Deacon Charles ‘Rusty’ Read served at St. Peter, St. Anselm

    Deacon Charles “Rusty” F. Read Jr., who was ordained a permanent deacon in 1993 and served at St. Peter Church in Covington and St. Anselm Church in Madisonville, died Jan. 21 at his Covington home following a lengthy battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He was 65 years.
    Deacon Read was married for 33 years to Mary Sanchez “Cookie” Read. The Reads have three daughters – Corinne Read VanderKaay, Valerie Read Martinez and Caroline Read d’Hemecourt – and three grandchildren.
    Deacon Read also is survived by his siblings: M’Adele R. Irvin, Renee Read, Margaret “Meg” Read, Baldwin Read and Sidonie R. Petagna.
     Deacon Read was born in New Orleans but was a lifetime resident of Covington. He graduated from The St. Paul’s School in 1964 and attended Centenary College in Shreveport, La.
    He was ordained to the permanent diaconate on Dec. 4, 1993, by Archbishop Francis B. Schulte and was assigned to St. Peter Church, where he served for more than 15 years. He was appointed master of ceremonies for the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1995.
    In 2009, he was assigned to St. Anselm Church by Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes.
    Deacon Read was a board member of the Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and founding member, past president, treasurer and board member of the New Orleans Northshore Chapter of Legatus International. In 2010, he received the International Officer of the Year Award from Legatus.
    He was board member of Focus Worldwide Network and a member of Knights of Columbus Council 12906 at St. Peter Church.
    He was former president and co-owner of Anserphone, Inc., and Anserve, Inc.
    Benedictine Abbot Justin Brown celebrated his funeral Mass Jan. 27 at St. Joseph Abbey Church. Interment followed at St. Joseph Abbey Cemetery.
    In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Anselm Church Building Fund, 306 St. Mary St., Madisonville, LA 70447; or the ALS Association LA/MS Chapter, P.O. Box 66825, Baton Rouge, LA 70896.