St. Cecilia's Parish Upcoming Centennial

left to right: Veronica, MER, Lynn, Diane

This past Friday, I had the pleasure of meeting with Mer and Veronica from St. Cecilia's Church in San Francisco. They are working tirelessly on the St. Cecilia's Centennial photo archive.

My cousin Diane, Sam's granddaughter, helped fill in many blanks regarding my great-grandfather's legacy. 

They spent most of the day at my house, going through images, newspapers, etc. scanning and scanning...

Mer and Veronica are part of the team at St. Cecilia's that are planning the 100th year of St. Cecilia Parish, January 7, 2017.

They are creating a photo archive for the Centennial. Images from the archive will be used throughout the Centennial year for monthly photo displays and a commemorative book. They are looking for old and new photos, as well as other memorabilia, from their church, school, and parish ministries. They are collecting photos through May of 2016. 

Trying to put the pieces together...

It wasn't easy going through bins of unmarked photos to find anything related to the church, since the photos were of different churches that Sam worked for.

Diane and I...great-granddaughter and granddaughter to Sam Berger

What church is this from? No one knows...

If you have any photos you'd like to contribute to St. Cecilia's,  please contact Mer Ring, Class of 1977, at mer2832@yahoo.com.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, San Francisco

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption

Shown in these photos was the second St. Mary's Cathedral, built on Van Ness Avenue and O'Farrell Streets, San Francisco, in 1891. Sam Berger did much of the wood carving for this lovely church. The photo above was located amongst troves of Berger archive photos, and is quite rare. I was thrilled to find it, and am searching for more.

School children gathered on the steps of St. Mary's to greet President Teddy Roosevelt when he visited in 1903. It survived the 1906 earthquake and fire and gave out food to the refugees during the reconstruction. 

The fire...

Sadly, this church served the community until gutted by an arson fire on September 7, 1962. It was demolished in favor of a new modern cathedral built 2 blocks further up the hill on Geary Blvd.

The original St. Mary's Cathedral was built in 1851 on California Street at Dupont (now Grant Avenue).

Jewish Carpenter's Legacy

I'm thrilled to share this article about Sam from the National Catholic Register. It gives a detailed account of Sam's travels from Romania to San Francisco and how his wood carving graced the churches of Northern California.

Thanks Jim Graves for the lovely story.

Mission Dolores Basilica: Now

Last week my photographer Kassie and I took a trip to visit Mission Dolores Basilica. It was more amazing than I could ever anticipate. When I realized that all of the carving was done by my great-grandfather, it was really surreal. He carved everything including the alter, ceiling, stations of the cross, and more. It's quite fun to compare the original carvings prior to being painted, and then to see them in their current place. 

It was a dark, rainy day, but here are some lovely shots that Kassie captured. I'll also be adding some photos later that my family took many years ago.


Enjoy this beautiful church!

images: Kassie Borreson, Haus Frau Fotografie

Mission Dolores Basilica: The Construction

Before I visit the famous Mission Dolores Basilica in San Francisco, I thought I'd share some old photos I stumbled upon of Sam with Bishop Guilfoyle during construction and upon completion.

Sam on the far left

Misión San Francisco de Asís was founded June 29, 1776, under the direction of Father Junipero Serra and is both the oldest original intact Mission in California and the oldest building in San Francisco. Today, the Mission Dolores Parish comprises both the Basilica and the Mission.

I imagine that my great-grandfather's work was done in the late 1940s.

Sam, second from left

(above) Stations of the Cross

images from my personal collection

Bittersweet.

When my Mom passed away recently, I had the painful task of going through her things. This left me with inheriting the stunning lamp Sam carved so many decades ago.


This lamp was carved for my grandparents. It was my grandmother's prized possession. She would stare at the cherubs for hours. When people came over she would proudly show them her father's lamp. Well, Mom and Bannie (my grandma) died a year and a half apart, so the lamp suddenly became mine.

When it was delivered I cried like a baby. "Why is this here? It shouldn't be here." I couldn't walk in our living room for days. I was just about to call my cousin to give it to her and my husband said that I'll feel better with time.

Now I'm able to walk in the room again and admire this work of art. I'm just looking for the appropriate lamp shade to do it justice.

My lineage has all passed away leaving me with special memories and some treasures. It doesn't feel right to have this lamp, but I'm proud to share it with you. In time, I'm sure I'll feel a bit more comfortable with it. Until then, I still get a little teary when I walk into the room.

All that remain are the solemn faces of the cherubs, and the echoes of voices from a bygone era...

images: David Stone Photography

Something to Share!

I was absolutely thrilled when Valerie Schmalz, a writer for the San Francisco Catholic Weekly contacted me about doing a story about my great-grandfather's work. She had stumbled upon this blog and thought there could be a great potential story.

Well, tomorrow the story is officially in the paper and online. I'm so elated to have my great-grandfather recognized for his magnificent wood-carving!

You can read the whole article here. The story is titled, "Jewish Artisan's Legacy of Christian Beauty."

Big thanks to Valerie for doing this lovely tribute!