Special Sections - Senior Living

03/24/2010

WASHINGTON -- Wally Yonamine was a trailblazer in the world of sports, much like Jackie Robinson.

Yonamine, a Hawaiian-born Catholic of Japanese descent, became the first Japanese-American to play professional football, spending the 1947 season -- the year Robinson broke U.S. baseball's color barrier -- playing running back and defensive back for the San Francisco 49ers of the old All American Football Conference until the 49ers and som...

"This was supposed to be a three-month deal," said James D'Amico, 88, a crossing guard at Wilson and Marconi avenues on the Hill. "Now I'm going on 28 years."
"This was supposed to be a three-month deal," said James D'Amico, 88, a crossing guard at Wilson and Marconi avenues on the Hill. "Now I'm going on 28 years."
03/24/2010

"This was supposed to be a three-month deal," said James D'Amico, 88, a crossing guard at Wilson and Marconi avenues on the Hill. "Now I'm going on 28 years."

Twice a day -- rain, snow or shine -- he ushers children from St. Ambrose School across the intersection.

D'Amico is a well-know figure on the Hill, a neighborhood in South St. Louis.

Cane-in-hand, wearing a heavy winter coat, bright orange vest and gloves, and vario...

American Raymond Plankey gathered last year with children who attend a kindergarten school that he has helped fund in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Plankey began his nearly 50-year career as a lay missionary through the Papal Volunteers program.
American Raymond Plankey gathered last year with children who attend a kindergarten school that he has helped fund in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Plankey began his nearly 50-year career as a lay missionary through the Papal Volunteers program.
03/24/2010

CUERNAVACA, Mexico -- In the early 1960s, U.S. Catholic dioceses sent hundreds of young lay missionaries to Latin America for three-year stints to fight poverty, build the kingdom of God, and promote U.S. sensibilities in a region that was already overwhelmingly Catholic.

Papal Volunteers for Latin America was launched with the best of intentions in 1961 as a lay Catholic response to the missionary call of Pope John XXIII. The program,...

St. Louis College of Pharmacy students and residents of Cardinal Ritter Senior Services independent living apartments are praising a recent partnership.
St. Louis College of Pharmacy students and residents of Cardinal Ritter Senior Services independent living apartments are praising a recent partnership.
03/24/2010

An expansion of a partnership between Cardinal Ritter Senior Services and the St. Louis College of Pharmacy is paying off for students and residents of senior apartments.

Recently, for example, a student visited a resident of one of Cardinal Ritter's independent living apartments and noticed that the woman had a hard time walking from the couch to the kitchen, almost falling a couple times.

They reviewed her medications together...

William Andrade, 83, cut a cross out of leather. Andrade makes leather crosses for fellow horse ridersin Hawaii.
William Andrade, 83, cut a cross out of leather. Andrade makes leather crosses for fellow horse ridersin Hawaii.
03/24/2010

AHUALOA, Hawaii -- Attend any rodeo on the island of Hawaii and you will see small leather crosses attached to the saddles of many of the riders.

Each cross -- a simple, durable profession of faith in God's protection in a rough and sometimes dangerous occupation -- is a gift from a Catholic man who himself has spent many years in the saddle.

William Andrade -- a lifelong cowboy on the "Big Island," as it is known -- handcrafts t...

Sister Suzanne Wesley, CSJ, spoke at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Section 8 Senior Adult St. William Apartments II Community in Dardenne Prairie Sept. 16. The second phase will have 38 one-bedroom apartments for low-income people age 62 and older. Phase one of St. William Apartments is expected to open in November. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson conducted the blessing. Guests included Father Robert Reiker, paster of Immaculate Conception Parish.
Sister Suzanne Wesley, CSJ, spoke at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Section 8 Senior Adult St. William Apartments II Community in Dardenne Prairie Sept. 16. The second phase will have 38 one-bedroom apartments for low-income people age 62 and older. Phase one of St. William Apartments is expected to open in November. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson conducted the blessing. Guests included Father Robert Reiker, paster of Immaculate Conception Parish.
09/30/2009

Cardinal Ritter Senior Services is serving a range of senior adults with programs that help them improve their quality of their lives.

Services vary from providing seniors volunteer opportunities to helping those who are frail maintain as much independence as possible to offering a dignified, compassionate place to live for those in the last stages of life.

The largest agency in the Catholic Charities federation in the archdioces...

09/25/2009

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Human life is a gift to be treasured with patience and love even when it appears to be marked with senseless suffering, Pope Benedict XVI said earlier this year.

“Human life is not a disposable good, but a precious treasure to be guarded and cared for with every possible attention from the moment of its beginning to its final and natural completion,” the pope said as he marked World Day of the Sick...

09/25/2009

MARYKNOLL, N.Y. (CNS) — Gerard Thomas Straub recounted his “riches to rags” journey from atheistic, financially successful Hollywood television producer to secular Franciscan filmmaker documenting world poverty.

During a Lenten meditation for 200 people at Maryknoll headquarters, he described how his unexpected conversion during a 1995 visit to Collegio Sant’Isidoro, a Franciscan friary in Rome, led him to devote...

Work continues on St. William Apartments in Dardenne Prairie, which will offer housing for low-income seniors in St. Charles County. One of the resources available at each of Cardinal Ritter's independent housing locations is a service coordinator who assists residents in obtaining information and refers them to services
Work continues on St. William Apartments in Dardenne Prairie, which will offer housing for low-income seniors in St. Charles County. One of the resources available at each of Cardinal Ritter's independent housing locations is a service coordinator who assists residents in obtaining information and refers them to services
09/25/2009

Cardinal Ritter Senior Services has grown to be the largest agency of Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and has been recognized locally and nationally for its work on behalf of senior adults.
Programs are offered in a variety of areas.

Adult Day Programs

Adult day programs assist families caring for senior adults in both the St. Louis and St. Charles area who cannot be left alone during the day but who do...

09/25/2009

 DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNS) — Walter Dray Sr. treasured his 1940 class ring from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. He even wore it in place of a wedding ring, with the blessing of his wife, Peg.

When the Davenport businessman and father of eight lost the ring in 1957 at the bottom of a Wisconsin lake, he was heartbroken, but Peg assured him the ring eventually would be found.

She was right, but unfortunately did not...