When Jimmy Herty was 15, he took a two-week job mowing at St. Bernard Memorial Gardens in Chalmette. The two weeks ended. He stayed on — for nine years. That was 1973.
“Somebody asked many years ago, ‘How do you know if this is for you?’ And I tell them, ‘Within a year, if you’re still here, you’re stuck,’” Herty said. “It reaches out and grabs you and doesn’t let go.”
For the last 43 years, Herty has worked the grounds of the Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home & Cemeteries, which includes Metairie Cemetery, one of New Orleans’ grandest and best-known cemeteries…