Star of the Sea Parish, San Francisco

Last week my husband and I visited Star of the Sea Parish, a Catholic Church located at 4420 Geary Blvd. in San Francisco.

I didn't have much history about the work that my great-grandfather did at this parish, but was thrilled when I was doing my investigative work, which I love so much, to notice a familiar carving on their altar. I rifled through loads of my old black and white photos to find an exact match to the carvings!

Before...

After...

Before...

After...

Stunning in person! You can see such dimension after they were gilded.

The following photos are of what I believe Sam carved. His workmanship has a pattern and the beautiful carved ceilings and altar walls are distinctly his work.

such intricate carving dealing on the ceiling...

The stations look undoubtedly like his work

The confessionals as well...

I'm unsure if he did the pews and altar railing, but they very well could be his work.

Martin Ford, the business manager of the parish, kindly took us to the rectory to look through various folders of old receipts to see if there were any traces of Sam Berger. Found nothing, but it was quite interesting and very generous of him to let us in private quarters.

Such a lovely visit to a lovely parish in the Richmond District of San Francisco. 

Now off to see more!

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