RobertXGillis

RobertXGillis

25+ years of published Op/Ed columns, professional photography, my first book and more from the 28 known galaxies!

RobertXGillis
  • About Me
  • My professional photography
  • Nana – my first published book
  • Gillis Photo and Nana Videos
  • Site Map
  • Nativity

Grieving the Saint Kevin’s Property

  • Catholic / Church
  • Current Events / News Commentary
  • Dorchester

By Robert Gillis
Published in the Boston City Paper 7/2012 and the Foxboro Reporter 8/2012

ived my first 25 years in Dorchester, and while I have moved away, I am still OFD down to my DNA and wanted to share some thoughts about the Saint Kevin property.

As an overview: The church and school were created in the 1940s or so and were kept alive and flourishing by its most famous pastor, the late Father J. Joseph Kierce. Father Kierce was a legend in Uphams Corner, and the school and church meant (and continue to mean) so much to the tens of thousands of former students and parishioners. The school closed its doors in 2008 as part of the Archdiocese of Boston changes.

I was baptized in that church, made all of my sacraments, and graduated class of 1979. And I attended church there until I moved to Foxboro in 1989.

I have been following the outstanding coverage of the Saint Kevin property process on Uphams Corner News (http://www.uphamscornernews.com). I can say there are only two things everyone can agree on – the issue is a powder keg, and the property, now boarded up, remains in limbo. I will not address any of that here – the current residents, businesses and leaders living and working in Uphams Corner should make the decisions about what will happen to Saint Kevin’s – not someone who USED to live there two decades ago.

Still – I would like to share some thoughts.

June, 2012: In the old Saint Kevin School yard yesterday… School closed in 2008. Thirty-three years since graduation and about 20-25 since mass there…. I could not believe actually standing in the school yard. Do you remember, “The Rocks?” We were NOT allowed on the rocks. So of course, I had to do it — and may Sister Paula Rest in Peace, but I climbed up the rocks and called out, “I’m climbing the rocks, Sister Paula!”

There is a new house or two by the school yards so it’s a little smaller but you can still clearly see where we played, some of it is a little overgrown but it is recognizable.

My God it’s so small — it seemed so big as a kid. I have not stood there since 1979 and not driven through in 10 years. The school and church are all boarded up and look secure and someone has cleaned up — except for the graffiti it everything actually looks the same.

But it’s not the same – the building needed to be professionally boarded up because people were breaking in and squatting there. The property looks – what? Abandoned? Lifeless?

I was only there 10 minutes or so — I could have stayed for hours. So many memories of a lifetime ago in one small place. Those thoughts stayed with me for weeks.

And then over the next few weeks I kept staring at my pictures, and the memories kept coming back. Another visit was in order.

July 2012: Back in Dorchester this afternoon; walked around Sawyer Avenue, Saint Margaret’s (security guard was a sweetheart when I explained that I was just soaking up memories — lovely lady, really) Standing in Uphams Corner, a few more pictures at Saint Kevin School (God, its condition bothers me), Stoughton Street, Cushing, Everett Ave… Everything is so familiar and yet I know no one.

Scared? NO.

Sad? Yep. But it’s not where I live anymore.

At Saint Margaret’s, I’m reminded me of all the late shifts in the nursery, leaving there at midnight. Houses on Sawyer look well maintained. Standing at Sawyer Ave — an entire childhood on this corner.  Cushing Ave, how many times did I play here, walk here?

Looking at my old three decker on Rowell and amazed how good it looks. Nana’s house on Trull – it will always be “Nana’s house” even twenty years after her passing — has a new back porch, wish I could walk around it without scaring the residents or invading their privacy.

Guys still sitting on the stoop of the old A&M market to beat the oppressive heat and humidity. Saint Kevin is calling me… To Hancock, to Bird. Past the convent. Everything so familiar but not. BEANO sign on Saint Kevin School! Virginia Street all tree lined.

And I keep thinking about Saint Kevin. I am not that child at that school anymore; graduation was over three decades ago; last mass there for me two decades ago… Still…

I finally figured out (beyond the galactically obvious) the real reason Saint Kevin’s present state bothers me so much — it’s because it’s just rotting there, boarded up. If the school or church were OPEN, that would be different…

But this is worse — this is something that has died, and was not buried.

Something that lived and was so vibrantly alive and meant so much to so many, so much energy, so many dreams, so many classes of kids, so many dramas and masses and sacraments and funerals and weddings and playground fights and teachers and books and now… DEAD. Boarded up. And slowly decomposing, forgotten. Abandoned. In flux.

Forgive me, this isn’t poetry, it’s from the heart – Saint Kevin Church and school died in 2008 and no one took the time to bury it. How can you mourn the loss of something that hasn’t been buried or recycled back into nature? Does anyone else “get me” on this? I am not being disrespectful — it has taken weeks to realize the exact reason WHY this bothers me so much.

