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History

Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter founded the parish by the act of the Archdiocesan Building Committee, purchasing the roperty on the corner of Dougherty Ferry and Ballas Roads in 1955, for the new parish of St. Gerard Majella. Very Reverend ames Vance, C.SS.R., Provincial of the St. Louis Province of the Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers, accepted the new parish and the loan that paid for the property and present building. Father James Kelly, C.SS.R., was chosen to be the first pastor of St. Gerard Majella Parish. Father Kelly took up residence at St. Joseph's College, Geyer and Big Bend Roads (now Meramec Community College) and said Masson Sunday, June 19,1955, in St. Joseph's Seminary Chapel. The Masses had to be scheduled after the seminarians' Masses which were at 6 and 8 a.m. The first Sunday Masses were at 7, 9, and 11 A.M. The collection to start the new parish was $169 and some cents. The parish roster in the beginning contained the names of about 250 families.

The seminary chapel was the parish church until August 25, 1957. The Redemptorist Fathers of the seminary faculty served as associate pastors during the first two years and for another two years until the seminary program was moved to Edgerton, Wisconsin, in August 1959.

The Archdiocese not only bought the original property for St. Gerard's Parish but also selected the architect and contractors for the building that still serves as church and school.

Ground breaking for the new building took place on Sunday, April 8, 1956. A number of neighboring archdiocesan priests came to the ceremony and so did many Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers and the seminary choir of St. Joseph's College.

Cornerstone laying took place on Sunday, September 16, 1956. Auxiliary Bishop Leo Byrne presided at the ceremony. Dinner was served to the archdiocesan and religious clergy in the dining room of St. Joseph's College Seminary.

First Masses in the present church -a joy long and anxiously awaited by the parishioners - were celebrated on Sunday, August 25, 1957, the feast day of St. Louis of France, patron of the St. Louis Archdiocese. On December 15, 1957, the church of St. Gerard Majella was dedicated by Archbishop Joseph E. Ritter. It was a beautiful day inside and outside the church and school. Not only Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers took part in the dedication procession but also many archdiocesan priests were present, as were many Sisters of various religious communities. The schoolchildren, boys and girls, wore their uniforms as did the Boy Scouts. The altar boys outshone all others with their Buster Brown collars and wide red ribbon bows. The Marian Guild did an excellent job as hostesses for the dinner served in the cafeteria to the archbishop and all the invited guests.

To tell of the ground breaking, cornerstone laying, first Masses said in the church and dedication of the new St. Gerard Majella's Church and school building, we had to anticipate some things and move them out of any kind of date lineup.

In the first month of 1958, and in the previous years, Father James Kelly had one room at St. Joseph's College Seminary as his rectory. Through the kindness of a $20,000.00 loan by the Redemptorist Fathers and Brothers, a house at 501 Taylor Young Drive was bought as a rectory for St. Gerard Majella's Parish.

It's time to tell why this booklet is titled Uphill All the Way. The church property was an unlikely site for parochial buildings, since it was really a hill and a hillside and a difficult spot on which to build. The church was at one level, some classrooms at another level, and the playground at a third level. It was up hill all the way. Then the first rectory was on top of another hillside, and an uneven valley was between the rectory and the parish building. History tells of all the work and landfill and drudgery that had to do into making "Comer Field" a real sports complex for the many parish teams of the various sports. The first pastor and associates had to descend a hill and climb another hill to go to the parish church and school.

Father Anthony Kargl, C.SS.R., was the first associate pastor of St. Gerard's. He was appointed in 1957 in the summertime, but there was no place for him until the new rectory was bought and fixed up and ready for occupancy on February 14, 1958.

Redemptorist Fathers who served the parishioners of St. Gerard Majella as pastors and associate pastors from the beginning in 1955 until this day of jubilee in 1980 were and are:

The Redemptorist Fathers of the Pastoral Year (extra year of practical priestly training), stationed for that year at St. Alphonsus (Rock) Church in St. Louis, continued extra Redemptorist help (1959-1968) for St. Gerard Majella Parish. The Pastoral Year Fathers helped with Sunday Masses and in various other ways until the closing down of the Pastoral Year in the late sixties.

