In 1929, Miss Elizabeth Moehring, a good friend of our St. Joseph’s Home in St. Charles, Missouri, left her entire estate to our congregation for the purpose of establishing a convent and a Home for elderly people, which she wanted to be called St. Agnes Home. She wished that under the loving and gentle care of the Sisters, the Residents in this Home would be able to spend their senior years in peace and comfort, under the same roof with the Blessed Sacrament.
After an exhaustive inquiry, the purchase of the Vogelsang farm seemed to be the answer to our prayer for a suitable location. Mr. Vogelsang had frequently mentioned to his family that he would like to see his farm in the ownership of Catholic Sisters who would treasure and preserve his beautiful trees. The 21 acre wooded tract in secluded Kirkwood, bordering on Manchester Road, was purchased with the funds from the Moehring estate, and construction began. The original three-story main building of St. Agnes Home was dedicated on June 16, 1935, by the Most Reverend Christian Winklemann, Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis.
Less than three years after St. Agnes Home was erected, blessed and put into operation, it was favored – through the gracious mediation of Most Rev. John Glennon, Archbishop of St. Louis – with the generous bequest of Mrs. Catherine Fruin Colnon in 1937. She designated a portion of her fortune to a memorial home for the aged in honor of her father and her husband. Thus, our Sisters were given the opportunity and the means to multiply their charitable activities and extend their care to those whom Divine Providence would send them. The new three-story Fruin Colnon Memorial building would accommodate an additional fifty residents and contain on the ground floor a large library with seven hundred and ninety volumes from the collection of the late Mr. Colnon. In addition, every practical modern convenience was incorporated into the building, including a large solarium and wood burning fireplaces on each floor.
In March 1941 a new convent was added to St. Agnes Home. Its construction was guided by the tireless effort and foresight of Mother Mary Agnes of the Immaculate Conception, who was the Local Superior at the time. It should be noted that in the design and construction of the four additions to the original main building, great care was taken by the architect, Raymond E. Maritz of St. Louis, to achieve the greatest possible harmony in the architecture. The blending of the new and the old has been so successful that it is hard to tell from observation alone that the entire structure was not completed at one time.
On October 18, 1952, the cornerstone of the new Chapel and that of the Fruin Colnon Wing were laid and blessed by Most Rev. Joseph E. Ritter, Archbishop of St. Louis. This was an addition to the Memorial wing in honor of Mrs. Fruin Colnon’s father and husband. Once, during the construction process, a delay in the work received international publicity. A mother robin selected a place in the concrete formwork to build her nest, complete with four tiny blue eggs. When it became necessary for the work in progress to either move ahead or stop, the President of Vollmer Construction ordered the work to cease until the wee ones had become fledglings. When questioned about the order, the President quipped, "I’m no bird lover – I just respect a fellow contractor."
Dedication ceremonies for the new Chapel and Wing took place on January 21, 1954. The combination of beauty and simplicity for which the Chapel is known may be credited to the direction and suggestions of Mother M. Dorothy of Divine Mercy, who was then Local Superior.
There were no major renovations or additions to St. Agnes Home for the next twenty years, until 1976, when the original Memorial Wing was extended, providing for an Infirmary Activities/Dining Room on the first floor and enlarging the existing Social Hall in the basement. This was followed, in 1987, by the construction of a Chaplain’s Residence. Dedicated in April 1988, the Residence was made possible through a bequest from the estate of Rev. Msgr. Edward Kennedy and his family, in thanksgiving for the care given to his parents by our Sisters.
Now, it is a blessing for all to observe the "blending of new and the old" – so beautifully reflected in the architecture of St. Agnes Home – come to life in the interaction of the elderly residents with the pre-school children of the nearby Carmelite Child Development Center. Here in Kirkwood, both young and old are enriched and enlivened by our beautiful family spirit, as the Carmel of the Divine Heart of Jesus continues to bear rich fruit in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
