Famed alum cremated as a pauper

This, dear readers, exemplifies some of the incompetence Louisianians have experienced with their "dearly departed" following Katrina:

NEW ORLEANS - John Karlem "Ducky" Riess graduated from Tulane University in 1933, and for the next 70 years, he touched the lives of an untold number of students as a physics professor, adviser to fraternities and honor societies and as grand marshal at graduation ceremonies.

When the university's alumni association celebrated its centennial, Riess was declared "Alumni of the Century."

And so it is particularly shocking and appalling to his family and friends that after levee breaks forced the evacuation of the bedridden 92-year-old professor emeritus from his home [on Audubon Blvd] to New Orleans International Airport, he ultimately would die on a military plane en route to Shreveport and later be unceremoniously cremated as a pauper with no family.