Mr. Harry Pelikan declared his candidacy to become a permanent deacon at a service in Kenrick Seminary Chapel on January 28,1977. He was ordained deacon on January 28,1978. He continues to help the priests of the parish in a number of ways. He also taught in the grade school for one year. Mr. Paul Bansbach of the parish is now in the permanent diaconate program of the St. Louis Archdiocese.

The Marian Guild for women was begun practically at the inception of the parish in September 1955. There were 80 women at the first get-together in the parlors of St. Joseph's College. Through the years, as the parish grew, so did the membership of the Marian Guild. It is recorded history the number of breakfasts, dinners, lunches, suppers, barbecues, chicken dinners, fish fries, and receptions that were served by the Marian Guild through their 25 years of extraordinary service to the parish.

The Majella Club for men also came into being in September 1955. The club met in the Knights of Columbus meeting rooms above the Color-Art store on Kirkwood Road. There were a number of men at the first meeting. The Majella Club also has a fine history of service to the parish. It is impossible to recall all the projects and chores done by the men of the Majella Club.

The Majella Club worked on the hills and in the valley of the parish property. Much work was required to make "Comer Field" in the valley between the hills. Tons and tons of dirt had to be hauled in to make the baseball and softball diamonds and soccer field. The men of the Majella Club worked with the Marian Guild on fish fries and chicken dinners, and a host of other jobs of every size, kind, and description. Majellans looked to the maintenance of the parish buildings - the church, school, rectory, and convent.

St. Joseph's Guard (ushers) also began in September 1955. Their meeting place in the beginning was in the students' refectory at St. Joseph's College. The ushers have continued to do a superb job through the years down to the present. The yearly banquet is a way to say thank you to all of them.

The servers also started in September 1955. They have a continuous record of appointments fulfilled on Sundays, weekdays, and Tuesdays. The servers' picnic during the summer has grown into a real reward for the servers and through the years has been worthwhile.

The CYC had its inception in 1958. The first graduating class formed a nucleus of teenagers who became the CYC of St. Gerard's Parish with other older teens. Under the leadership of different priests of the parish, and especially under the leadership of Father John Schaefer, the CYC blossomed as a club. Father Schaefer worked not only for the CYC of St. Gerard's, but was also active in the archdiocesan CYC and its divisions. He also did youth work for all the young people of the city of Kirkwood. In fact, he was on the Youth Council's Steering Committee of Kirkwood for some years. He received an award for his youth work. After Father Schaefer's period of leadership, the cloak of leadership fell on the shoulders of Father John Hacker. He did such an outstanding job with the CYC that he and the officers and club won acclaim at the 1979 CYC yearly convention.

The choir and Legion of Mary are also organizations of St. Gerard's Parish. They came into existence years later than the original organizations of the parish. This does not mean that they are lesser in any way than the older organizations. They are both deserving of a few kudos here in print for their years of service and dedication. The Legion of Mary is a very demanding way of life and prayer and service devoted to others. To belong to a parish choir is quite a chore, and it takes dedication and practice to perform well and often in liturgies in church. For years arsonists donated their time on a volunteer basis to the parish until recently Rosalie Duvall was hired as music director.

At the time of the dedication of the church in December 1957, many religious women of various congregations were present. One woman religious present was Mother Anna Marie, Superior General of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, of Monroe, Michigan. Father Kelly had asked her earlier for Sisters to staff St. Gerard's School. Mother Anna Marie consented and in the middle of August 1957, in late afternoon, the Sisters arrived from Monroe. They drove from Monroe to Kirkwood in a new blue and white station wagon that had been bought by the fund-raising activities of the Marian Guild. The Marian Guild also was responsible for the television set in the Sisters' community room. The temporary convent for the first I.H.M.'s was arranged in four classrooms in the school building. The Marian Guild also stocked the larder with food supplies and cooked the supper that evening in August 1957.

1957 - Sister M. Angelique Rose, Superior

Sister M. Archangel Groh, Sister M. Elmer Gautherat, Sister M. Thomas Ellen Shea. The new school opened with 202 pupils.

