to locate barge mooring facilities in the section of Destrehan river frontage between Destrehan and Ormond plantations, which has her fighting tooth and nail to preserve the historical ambience of the area and keep it quiet and secure for residents.

“There shold be some law that allows the people some protection,” Gaupp said.

Additionally, Gaupp finds time to trace her own family tree, garden, shop for antiques and travel. Her grandchildren are her joy in life and Gaupp has made Destrehan a more comfortable place for herself and her community.

Editor’s Note: Each Saturday, L’Observateur will feature an article about a special River Parishes’ resident and the good works associated with the person.

If you would like to nominate someone contact Robert Roan at 985-652-9545 or send an e-mail to lobnews@bellsouth.net.