I am OFD — down to my DNA. And Saint Kevin? Permanently imprinted on my heart of hearts.

Judging by what I am reading, it may take many years for the Saint Kevin property to again be useful. I am not qualified to say what Uphams Corner needs from those buildings. You live here now, you work here now. It is your decision, not mine. Housing, community center, library, medical building, I have no idea what Uphams Corner needs there today, but I pray what you decide upon will serve the people well.

I, and thousands of others who have so much love for my our church and school – hope and pray that someday soon, the Saint Kevin property — in some form — will serve the community well, and once again be a place that means something and makes people’s lives better.

And on that day, I will know that my old church and school are truly buried properly and “resting in peace,” and new hopes and dreams will again be alive and flourish on what (to many of us) will always be sacred ground.


Here are pictures I took during those two 2012 visits…

[Show as slideshow]
002-saint-kevin-school-yard-grades-five-through-eight-yard-facing-davern-street
003-saint-kevin-school-yard-grades-five-through-eight-yard-rocks-on-right-side-and-facing-church-building
004-saint-kevin-school-yard-grades-five-through-eight-yard-rocks-on-right-side-and-facing-church-building
005-saint-kevin-school-yard-boundary-between-two-school-yards-walk-forward-and-take-a-right-to-virginia-street
006-saint-kevin-school-yard-further-back-view-grades-five-through-eight-yard-rocks-on-right-side-and-facing-church-building
007-saint-kevin-school-yard-entrance-to-grades-five-through-eight-yard-from-davern-street-side
008-saint-kevin-school-yard-entrance-to-grades-five-through-eight-yard-from-davern-street-side
009-saint-kevin-school-yard-behind-church-courtyard-which-faces-columbia-road
010-saint-kevin-school-yard-the-stairs-to-the-right-if-you-are-facing-the-main-church-doors
011-saint-kevin-school-yard-other-entrance-to-grades-1-4-school
012-saint-kevin-school-yard-kneeler-behind-church-building-statue-of-virgin-mary-gone
013-saint-kevin-school-yard-the-grade-five-through-eight-building-from-standing-by-the-church-courtyard-steps
014-saint-kevin-school-yard-kneeler-and-grades-five-through-eight-building-taken-from-the-door-to-the-1-4-school-behind-the-church
015-saint-kevin-school-yard-grades-one-through-four-facing-church-building
016-saint-kevin-school-yard-grades-one-through-four-facing-church-building
017-saint-kevin-school-yard-standing-in-boys-area-of-grades-1-4-virginia-street-to-left-some-overgrowth-here
018-saint-kevin-school-yard-standing-in-boys-area-of-grades-1-4-facing-bird-street-convent
019-saint-kevin-school-yard-standing-in-boys-area-of-grades-1-4-virginia-street-to-left
020-saint-kevin-school-yard-standing-in-boys-area-of-grades-1-4-virginia-street-behind-me-and-facing-church-building
021-saint-kevin-school-yard-standing-in-boys-area-of-grades-1-4-virginia-street-to-left
1000-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight-davern-street-side-entrance
1001-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight-davern-street-side-entrance-graffiti-makes-me-very-sad
1002-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight
1003-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-one-to-four-and-church-building
1004-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-one-to-four-and-church-building
1005-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-one-to-four-and-church-building
1006-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-one-to-four-and-church-building
1007-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight-building-and-the-center-entrance
1008-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight-building-and-the-center-entrance
1009-saint-kevin-church-and-school-from-columbia-road
1010-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight-church-courtyard-entrance
1011-saint-kevin-church-and-school-church-courtyard
1012-saint-kevin-church-and-school-from-columbia-road
1013-saint-kevin-church-and-school-from-columbia-road
1014-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight-davern-street-side-entrance
1015-saint-kevin-church-and-school-grades-five-through-eight-davern-street-side-entrance
1016-saint-kevin-church-beano
1017-saint-kevin-church-beano
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-000
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-001
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-002
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-003
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-004
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-005
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-006
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-007
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-008
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-009
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-010
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-011
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-012
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-013
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-014
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-015
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-016
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-017
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-018
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-019
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-020
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-021
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-022
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-023
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-024
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-025
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-026
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-027
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-028
2013_03_09_saint-kevin-in-winter-029

{Click on each picture for a much larger image}


Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Related Posts via Categories

  • America 2020: Protests, Violence, Racism — Divided We Fall
  • The Church still stands: Remembering the promise of Easter Sunday after the Notre Dame Cathedral fire
  • UPDATED: An open letter to the Saint Kevin property managers — let us say a proper good-bye before the church is demolished
  • Where can I pick up the Boston City paper?
  • In loving memory of Father John Joseph Kierce
  • You can go home again; my visit to Dorchester and Saint Kevin School and Church
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Washington 2018: Have you no sense of decency?
  • January 13, 2018: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL
  • “We will be okay,” two signs of hope in troubled times
Spread the love
August 13, 2012 Robert Gillis 0

Post navigation

Review: A monster of a show, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Fenway Park Boston, August 15, 2012 → ← My first videos of images from GillisPhotos.com

My Professional Photography

Buy My Book!