1959 - Sister Ann Walter Hayes replaced Sister M. Elmer Gautherat.

1961 - Sister Nivard Soleau replaced Sister Thomas Ellen Shea.

1962 - New convent on Apple Hill Lane was ready for the Sisters in August when they returned.

1963 - St. Gerard's School had 300 pupils, the highest enrollment in its 23 years. Sister Nivard Soleau became new superior; Sister Therese Mary Rudell and Sister Mechtildis Brickley came for the new school year.

1964 - Sister Paul Mary Meloche was a newcomer.

1965 - Sister Marie Renata LaJeunesse came with the other Sisters in August.

1966 - Sister Barbara Mary Posa came to St. Gerard's School.

1967 - Sister Marie Kathleen O'Donnell came in August as superior, and Sister William Patrick Cooney and Sister Ancilla McCormack came with her.

1968 - Sister Katherine Drexel Polys came to St. Gerard's in August. She was the second girl from St. Gerard's to become an I.H.M. Sister.

1969 - In midyear (February), Sister Marie Kathleen O'Donnell, superior and principal, was transferred. Sister Katherine Drexel Polys became superior and principal. Sister Maria Pacelli Smeekens came to replace Sister Marie Kathleen O'Donnell.

1969 - In March, the Sisters returned to their baptismal names.

1969 - In August Sister Bette Bowler and Sister Peggy Gearhart came to teach in St. Gerard's School.

1971 - Sister Mary Jane Brennan and Sister Evelyn Craig came to St. Gerard's community of Sisters.

1972 - Sister Marie Merkel arrived at St. Gerard's to teach the second grade.

1973 - Sister Evelyn Craig became superior and principal.

1974 - Sister Olimpia Dias was a newcomer for this school year.

1978 - Sister Esther LuDuc and Sister Elizabeth Lyons arrived to teach at St. Gerard's School.

1979 - Sister Marianne Gaynor joined the St. Gerard community. Sister Olimpia continues to be a member of the St. Gerard's Sisters' community even though she does not teach in St. Gerard's School. She has another ministry for the present.

Candace Rekart was the first girl of St. Gerard's Parish to enter the postulancy of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart, and become an I.H.M. Sister. Marjorie Polys joined the Sisters as Sister Marjorie.

The lay teachers of St. Gerard's Parish School have a history all their own. Mrs. Mozack substituted for Sister Thomas Ellen Shea while she was sick during that first school year of 1957-1958. Miss Anita McClain was the first full-time lay teacher at St. Gerard's. She taught the school year of 1958-1959. A student teacher by the name of Georgialee Geders also taught the school year of 1958-1959.

The roster of the lay teachers is listed according to the school years they began to teach in St. Gerard's School; and no notice is taken of the duration of their years, though some taught for many years.

1959-60 - Miss Wisniewski Miss Bigelow

1960-61 - Miss Marsha Miller Miss Lucy Walsh

1961-62 - Miss Rosemary Ford Mrs. Elmore M rs. N. Davenport

1962-63 - Mrs. Irene Beebe Mrs. Patrick Kirk Mrs. Bigelow as substitute for Mrs. Lochrs

1963-64- Miss Mary Margaret Thibodeau Miss Julie Marre

1964-65 - Mrs. Dorothy Goessling Miss Mary Ford Miss Mary Tracy Mr. Pelikan

1965-66 - Miss Betty Hanebrink Miss Carol Striebel

1966-67 - Mrs. Jerry O'Toole Mrs. Libby McConky Mrs. Bernadette Larimer Mr. John Larimer

1968-69 - Mrs. Marianne Philips Mrs. Claire George Mrs. M. Morrison

1970-71 - Miss Barbara Aumer Mrs. Myrtle Best

1971-72 - Mrs. Jean Hensley Mrs. JoAnne Crider

Mrs. Grace Runza Mr. Ron Braun 1972-73 - Sunny Saladin 1973-74 - Miss Marie Potojnak Mrs. Carol Jean Tilly Mrs. Patrick Killorn 1974-75 - Kathy Byrne Mrs. Sherri Bowron Miss Christy Hoover 1975-76 - Mrs. Robin Keeney 1976-77 - Mrs. Ginny Higgins Mrs. Ann Tracy 1978-79 - Mrs. Denise O'Leary Mrs. Julia Johnson Mrs. Linda Denness Miss Jean Rothermick Mrs. Mildred Jasper 1979-80 - Miss Peggy Gerahty

