Students, families and graduates celebrate Holy Cross School in Cuba, commit to upholding its legacy
One of the diocese’s smallest Catholic schools will not reopen in the fall – Several students will transfer to St. Patrick School in Rolla
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There’s more than enough love to go around at Holy Cross School in Cuba.
If only there were more children.
“I wish there were 100 kids in that community for that school!” Archbishop Shawn McKnight recently told Erin Vader Ed.D., diocesan superintendent of Catholic Schools. “Because there’s enough love there for all of them.”
Dr. Vader shared the archbishop’s remarks with an impressive group of Holy Cross School students, families, graduates and friends at a May 2 dinner, following a Mass to celebrate the school’s legacy.
Holy Cross School will not reopen in the fall.
A decreasing number of school-age children in the area led to a steady decline in enrollment and operating revenue in what has long been one of the diocese’s smallest Catholic schools.
“We gave it everything we had, and we kept it going for a long time,” said Elaine Barreca, who taught pre-kindergarten and kindergarten at Holy Cross for 24 years.
The school has been a pillar of the community and a cornerstone of faith.
“Over the years, this school has been not just a place of education but a home — a sanctuary where each of us has been nurtured, encouraged and inspired,” said Melinda Osentoski, principal.
“We have watched students grow not only in knowledge but in character, faith and kindness,” Mrs. Osentoski stated. “Each of you carries a piece of our school’s spirit in your hearts, and that spirit will continue to shine brightly in the world beyond these walls.”
People at the legacy celebration perused tables and bulletin boards filled with photos, yearbooks, scrapbooks, newspaper articles and other school memorabilia.
“Holy Cross School will always be in our hearts,” Father Anthony Onyeihe, administrator of Holy Cross Parish in Cuba, St. Francis Caracciolo Parish in Bourbon and St. Michael Parish in Steelville, said in his homily at Mass.
“There will be no time that we mention this parish that the school will not also be mentioned,” he stated.
He noted that since its reopening 28 years ago, Holy Cross School had drawn many children and their families closer to Christ and the Catholic faith.
“I know some members of this parish became parishioners because their kids went to Holy Cross School,” the priest stated. “In that and many other ways, Holy Cross School will live on.”
Eight to 10 of the students currently plan to attend St. Patrick School in Rolla in the fall.
“We will also continue to see how we can do more to support our kids, especially their growth in the Catholic faith,” said Fr. Onyeihe.
He called on everyone to help support these efforts.
“Never lose faith, never lose hope, and let us continue to be generous in spirit!” he said.
The special intention for the Mass was for God’s continued blessing on all who have helped support the school.
“As we gather here this evening in celebration of hope and joy and thanksgiving for all that Holy Cross School has done for so many, we pray to the Lord,” said Fr. Onyeihe.
“Great is the heritage”
Holy Cross School originally opened in 1927 in a home that still stands near Holy Cross Church.
School Sisters of Notre Dame served as the teachers for 41 years.
A larger building, faced with native fieldstone to match the church, rectory and walls surrounding the churchyard, was completed in 1952.
In those days, grades 1 through 4 were in one classroom, grades 5 though 8 in another.
The parish decided to close the school in 1969 when the sisters were called to new assignments.
“Many are the cherished memories and heritage of 41 years of Holy Cross School in Cuba!” the Cuba Free Press newspaper proclaimed at that time.
“Great is the heritage of all those Holy Cross graduates who were privileged to have the practice of their religion so closely interwoven with their daily lives,” the paper stated.
“Only in retrospect can the full impact of these years and the efforts — yes, sacrifice — of so many priests, sisters and laypeople who made it possible be appreciated.”
“Kind of magical”
A groundswell of support during a five-year parish-wide discernment process led to the reopening of Holy Cross School in 1997.
Bishop Emeritus Michael F. McAuliffe, now deceased, signed off on the effort.
His successor, Bishop Emeritus John R. Gaydos, blessed the renewed school less than two weeks after being ordained to lead the Jefferson City diocese.
There were 29 students in kindergarten through fourth grade that year.
Jean Heckmann, the first principal when the school reopened, said getting it all started was a God-fueled adventure.
She and Teresa Leicht, one of the first teachers, recalled praying for the Holy Spirit to inspire more teachers to apply for openings at the school.
The prayers were answered.
“We had a wonderful cadre of people who worked for those first couple of years,” Mrs. Heckmann stated.
