St. Vincent’s Mass of Thanksgiving marks 150 years of sheltering children
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
TACONY — St. Vincent’s Home in Tacony traces its foundation back to the episcopacy of St. John Neumann in 1855. But years are meaningless.
A more accurate chronology would be the lives of more than 10,000 children who received shelter there — some for brief periods, others for their entire childhood. Equally important is the love and care provided to them by the women religious and lay workers who staffed the venerable institution.
“I spent about 12 wonderful years here,” said Sister Dolores Baumgartner, a member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, the congregation that staffed St. Vincent’s for most of its history. “When the children were brought here they were crying and within minutes they were all smiles. It’s a wonderful, wonderful, place.”
Now, St. Vincent’s is in the midst of a transition from a campus-based institution to group homes for teenage girls in several former convents throughout the city.
Sister Dolores was one of a number of former staff members who came back to St. Vincent’s on May 31 for a Mass of Thanksgiving, which was celebrated by Oblate of St. Francis Father Vincent Smith and concelebrated by Msgr. Joseph A. Tracy, archdiocesan Secretary for Catholic Human Services.
In his brief remarks, Msgr. Tracy noted that this is now the graduation season for many schools — “but instead of looking back four years, we are looking back 154 years.” He noted that St. John Neumann’s vision was not only to help children survive “but to succeed in their new country.”
The home’s earliest residents were German orphans, but that changed over the years, and Sister Noel Albers, who lived at St. Vincent’s in the 1960s, recalls that at that time, “we had over 100 children who came from Cuba.”
“We were founded to serve German children and to serve children with the greatest need,” said Sister Peggy Juskels of the Notre Dame Sisters’ Provincial Council. “We were able to minister to thousands of children — and that mission will continue into the future.”
In fact, over the years, many of St. Vincent’s children were not Catholic. That remains true today, according to Sister Barbara Vurine, campus minister: “It’s an ecumenical ministry. The residents, in spite of all they have been through, are searching for religion. It’s exciting.”
During the home’s opening year, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia were in charge, and in recent years Sisters of St. Joseph have assisted.
“I was here for two years and I loved it,” said Sister of St Joseph. Louise King.
Today’s staff consists mostly of lay employees, with Richard Pytlewski as administrator. He is confident that St. Vincent’s will continue into the future.
“I look forward to the challenges, and our kids are looking forward to living in group homes,” he said. “We are staying true to our mission.”
Tim Paul, a 30-year staff member, has had many administrative titles but prefers one conferred by the children, “the Magic Man,” because of a repertoire of tricks he learned to put them at ease. Of the many children he has worked with, a favorite is Frankie Gomez, who came back for the Mass.
Gomez, who was at St. Vincent’s from 1972 to 1978, achieved everlasting fame for an incident at an annual Cardinal’s Children’s Christmas Party. When he was presented to Cardinal John Krol, to the delight of the photographers, he promptly bit His Eminence’s finger. To this day, Gomez is known as “the boy who bit the Cardinal.”
He remembers St. Vincent’s as a great place to live, and his own favorite memories happen to be “the ‘Mack Truck Christmas parties,’” he said.
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.