A Home and School Council, made up of parents, Sisters, teachers, and priests, was started at the suggestion of the Sisters as soon as possible after their arrival in 1957. The Home and School Council was the first big step of the school year in October 1957. Meetings and elections of officers have been held down through the years and theirs has been a great contribution to the school and parish. Sister Evelyn, as principal, came up with the idea of a Student Council in 1974; one was formed and has been in operation ever since.

St. Gerard Majella Parish was family oriented from its inception. It was made up of 250 families. During the first years when Masses were said at St. Joseph's College Seminary, the summers were family times of fun and enjoyment. The swimming pool was real recreation for members of a family and was for use on Sundays and one evening during the week. The 11 get acquainted" Sunday afternoons in the park on the college grounds were a real chance for families to get to know one another. Ball games, horseshoe pitching, lolling on the benches, just visiting were part of these first years' summer Sundays. Besides that, from the beginning, there was something at St. Gerard's for all the members of the family: Marian Guild, Majella Club, St. Joseph Guard, servers, Boy and Girl Scouts, CYC. The camaraderie of the parish families of the first years just grew like Topsy and has continued on until the present day. Don't forget the athletic programs starting with bantam soccer teams and ending with CYC and senior teams in just about every sport except basketball. Yearly there were tournaments of golf, soccer, baseball, and softball. Then there was summer camping, float trips, picnics, etc.

Just think, we haven't touched on the Parish School of Religion and the Sisters and parishioners who taught religion to the children of the parish who are not in St. Gerard's parochial school. Credit must be given first to the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for their contribution of service through the years to the Parish School Religion Classes on Sunday mornings and evenings during the week. Jesuit scholastics also helped for about a year in the teaching of the public school children. Many different parishioners also take turns in the various years in teaching religion to the group of children. We cannot mention by name the various teachers through the years; because no complete records were kept of the children and teachers. Since the arrival of Sister Mary Jane Brennan in 1971, there has been improvement noticed in the handling of the public school children's program of religious instructions. Sister was appointed Director of Religious Education for all the children of St. Gerard's Parish and all the adults. In the immediate future, parents can look forward to the future, solid religious education of their children in and out of St. Gerard's School.

Emery J. Drier was made an Oblate of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer on July 6, 1972. He certainly deserved this high honor for his many years of service, loyalty, and devotion to the parish and the Redemptorist Fathers. He counted the collections, all of them, for years with no help from others. He was a punctual and regular usher from the beginning of the parish, and he also worked diligently at the fund-raising events. It would be a shame to go on without mentioning Rose, his wife, and Arlene, his daughter. Rose was active on a number of committees and patient in putting up with Emery's absences in serving the parish and the Reclemptorists. Rose was deeply occupied, too, in the fund-raising events, in taking care of the church linens, and in regularly quilting with the parish group of quilters. Arlene Drier (now Mrs. R. Simpson) served for more than six years as part-time secretary to the parish and Fathers without salary. Mr. Emery Drier died July 23, 1972. Cornelia Bailey came to work in the old rectory on September 28, 1959, a day to remember for Cornelia worked as housekeeper and cook for the next 15 years. She did a fabulous job as cook because of the number for whom she cooked regularly and on occasions and feasts. The quality of her food preparation was excellent. (I can vouch for her cooking - delicious!) Gracious as she was to callers in person and by phone at the rectory and so devoted to the Redemptorist Fathers and so diligent in her care and cooking for them, it was

only fitting that she be made an Oblate along with Mr. Drier in 1972. When Cornelia retired in August 1974, the priests, Sisters, and parishioners gave her gifts and had a parish Mass and dinner for her and her friends. Really the parishioners were her friends and paid a gracious tribute to her on retirement. She is still alive and gracious as ever. God bless her and Mary keep her under her mantle!

