A PARISH IN THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF SPRINGFIELD

The information on Trinity's memorial
windows was compiled by Sylvia Howard
from information provided by Mrs. Mary
Alexander, Mrs. Florence Glass, Fr. Robert
Harmon, Mr. Bill Howard, Mr. & Mrs. John
Howard, and Mrs. Hazel Tober.

LOCATION: East wall, under the eaves
IN MEMORY OF: Bruce William Howard (1960-1977)
DONOR: Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Howard, III
DATE GIVEN: 1979
COMMENTS: Bill and Sylvia Howard and their son, Jeff, then fifteen years old, went to St. Louis to the Unique Art Glass Company to select a design for the rose window. They were shown many designs, including one that had a small center medallion with ribbons flowing out to the edges of the window. At Jeff's suggestion, the company was to submit a drawing of a four-foot rose window with the medallion design enlarged to fill the entire window.

Bill talked the Derry brothers, ages 82 and 87, into coming out of retirement to mill a frame for the rose window. The frame was the major expense of the window.

At the first part of December the Unique Art Glass Company called to say that the finished window was ready to be picked up. Bill protested that they had never seen the drawing, so why had the company made the window? Bill and Sylvia agreed that Sylvia would drive an RV to St. Louis to look at the window. She was to bring the window back only if she approved it; otherwise, she was to refuse it.

When she arrived, she was met by a phalanx comprised of every worker in the company. It turned out that Trinity Lutheran Church of St. Louis was building a new church and had ordered twenty-five stained glass windows. Trinity, Mt. Vernon's drawing had been mistakenly included with that twenty-five and the Lutherans had approved it.

Sylvia brought the window back to Mt. Vernon on the condition that the Trinity Bishop's Committee needed to approve it -- otherwise it would come back to St. Louis. It was so bitterly cold that December and the church had a four-foot hole in the east wall, so the Bishop's Committee probably would have approved anything which would have filled that hole.

The Unique Art Glass's building sat only a few yards back from Route 40 in St. Louis, and the east side of the buidling was wrapped by an access road. A couple of years after the rose window was made an eighteen-wheeled truck missed the access road and drove cattycorner through the building. The city of St. Louis refused to issue a rebuilding permit bcause they wanted to widen Route 40. The Unique Art Glass Company went out of business due to this accident.

LOCATION: The three cathedral windows on the east wall
IN MEMORY OF: Bruce William Howard and in honor of the parents of the Howard and Martin families
DONOR: Mr. and Mrs. G.W. Howard, III and Mr. and Mrs. William Martin
DATE GIVEN: 1997
COMMENTS: When the organ swell box was removed from the east wall, the wall behind it was in bad shape. The Howards and a contractor, Tom Newton, met at the church to discuss what could be done. It was agreed that some kind of windows needed to be set in the wall.

Art Glass Unlimited, Inc. in St. Louis was contacted for drawing of the stained glass. After the frames were installed, Mr. George Harris came to Mt. Vernon to make measurements for the windows. While he was up on the ladder, Mr. Harris paused to look around the church, and then he said, "I'm so glad to be finishing the windows in this church. All the others are the work of either my grandfather or father."

At this stage, the Martins asked if they could join the Howards on this project. The dedication plaque shows the careful word crafting of Fr. Harmon to reflect the fact that the three surviving widows are not Episcopalians.

LOCATION: Narthex
IN MEMORY OF: The deceased clergy of Trinity Church
DONOR: The Bishop's Committee
DATE GIVEN: 1967
COMMENTS: There are four former vicars of Trinity Church buried in Oakwood Cemetary. There is a file in the church office containing directions to each grave site.