St. Tammany News

Karen Pettit was a little surprised when a reporter came knocking on her door recently.

"I'm used to writing press releases and dealing with the media, but it's different being on the receiving end of a story," she said.

Karen Pettit

Pettit is the former vice president and publicity chairperson for the Slidell Art League. After taking on both roles in 2006, she worked tirelessly, donating her time and talents by writing dozens of press releases, taking photos at every event and assisting in any way she could. She also filled in for SAL President Bruce Hume for three months as he recovered from a heart attack earlier this year.

The league has now honored her efforts by naming her its 2007 Volunteer of the Year.

Even under normal circumstances, Pettit's contributions would be deemed significant. Prior to joining the league, however, the former interior designer and music teacher had received a series of devastating diagnoses, including hepatitis C, a faulty heart valve and an autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

"My best friend Mindy got sick around the same time that I did," said Pettit. "She had always encouraged me to pursue my art, and after she died, I joined the league."

Artistic pursuits have always been at the forefront of Pettit's life. Originally from Chicago, she went to work for Revlon as a makeup artist right out of high school. Later she helped market a clothing line for the late talk show king, Johnny Carson.

Later she helped start a reading program for the Chicago Park District and also created a dance troupe of eighth-grade girls from inner-city schools.

Pettit first visited Louisiana in 1990. Her parents had retired to Slidell, and her mother was queen of the Newcomer's Club Mardi Gras ball that year. She was charmed by the area and relocated permanently a few years later after her marriage ended, for a fresh start.

She met and married Ron Pettit, a musician and minister. After working for several years with Ethan Allan in Metairie, she was burnt out from the commute and went to work selling cars at a local dealership. Pettit was one of the first women in the region to do so, and within a year she had risen to the rank of sales manager.

It was during this time that she started getting sick.

"I kept getting the flu," she said. "Ron also got sick, and needed a double bypass, so my mother came down from Chicago to help out."

Pettit's mother knew right away something was wrong and insisted she go for testing, when she first found out about the hepatitis.

That was in 2003, and the bad news kept coming. Blinding headaches turned out to be due to a lipoma, requiring a painful cranial surgery. She also developed polyarthritis, affecting nearly every joint in her body.

Despite never having had an art lesson, Pettit turned to painting and drawing for relaxation and therapy.

"I walked into my first art show with one little painting, and walked out with a second-place ribbon," she said. "Somehow I also ended up with the vice president's job and the publicity position."

By this point, Pettit had difficulty walking, using a cane that she painted in a leopard print and decorated with fringe, so negotiating the stairs to the league's second-floor offices was tricky.

Still, she devoted herself to the work.

"Karen has been such a valuable asset," said SAL Executive Director Laurie Manley. "Throughout 2007 she was involved in almost every project, and I doubt the league would be the same without her."

Pettit had to withdraw from her duties late last year, when she began a series of chemo treatments that often left her too sick to work.

She still managed, though, to use her creative impulses to create a positive atmosphere. When she had to have a hospital bed set up in her home, Pettit painted and stenciled the plain metal bed frame and used an old slip to make bows for her curtains.

She recycled boxes, ice cream cartons and kitty litter containers, covering them in fabric and paint to make interesting accessories. She's also started making jewelry, and hopes she might be able to make a part-time business out of it.

Pettit's sense of humor has gotten her through many of the roughest parts of her treatment. After diabetes was added to the list last year, she opened her Bible for the first time in a very long time and said her faith pulled her through when her humor failed her.

The chemo treatments have ended, and Pettit said doctors did not get the results they were hoping for. As for the Volunteer of the Year award, she's just glad she was able to contribute.

"The work gave me something to occupy me, and the art gave me a creative outlet," she said.

She points to a piece she created in the midst of all the treatments, an image of a flower growing out of rock, called "Perseverance." She points to another photo of a friend in a wheelchair, who has battled multiple sclerosis for several years.

"I'm surrounded by good examples of people who know how to do things with dignity," said Pettit. "I'm not really afraid of death, I just don't like the whole yucky process."