“I thought to myself, ‘This is gonna’ be a wonderful experience!’” Mrs. Leicht recalled. “‘Kind of magical. And it was wild, and it worked out really well.”
The school grew by one grade each year until reaching eighth grade in 2001.
Sacrifices continued. Minds were built up. Lifelong friendships among classmates and with God were forged.
Mrs. Heckmann said she came back a few years ago to attend a school Christmas pageant.
“And who do I see but some of the students we had, directing the pageant, directing the music, teaching the art, doing all that volunteering,” she said.
“Grandparents were coming in and volunteering and just loved being here,” she recalled.
The more, the merrier
In 2004, while Father James Finder was pastor, parishioners raised $500,000 in 10 months, allowing the parish to build onto the school and parish hall without taking on any debt.
The matching addition, named in honor of St. Nicholas “the Wonderworker,” included four new classrooms, a new computer room, a new art/science room, a new kitchen, new restrooms, and an expanded cafeteria/parish hall.
Parishioners and students past and present attended the ground-breaking. Among the first to dig were some of the oldest parishioners who were among the school’s first graduates.
Mrs. Barreca’s children were among the first to attend the school when it reopened. She joined the faculty a few years later.
“Yes, we want our school to grow,” she stated in a 2014 interview, “but only because that means more kids can know the love of God.”
“Heart for Jesus”
Lindsey Butz, whose son, Louis, attended pre-kindergarten at Holy Cross this year, thanked everyone for supporting the school.
She and her husband visited the school a year ago, intending to wait until Louis was in kindergarten to send him there.
“We toured the school and just immediately fell in love,” she stated.
On Louis’s first day, he came home and said, “Mom! Guess what! Did you know Jesus loves you THIS much?”
“It melted my heart,” said Mrs. Butz. “It was amazing.”
It broke her heart soon thereafter to find out the school would close, but she’s grateful that the teachers, benefactors and donors pulled together to help keep it open for the entire year.
“We wanted other news, but to be able to stay through May made a world of difference for our family and our son,” she said.
He hopes to enter kindergarten at St. Patrick School in Rolla this fall.
Jordan Cason, mother of Holy Cross students Cecilia and Eloise, served as the school librarian and read to the younger students.
“I have to say, we were born and raised Catholic, and my girls would come home and tell me prayers I’d never heard and they were singing songs that I had never heard,” said Mrs. Cason.
“I do think they have a heart for Jesus, because of this place and all of you!” she stated.
“Holy Cross gave me a good foundation, and I had good times and it made me love Jesus even more,” her daughter Cecilia added.
Rock-solid
Betty DeLeo recalled how her father oversaw the construction of the current school building in 1951-52.
She was dating her future husband, Norm, and he wanted to prove that he’d be a good son-in-law.
“So, he got a job with my father,” she recounted. “He hated it, but my dad was really impressed that he could push that wheelbarrow up that ramp and drop that concrete on the rocks that were situated there.”
Mr. DeLeo, now deceased, had attended Holy Cross School, and the couple sent their three children there.
Mrs. DeLeo served on the Holy Cross School board and helped organize community socials and fundraisers. Her stories of dinners, dances and roller skating sessions filled the room where they took place with laughter.
Pat Dornan recalled attending Holy Cross in the 1950s.
“It was a good experience,” he declared. “Although, I still don’t know how those nuns taught four grades in one classroom!”
“Hope is inspiration”
Sister Karen Thein of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, pastoral minister for the Crawford County parishes, called to mind a blessing the sisters would pass along to the students at the end of each school day:
“My dear children, I commend you to the Holy Spirit, through the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I entrust you forever to her blessed hands. Amen.”
Fr. Onyeihe closed out the celebration with a prayer: “God, our Father, we thank you for the history and memories you’ve allowed us to create for Holy Cross. We thank you for the blessings for all those who have passed through this fine institution. We ask you to continue to be with us, especially our current students and their families. We ask that your Spirit, your power and presence, continue to support and be with us.”
Mrs. Barreca said it doesn’t matter to her whether the students and graduates of Holy Cross School remember the names of those who taught them.
“That’s not what it’s all about,” she insisted. “It’s about the name of Jesus. That’s why we’re here.”
A terracotta bas relief above the school entrance depicts an open book — perhaps the Bible, maybe a textbook, or possibly each student’s future, waiting to be written.
Mrs. Osentoski said the legacy of Holy Cross School will continue to resonate throughout the parishes and “each of you.”
“As we carry the light of our faith into the future, may we be a source of hope and inspiration for others,” she said.
