A Century of Service at Our Lady of Sorrows
by Carol Marie Wildt, SSND

On September 8, 1908, Sisters Peregrine Brueggemann and Regis Tiesmeyer opened the school at the recently formed parish, Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Louis, Mo. The 51 students [from grades one to five] represented over half a dozen nationalities and came from 20 different schools. The original school was located on Gravois near Loughborough in a double flat. The first floor served as the school and the second floor was the residence for the pastor. The first floor also served as a parish center and was used for parish organizations, fund-raising events and parish socials. For these events, desks were removed and placed in the yard while tables and chairs replaced the desks in the classrooms.

Because there was no convent ready for the sisters, they lived at St. Peter and Paul and commuted daily by street car to the chapel at St. Peter and Paul Cemetery. Here they met the children for Mass and then processed down Gravois [which was a dirt road] to the school building. The daily half hour ride plus often waiting half hour for the street car in all kinds of weather was a challenge to the early pioneers of this mission. They brought their bag lunches of butter bread, cold meat and fruit. The pastor, Rev. B. Stolte, furnished coffee and hot soup.

Increased enrollment necessitated the opening of a third classroom in September 1909. Basement space was converted to classroom use and a third sister, Sister Delphina Kroegmeier, joined the two pioneers. Sister Delphina remained at Our Lady of Sorrows for 38 years. In 1909, more than three acres were purchased for a permanent site for the parish complex. Two years later, construction began on a combination church, rectory and parish hall. In September 1911, all eight grades were taught for the first time at the school. As enrollment continued to increase, it became apparent that the rooms occupied by the pastor would be needed for classroom space. Also, the sisters needed a more convenient residence.

Therefore, in 1912, a combination rectory/convent was built. A wall divided the building with the pastor’s quarters in the front and the sisters in the rear portion. The sisters moved into their part of the building in December 1912. In 1926, in order to make room for the construction of the present church, the building was moved several hundred feet west on Rhodes Avenue. In 2004, the convent was closed and this building was razed in 2005.

In the 1960s and 1970s, there were nearly 1,000 children in the school. By 2005, the enrollment had decreased to less than 300. The school merged with St. Mary Magdalen and was renamed St. Katherine Drexel School. Nearly 270 SSNDs have ministered at Our Lady of Sorrows and more than 30 parishioners have entered the community during this past century. Although there are currently no SSNDs in the school, two sisters continue to live and minister in the parish.

[Sources: Chronicle, Our Lady of Sorrows; Our Heritage, Golden Jubilee booklet, 1957]
 

Back to Stories About Our History