Go to Nana Book website

Follow Me!

  • Facebook

RobertXGillis.com Categories (Drop Down Menu)!

Category Cloudy Thingy!

A must read Avoiding Fraud Backstreets Boston Bruce Springsteen Catholic / Church Christmas CNN image Computers / Tech Current Events / News Commentary Current News Story Parody and Humor Dorchester Foxboro Foxboro Founders Day Foxboro Jaycees Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House Foxboro Reporter Image Halloween Holidays - Other Humor Life events, Gratitude and Giving and Little Miracles Mass Shootings Memorials Movies Music My fiction (80s/90s) Nana Book NASA Image New Hampshire News image from Web New Year Not The Best Pets Politics Scanned From Newspaper Microfilm Seniors September 11, 2001 Slow News Day Humor Sports Star Trek Superman Superman and Friends - Comic Book Humor and Parody Television Uncategorized Web / Email / Internet / Social Media

Robert Gillis Site Archives From the 28 Known Galaxies

Weekly Popular!

  • A dream come true, meeting Joanna Cameron, star of… (89)
  • Silver Age Comics: Spanking your super kids, a great… (17)
  • Memories of an Intensive Care Nursery at Saint… (8)
  • An historical quest fulfilled: Finding the Willey… (8)
  • Memo: Cost-cutting measures during these tough… (8)
  • The Old Dorchester Neighborhood (7)
  • Review: SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT (6)
  • Grieving the Saint Kevin’s Property (6)
  • Foxboro’s Casino War: It’s Starting to… (6)
  • Practicing Skiing at the Old Mountain Home (6)
  • An interview with Joanna Levesque, aka “JoJo” (5)
  • The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in… (4)
  • More Silver-Age Lois Lane comic book madness! (4)
  • Retro-Review: A Christmas Carol (1999) starring… (4)
  • Where can I pick up the Boston City paper? (4)
  • Remarkable Man, Remarkable Life, Remembering Gerry Rodman (4)
  • More Superman Silver Age Physics! (3)
  • Review: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WITH THE SEEGER SESSIONS… (3)
  • More Lucy Lane and Lois Lane Silver-Age Comics Sillyness! (3)
  • Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band… (3)
  • More Silver Age Comics fun with Lois Lane! (3)
  • The Weakest Link (3)
  • Retro-Review: A Christmas Carol (1938) starring… (3)
  • More fun with Superman and Wonder Woman comics:… (3)
  • Silver Age Comic Books: Superman stops the… (3)
  • Popular posts by Top 10 plugin

Most Popular On This Site!

  • A dream come true, meeting Joanna Cameron, star of… (16,520)
  • An interview with Joanna Levesque, aka “JoJo” (6,118)
  • A letter to Mom on Christmas Day (3,641)
  • Memo: Cost-cutting measures during these tough… (3,229)
  • Silver Age Comics: Spanking your super kids, a great… (2,668)
  • Memories of an Intensive Care Nursery at Saint… (2,256)
  • Thoughts on visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday (1,702)
  • Father Steve Madden leaving Saint Mary’s… (1,612)
  • The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in… (1,491)
  • Grieving the Saint Kevin’s Property (1,484)
  • The customer, most assuredly, is NOT always right: A… (1,377)
  • More Lucy Lane and Lois Lane Silver-Age Comics Sillyness! (1,191)
  • Silver-Age Comics fun: Going to the chapel, and… (1,027)
  • What was the Silver Age of comic books? Superman,… (1,015)
  • My professional photography (1,013)
  • Popular posts by Top 10 plugin

Copyright and Legal

All site content copyright © 2020 by Robert Gillis except where specifically noted. All rights reserved. THIS IS A PERSONAL WEBLOG (“BLOG”). THE OPINIONS AND COMMENTARY EXPRESSED HERE REPRESENT MY OWN AND ARE NOT THOSE OF MY EMPLOYERS (PAST, PRESENT NOR FUTURE).

About images:

I do my best to use my own photos to illustrate a post (and copyright to all my images remains with me), but sometimes I need to use an image from, say, a sports logo, a TV show or movie, or something I could not possibly get on my own, for example, an image of the international space station. I always credit the original owner (if they can be determined) but in ALL cases, whether credited or not, any images I didn’t photograph myself remain the property of the original copyright holders. This site does not imply any ownership of such images or materials, and such images are used here for commentary / illustrative / entertainment purposes only, under what is believed to be fair use guidelines, and absolutely no copyright infringement is intended.

Powered by WordPress | theme SG Double