The Parish Council of St. Gerard Majella came into being in 1966. It was formed in obedience to a decree of Cardinal Ritter. Vatican Council 11, in the "Constitution on the Church," first indicated the need for councils on the parish level. And then in No. 26 of the "Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity" of Vatican 11, the Council speaks of the necessity for parish councils. Parish councils are to be made up of the parish priests, religious of the parish, and laity of the parish. At St. Gerard's there was a training period of all for a few months as the council was formed. Even the first elected officers were to hold office only during the training period. After the training period ended, new officers were elected. The election of officers has been held yearly since the beginning of the parish council in 1966.

From its inception, the parish council has had several committees working under it and forming part of the council. These have been the committees from the beginning: Religious Life and Liturgy, Human Relations, Board of Education, Youth, Physical Facilities, and Finance. Other committees were added as needed in the ensuing years. When Father Norman J. Muckerman arrived as pastor of St. Gerard's in May 1967, he found the parish council remarkably and fully organized. He also discovered that, according to the direction of Cardinal Ritter and through the urging of Father James Kelly, study groups had been formed in the parish for an ongoing discussion of the new documents of the Vatican Council 11.

These groups did their work well. The various groups formulated, as they were supposed to do, series of statements derived from their study of the documents. These statements reflected various new directions in the Church, as well as the reactions (by vote) of the members of each group. Some groups turned out to be quite progressive, others not so progressive. The important thing was that possibly for the first time individual

members of the Church had their say in matters pertaining to ecclesiastical practice and program, especially on the parish level.

A special byproduct of these discussion groups was the formation of deep and lasting friendships between members of individual groups, friendships that have lasted and even grown until today.

Father Muckerman resigned from the position of pastor in early 1971. For some time he had felt called to work in Catholic journalism, and when it was discovered that one of the Reclemptorists at Liguori wished to enter the parish ministry, Father Muckerman offered to take his place in the publications house at Liguori.

Here more than anywhere it was uphill all the way. Two hundred and fifty families were burdened with a $400,000.00 debt for church and school.

The history of the parish is in great part a story of all kinds of fund-raising events. Just about any kind of event was used for debt reduction through the years. You name it and St. Gerard's Parish did it to raise money for the parish. Dinners, fish fries, chicken dinners, rummage sales, and so forth, plus tithing talks, Dazey Plan for the Sunday collection, tuition talks, and just plain, plaintive talks after each increase of the debt due to buying or improvements to the buildings, to the rectory, and to the convent.

Thanks be to God, the parish grew and the debt was spread out over a greater number of families. And today - the twenty-fifth year of founding -St. Gerard Majella is out of debt.

Three cheers! The families and parishioners have climbed the hill of St. Gerard debt reduction in 1979 and gone on to an increase through a Capital Fund Drive conducted by McCarthy Associates, fund raisers. There is now money in the bank toward the sum needed for the building of a new church.

The former pastors of St. Gerard's and the present pastor and associates have nothing but praise for the cooperation and work of the officers, organizations, and committees of the parish. It is true, we have to come back to it again and again in writing of St. Gerard Majella Parish. We have to come back to the family spirit and community spirit of the parishioners. The families of the parish and all the other members, singles, widows and widowers: All have worked and sacrificed to make St. Gerard's an outstanding parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and in St. Louis County.

In Pope John Paul 11's first encyclical, "Redemptor Hominis" (Redeemer of Mankind), the People of God heard a call from the Pope to renew themselves. Reconciliation (sacrament of Penance) and the Eucharist are to be the basis of this renewal of the People of God throughout the world. Responding to the call of the Pope for renewal and the call of the U.S. Bishops to make 1980 the Year of the Family, Father James Shea went to a Father Chuck Gallagher Renewal Workshop and learned about parish renewal. Father Shea and groups of St. Gerard parishioners introduced Parish Renewal Weekends during Lent 1980. Through these Parish Renewal Weekends, the parishioners are strengthening the family and community spirit that has been so much a part of St. Gerard's from the beginning. In following the example of the early Christian communities, St. Gerard's Parish continues to grow in unity of heart and soul and do what has to be done today to be truly Christian and Catholic.

Text by Father Joseph Powers, C.SS.R.