I read with interest the My View column of July 6 by Jacci Reed titled “Time for parishioners to stand up for the faith.” A few paragraphs into the story she mentioned Retired Monsignor George Yiengst. The Monsignor was a Lovejoy boy. His father had a store on Reiman Street in the Lovejoy neighborhood and the local children would buy their candy from that store. As the children grew older, and they were drafted into World War II and sent to faraway places, their mothers brought the pictures of these young men and some women, now in uniform, into Mr. Yiengst.
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This kind man constructed a large wooden frame and displayed all the pictures and placed it in his store window. I had heard of this display but never saw it. A few years ago, my cousin, Chet Leo, called and said that they had found this treasure in the garage of Visitation Church, one of our closed Catholic churches and asked if I wanted it for our museum. When he brought it to me, I was thrilled. There were now neon lights installed in the form of a "V" for Victory and the pictures of our local boys, with their names placed inside the "V," who were killed in the war. However, the neon was broken. I hunted around for someone who fixed 'neon.' The cost would be $450, which we could not afford at the time.
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Somehow I had known that Father George Yiengst was pastor at St. Pius Church and I contacted him. He came to the museum and presented us with a check for $450 and said that he helped his father build that frame and install those dozens of pictures. We also received donations from Funeral Director Michael DiVincenzo and Tavern owner, Ollie Fachko, both from forever Lovejoy families.
My brother and I recorded all the names in a booklet and some visitors have come into the museum and reminisced about the bravery of their relatives. The parishioners of St. Pius X were fortunate to have Monsignor Yiengst as their parish leader. He was indeed a fine man, and I am sorry to hear of his death. I wish I had gotten to know him better.
The framed pictures are on display at The Iron Island Museum at 998 Lovejoy Street along with some photos from the Monsignor.
Marge Thielman Hastreiter
Buffalo