To celebrate America 250, the St. Lucas Heritage Committee is featuring a few of the many people who served our country and have their final resting place in our cemetery. Of the over 300 U.S. veterans buried in the St. Lucas Cemetery, we have selected two who served during the Civil War and another five who served during World War II and have created a self-guided tour of their graves. In 2003 the Sappington-Concord Historical Society published a book of stories written by local men about their experiences in the U.S. Armed Forces. With the permission of the Historical Society, we are providing the stories found in that book, Hometown Heroes, for each of the World War II veterans that we are featuring. We, unfortunately, have limited information about the service of our Civil War veterans and have included the few details that we know about their service. Both of the Civil War veterans were also founders of St. Lucas. Some of the featured servicemen played significant roles in the Sappington-Concord Historical Society. Leonard “Bud” Borneman initiated and led the Hometown Heroes project. Carl Spinner was chairman and MC of the SCHS Memorial Day ceremony for many years. Sylvester Steinnerd was the father of Ray Steinnerd, who served on the board of the Historical Society for 25 years. Walter Maag and Pete Winter were both members of the Historical Society as well. Numbered signs, starting near the large east parking lot, will be posted near each featured gravesite for a week after Memorial Day. Interested in reading more stories of the experiences of local U.S. servicemen during their time of service? You can buy a copy of Hometown Heroes from the Sappington- Concord Historical Society.

Our March Mission Moment highlights One Great Hour of Sharing, a Special Mission Offering of the United Church of Christ. One Great Hour of Sharing supports partners worldwide with ministries that fund health, education, and agricultural development, emergency relief, refugee ministries, and both international and domestic disaster response.  Your giving to the St. Lucas UCC general fund helps us continue to contribute to OGHS and their work around the world.