Poignant moment as altar server's parents cherish late daughter's award

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

The Serra Clubs of the Greater New Orleans area honored 80 Altar Servers of the Year for 2023 Tuesday night at a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond at St. Rita Church in New Orleans, and the most poignant moment was the posthumous recognition of a young woman who spent most of her life serving at the altar.

Harmony Waller, 19, of Mary, Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Mandeville was recognized posthumously for her service. Her parents, Yvette and Sidney Fontenot, accepted the medallion on her behalf from the archbishop.

Harmony died as a result of injuries she sustained in a car accident on Dec. 11 while she drove from Slidell to Mandeville to attend the farewell Mass for her pastor, Father John-Nhan Tran, who was leaving the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans to become auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Yvette Fontenot was overcome with emotion at receiving the medal on her daughter’s behalf.

“It meant the world to me just to know how much she was appreciated,” Yvette Fontenot said after the awards ceremony. “She was serving as soon as she was old enough – maybe the fifth or sixth grade. Every Mass she went to, she would stick her head in (the sacristy) and ask, ‘Do you need any servers?’ And if they didn’t, she’d come sit next to me and say, ‘They had enough.’

“We went to Mass in Ruston (once) and she said, ‘They’re not doing it right.’ Sidney told her her, ‘You just want to be up there,’ and she said, ‘Uh-huh.’”

Archbishop Aymond presented the medalion to the Fontenots and spoke briefly to them before handing out the awards to the other honorees.

Harmony’s favorite Mass was Sunday at 8 a.m., and she continued to serve at that liturgy even when she began working a late job on Saturdays as an 18-year-old.

“She would be working late at night, but she would always get up in the morning and serve the 8 o’clock Mass,” Bishop Tran said last night from Atlanta. “I would see her sometimes on Sunday morning and tell her, ‘You look tired.’ And she would say, ‘I am tired!’ But, she was always there. She is certainly deserving of being recognized.”

Yvette Fontenot said Harmony never wanted to stop serving in high school. Archbishop Aymond mentioned how edified he feels when he sees altar servers continue serving into their late teens.

“She just never stopped,” Fontenot said. “She always would go in and check in on the younger kids to see if they had five. They always tried to have five. She was always willing. She helped kind of lead them in the right direction.”



The Altar Servers of the Year were selected by their pastors for the award. This year’s recipients were:

Alexander Addison, Sacred Heart, Lacombe; Ray Black, St. Christopher the Martyr Church; Brad Boudreaux, St. Benedict; Kayla Boudreaux, St. John Bosco; Ja'Niya Boyard, St.  Maria Goretti; Ethan Jude Boyd, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Belle Chasse; Joshua Bran, Holy Guardian Angels;

Tony Butler, Blessed Trinity; John Carl “JC” Cagandahan, Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Chalmette; Teresa Cashen, St. Matthew the Apostle; Elise Celestin, All Saints; Mia Celestine, St. Gabriel the Archangel; Joshua Cook, St. Catherine of Siena; Eliza Daigle, St. Pius X, New Orleans; Jacob M. Davidson, St. James Major;

Kingston Delahoussaye, Our Lady of Guadalupe; Brayden Drexel, Ascension of Our Lord; Anre Duc-Tien Tran, St. Agnes Le Thi Thanh; Ya’el Dukes, Our Lady Star of the Sea; Ariya Durfee, St. Joachim; Andrew Early, St. Rosalie; Aloka Fernando, St. Ann; Michael Frey, St. Dominic; Erin Friel, Mary Queen of Peace; Kaiden Fury, The Visitation of Our Lady;

Shanaila Gamad, Holy Spirit; James M. Gernon, Our Lady of the Lake; Brady Gill, St. Rita, Harahan; Samantha Hoffman, Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Westwego; Wyatt Hogan, St. John the Baptist, Paradis; Robert Howard, St. Benilde; Payton P. Jasmin, St. Joseph the Worker;

Carmela Juan, St. Francis Assisi; Emily Juarez, Divine Mercy; Matthew Kornrumpf, Our Lady of Lourdes, Slidell; Alana L'Herisse and Alyssa L'Herisse, Our Lady of the Angels;

Avery A. May, Corpus-Christi Epiphany; John McNally, St. Mary Magdalen; Felipe Medina, St. Agnes; Joseph Mire, Most Holy Trinity Church; Angelle Nash, St. Peter Claver; Raylee Neusaenger, St.  Cletus; Danielle Nguyen, St. Anthony; Loren Nguyen, St.  Martha; Vincent Nguyen, St. Andrew the Apostle; Adyn Oubre, St. John the Baptist, Edgard;

Ava Pender, St. John of the Cross; Jeriel I. Perales, Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos; Brandon Perret, St. Rita, New Orleans; Truong Pham and Vivian Pham, Mary Queen of Vietnam; Joshua Pichon, St. Margaret Mary; Emile Pierre II, Blessed Sacrament/Joan of Arc; Eliseo Pina, St. Theresa of Avila; Landon Ragas, Holy Family,  Franklinton; Gavin Rauch, St. Louis King of France; Colin Richard, St. Angela Merici;

Brooklyn Robin and Jordan Robin, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Norco; Adam Roevens, St. Catherine of Siena; Melanie Roussel, St. Joan of Arc, LaPlace; Charlize Rousseve, Our Lady of Grace; Anthony Russell, St. Peter, Covington; Alexandra Sanchez, Holy Name of Jesus; Thomas Schmitt, St. Edward the Confessor; Garyn Teresa Sercovich, St. Joseph, Gretna; Diego Swonger, St. Clement of Rome;

Riley Tero, St. Anthony of Padua, Luling; Angeline Thao An Tran, Our Lady of Lavang; Samantha Todaro, Holy Family, Luling; Joachim Tran C. An, St. Joseph, New Orleans; Eric Tran, Assumption of Mary, Avondale; Amelia Ulmer, St. Francis Xavier; Pedro Vazquez, St. Jerome;

Christopher Vicknair, Our Lady of Divine Providence; Zachariah Vieages, Sts. Peter and Paul; Harmony Waller (posthumously), Mary Queen of Peace; Christian White, St. Genevieve; Ella Williams, Annunciation, Bogalusa. 

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