Untitled - Digitizing America

Sesquicentennial Celebration
Ourparish has been busying itself this year with
preparations for celebrating our one hundred
and fiftieth birthday. One of the celebrants will
be our oldest living parishioner at the time of the
publication of this book. Clarence Thomas
Politte, born March 19, 1887, atForcheRenault
in Washington County. The son of Benjamin
Politte and Harriet Mary Louise Politte (nde
Rousin) , he is ninety-two years old, an active
man who walks to St. James for services.
From 1826 through October, 1878, St.
James Parish, including its former missions at
Irondale and Mineral Point, recorded 3,335
baptisms and 779 marriages. There were
7,492 confirmations celebrated between 1835
and 1978.
Liturgical celebration of the parish's anniversary
began May 27,1,979, with a Community
Memorial Service, under the sponsorship
of the Sesquicentennial Committee. A parade
and presentation of the American WarVeterans
Scroll was followed by an ecumenical service
of thanksgiving.
Most Reverend Charles Koester, Most
Reverend George Gottwald, and Most
Reverend John Wurm, all auxiliary bishops of
St. Louis, attended a series of events and
liturgical celebrations leading up to the special
Mass of Thanksgiving on September23,1979,
in honor of St. James' century-and-a-half of
service to God and the community. His
Eminence John J. Cardinal Carberry was the
main celebrant, with past pastors as concelebrants.
In addition to city and county officials,
the parish invited the Honorable Joseph P.
Teasdale, Governor of Missouri, to this milestone
in their long and proud history.
Other activities for the parish youth and an
exciting, successful Fall Festival brought the
anniversary celebration to a jubilant close.
St. James School
Sister Odelia was the first principalof the school
when it opened ln 1952 with one hundred
students. and along with other Sisters of Charity
of the Incarnate Word, taught grades five
through eight.
There were two other nuns comprising the
faculty - Sister Henrietta, who taught grades
one through four and Sister M. Crescentia,
music teacher. In 1953, they were joined by
20
Sister Alpheus. Miss Agatha Casey replaced
one of the nuns in 1959 and taughtfourth and
fifth grades for five and a half years. Miss Casey
was succeeded by Miss Phyllis Theabeau in
September, 1964, andtaughtfor several years.
Among the eleven graduates of the first
graduating class {rom St. James School was
Mary Rebecca Casey, who received St. James'
first scholarship award, providing tuition to attend
Ursuline Academy in Arcadia, Missouri.
Other Sisters who served through the years
included Sister Francis Borgia, Sister Leonard,
Sister John Bernard, Sister M. Daniel, Sister
Josetta, Sister M. Clementine, Sister Fideles,
Sister Margaret Ann, Sister Lorraine (a native of
Washington County), Sister Mary Teresa, Sister
Jane Frances, Sister Marie De La Salle, Sister
Anne Catherine, and Sister Laura.
In 1960, a carnival was held, providing
proceeds {or instituting a hot lunch program in
the school. Cooks in the beginning were Della
Villmer and Stella Boehm. Mothers volunteered
to help out at lunch time.
Amusic room was setaside onthefirstfloor,
where Sister Corbinean gave music and piano
lessonstoboth Catholic and Protestantchildren.
The faculty at the time the school closed
in 7969 included Sister Laura, principal; Sister
Margaret Ann; and Miss Theabeau.
The school was then leased to the State
Department of Education, Jefferson City,
Missouri, as a school for the Trainable Mentally
Retarded. It was known as Center No .24, and
opened with an enrollment of fifteen children.
Mrs. Betty Portell and Mrs. Cecila Brunner were
the teachers, and Miss Mary Ann Ackerson, a
teacher's aide. The children were transported
in two buses by C. L. Gibbons and Margaret
Kite, drivers.
This school closed in7974whenthe State
Department of Education elected to move the
center to a public school building thirteen miles
from Potosi.
Parish Events and Organizations
In its long history, St. James Parish has met the
needs of its parishioners spiritually and socially
via a number of events and organizations. Many
were scheduled and organized to respond to
specific goals. Whenthose goals were attained,
committees and groups disbanded, permanently
or temporarily.