DR. KAREN HAYES ORDOGNE
June 18, 1953 — November 7, 2019
Dr. Karen Hayes Ordogne was born on June 18, 1953, in Morgan City, Louisiana. She died on November 7, 2019, at the age of 66 surrounded by her family. She was preceded in death by her mother, Bernadine Mula Hayes, and survived by her father, Dale Hayes Sr., her husband, Mark Ordogne, her brothers, Dale (Sharon) Jr. and Tommy Hayes, her daughter, Lauren (Geoff) Gentile, her son, Luke (Adelaide) Ordogne, and her seven grandchildren. She was a graduate of Central Catholic High School, Nicholls State University, and one of 16 women in the second graduating class at Louisiana State University Veterinary School in 1978. By 1983, she was the sole owner of the Morgan City Veterinary Hospital where she worked for 35 years.
Karen mastered the art of play. She knew every Kenny Chesney song by heart, loved to drink “funny coke” with her family, and could bounce for hours with her grandchildren on the trampoline. Her expertise was in cutting diagonal lines in her lawn, and at the Atchafalaya Health Club she was especially fond of keeping up with the younger women in “Body Combat”. She traveled extensively with her husband, and would always recall her trip to the Holy Land as surpassing all the others.
A devout Catholic, Karen heard Mass daily, embraced her weekly Holy Hour commitment, and founded the Morgan City chapter of Come Lord Jesus. Her love for the Blessed Mother found expression in praying a daily Rosary and devoutly wearing her brown scapular. Her faith helped her persevere in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, especially during the tender care she gave during her mother’s years-long struggle with dementia. Near the close of Karen’s life she received her cancer diagnosis and devastating prognosis not with fear or anger, but with supernatural tranquility and an unshakable confidence in God’s providence and mercy. Moments before her passing, a brief quickening of strength allowed her to offer a final act of trusting abandonment to God as she mouthed her last words: “Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.”
Her funeral Mass will be held at Sacred Heart Church on Tuesday November 12 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, Karen asked that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in her honor, or that Masses be offered for her soul’s repose.