By SUE ELLEN ROSS – Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – Anna Rita LaPlace always had a way with people. As a teacher in the Jefferson Parish school system, and also as a tour director, people skills were one of her greatest assets.

After retirement from the school system, she devoted time to her family life and also began volunteer work at River Parishes Hospital. “When we moved to LaPlace, I was retired and my husband was still working,” she said. “I had heard people talk about the hospital, and since I had time on my hands, I came to volunteer.”

After 10 years at the hospital, the motivated woman left to began a second career, pairing with her husband, in the travel industry. They worked as a tour directors from 1984-97.

River Parishes Hospital again took center stage after this second career ended. LaPlace came back to her volunteer duties in 2002. She currently works in the surgery waiting room.

“People are tense when their loved ones are in surgery,” she said. “I check with the nurses periodically to keep them abreast of what’s happening.”

This attention helps put them at ease, she added.

Skills gleaned from previous careers help the volunteer in dealing with those who visit the surgery waiting room. “I love making people relax,” said LaPlace. “And the families seem to be glad to have someone to talk to.”

While in conversation, which helps to keep the visitors’ occupied, this caring woman relates experiences from her careers.

She also has been asked about her last name. People want to know if she is related to the original local LaPlace family, which the town is named for.

“No, we are not related,” she laughed. “My father-in-law came from the Virgin Islands.”

Many people remember LaPlace’s kindness, and some have come back to tell her just how much they appreciated her helping hand at a very trying time. One woman even gave her a plant.

Her son, Stephen LaPlace, lives in North Carolina; and daughter, Stephanie LaPlace-Troppe, resides in Nevada. She has two granddaughters and two great-grandchildren. All family members are glad that LaPlace has this volunteer work that keeps her so happy.

“It was a great decision to come here,” she said. “I enjoy helping people to relax when they are worried.”

For information on volunteering at River Parishes Hospital, call Claudette Henry at 651-1482.