Gerard Majella - St. Gerard Majella School - Kirkwood, MO, USA - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

County of library: St. Louis County
Location of library: Dougherty Ferry Rd. & N Ballas Rd., Kirkwood

Quote:

"Gerard Majella (Italian: Gerardo Maiella; 6 April 1726 – 16 October 1755) was an Italian lay brother of the Congregation of the Redeemer, better known as the Redemptorists, who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church.

"His intercession is sought for children, unborn children, women in childbirth, mothers, expectant mothers, motherhood, the falsely accused, good confessions, lay brothers and Muro Lucano, Italy.

"Majella was born in Muro Lucano on 6 April 1726, the youngest of five children. He was frail, and his parents had him baptized the day he was born. He was the son of Domenico Maiella, a tailor who died when Gerard was twelve, leaving the family in poverty. His mother, Benedetta Galella, then sent him to her brother so that he could teach Gerard to sew and follow in his father's footsteps. However, the foreman was abusive. The boy kept silent, but his uncle soon found out and the man who taught him resigned from the job. After four years of apprenticeship, he took a job as a servant to work for the local Bishop of Lacedonia. Upon the bishop's death, Gerard returned to his trade, working first as a journeyman and then on his own account. He divided his earnings between his mother and the poor and in offerings for the souls in Purgatory.

"He tried to join the Capuchin Order twice, but his health prevented it. In 1749, he joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as Redemptorists. The order was founded in 1732 by Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) at Scala, near Naples. The essentially- missionary order is dedicated to "preaching the word of God to the poor." Its apostolate is principally in giving of missions and retreats." ~ Wikipedia

A news article in the Webster-Kirkwood Times,   gives detail of the construction in 2011 for this new school building