Joyce Randolph

"Father Tompson used to say that if things haven't changed in 3 weeks or 3 months, look at how you're praying and change what you're doing."  

Ms. Joyce Randolph used to ride the bus from the 9th Ward every Sunday morning to attend Mass at Immaculate Conception. Though she wasn't a member of the parish, she was struck by Fr. Tompson's kindness, his ministry, and the way he treated everyone as if he'd known them all his life that she happily made the journey to town with her three children to hear his homilies.  

Father Tompson would occasionally hold open confession for Joyce. Sometimes he wouldn't say much, he'd just nod and give a thumbs up. Other times, he'd hear her worry and encourage her to keep her faith.  

"I fell on hard times and I lost my house but Fr. Tompson taught me how to pray – he'd say don't you give up - I never lost my faith, and out of the blue a woman on Banks street rented her house to me. He used to say 'Don't tell me what God can't do' and I still say that to this day." 

Once Fr. Harry entered her life, Joyce says that the miracles didn’t stop.  

"I come from nothin.' My marriage was hard. I didn't have money. But at Immaculate Conception, they put my kid’s names on that Christmas tree, and don't you know that those folks came on Christmas and knocked on my door in the 9th Ward and they had presents for my kids. Through my prayers, my daughter went to MIT and had the highest GPA in the state of Louisiana. My son went to Tulane and UCLA and is now a Chemical Engineer. And my other son is doing well for himself. Even one of my grandbabies was baptized at the church."  

Joyce says that she never once experienced racism or oppression at Immaculate Conception. "They went above and beyond to be kind to me. Fr. Tompson would always tell me to sit upfront. I didn't of course because I had three young children who could make a fuss so I'd sit in the back, but I appreciated the thought. I used to see Mitch Landrieu and his wife – now, they didn't know me from Adam, but she'd always hug me and he would sing every Sunday and had the prettiest singing voice."  

After Mass, Joyce recalls that Father Tompson would stand on Baronne Street and he'd talk to the homeless people who approached him – he'd say, "Let them come in for some donuts and juice."  

"I truly miss Father Tompson. He used to tell me that I was a child of God and I just know that the miracles that have happened in my life are because of him."