We wanted to share a special story with you. Right before Mother’s Day, on a very cool, damp Saturday, we went to visit a parishioner that we had not had the pleasure of meeting before. Another parishioner had given us her name, and thought that possibly, her story would be a nice one to share with the readers of the Savio Scene, and we agreed.

I placed a call to Maureen Missimore, who graciously agreed to share her story with us, and invited us to come to her home. Maureen grew up in St. Louis, residing in Seven Holy Founders Parish with her parents. She moved to Dallas, Texas and lived there for about six years, returning in 2001 to care for her father who was ill, as her mother had already passed away. Upon return to St. Louis, she made the decision that she wanted to remain here permanently. She also decided that she would like to join St. Dominic Savio Parish.

Maureen also says that she had always wanted to have children. Now that she was back in St. Louis, she met Rudy Rivera, who runs The Children of the World Adoption Agency. A decision was made to search for her child in Guatemala. The adoption process was begun on her birthday, April 22, 2003. A home study was completed and by December 2003 she received good news, an assignment of a baby boy although his birth mother had not yet given birth.

He was born on January 28, 2004. At that time Maureen was working for Bishop DuBourg High School, and was able to get some time off. As a special Valentine’s Day gift to her self, she went to Guatemala to visit the baby boy when he was just twenty days old, weighing only 4 lbs. 13 oz. She named this beautiful baby boy Armando Amos (Amos after her father).

There were final papers to be processed, and the goal was to have the baby here by June 11, 2004. In the interim, he was placed in foster care in Guatemala, not an orphanage. He was given incredible care and received love, attention and medical care as needed. She received a video and monthly reports and photos from the doctor. Each month a representative from the adoption agency would visit the child. Maureen sent disposable cameras to Guatemala and many gifts and outfits that she had received for the baby. She has kept a pictorial library of Armando since his birth. Unfortunately, Maureen’s fa t h e r passed away on February 3, 2004, and was not able to meet Armando. He did enjoy the photos and videos and was very supportive and happy for her.

Maureen was not prepared for the poverty and conditions that she witnessed in Guatemala. She says that the pollution is awful, and there is incredible poverty. "Mando,"as she calls Armando, is very fortunate. Most likely he would not have survived a life in Guatemala.

After her return to St. Louis, Maureen worked various part-time jobs. Now that she was a mom, she knew that she needed to have a job that wo u l d support them and would also give her the flexibility she needed as a working mom. What to do??

While in Guatemala she had learned to make the delicious dessert, flan. Once back in St. Louis she perfected her recipe and decided to form a company and market them locally. She named of her company is "Armando’s Flan Factory," named after her pride and joy, Armando.

She spoke to Ray Gallardo, of CasaGallardo fame, who gave her some very helpful advice for her business venture. She makes the flan herself at Momos, a local restaurant in University City. Her first customer was Barcelona, a Spanish Tapas restaurant in Clayton. Business has grown and includes Boogaloo in Maplewood and Mosaic downtown. You can also find her product in five local grocery stores most of them are in the West County area. The closest location for us at this time is Straub’s in Clayton (on Forsyth). You can purchase an individual serving of her flan in the bakery shop, or a frozen whole one if you would like to serve it to friends. She would also like to add Dierbergs to her growing list of customers in the future. Having enjoyed a sample while at her home, we would certainly recommend Maureen’s delicious flan to you. One day Maureen hopes to one open very her own bakery/coffee shop, possibly in the University City area.

This was such a perfect thing to do on Mother’s Day weekend. I cannot tell you how beautiful Armando is! He is a bundle of two year old energy, and we enjoyed meeting and visiting both of them very much. Maureen is a very energetic upbeat person. We feel that she will be successful in her business ventures. We can see how much she loves Mando, and he is very lucky! We wish her well in the future.

Thank you very much, Maureen, for taking the time to meet with us. Thank you also for letting us share your story with St. Dominic Savio parishioners. It is such a happy story!

What is very enjoyable about our parish family is hearing about special things that other parishioners have done. We have had stories about many different things; hobbies, veteran's memories, special family events, and the list goes on and on. These stories always generate positive feedback, and that is always appreciated and good!

The Bucks and Friends

I'm happy to say in this issue we have a tradition we would like to share with you. Many of you may know Jack Buck - no, not the Cardinal's Jack Buck, but St. Dominic's very own Jack Buck. If you attend the 8:30 A.M. Mass on Sundays when the choir is singing, you will recognize Jack as the bass singer in the choir. He and his son, Jim, give the 8:30 choir a "mix" of otherwise mostly female voices.

This spring, Jack continued with a tradition that started for him in 1953, while he was a senior in high school. At that time he made has first retreat at the White House Retreat Center, with St. Anthony's Parish. His father, Fred Buck, his brother Fred Jr., brother-in-law Mart Rust and his cousin Bill Swann were all making retreats on an annual basis.

This year was special; Jack made his 50th retreat at the White House, and was given an award at that time. This year he was accompanied by all of his sons: John Jr., Jim (member of St. Dominic Savio) and Michael. His son-in-law Keith Liddy, nephew Fred Buck III and friend Vern Wilmes also joined for this very special event. An award was presented to Jack in recognition of his 50th retreat.

What a great tradition! So many who have made a retreat at the beautiful White House Retreat Center will tell you how truly special they are. Ed Peters organizes the men from St. Dominic Savio on an annual basis to make this retreat. (The White House also offers retreats to women. You can get additional information at www.whretreat.org.) Should the opportunity is given to you, please consider a Whitehouse retreat. You won't regret taking the time to stop and visit with Jesus in this very beautiful setting.

Congratulations, Jack! Thank you for sharing your inspiring story!

Anthony M. Rubich

Meredith Rubich-O’Connor recently established a charitable gift annuity, to benefit St. Dominic’s Endowment Fund, given in memory of her late husband, Anthony M. Rubich. Tony was a parishioner at SDS from 1980 until his death from Alzheimer’s disease in 1991.

Baptized Catholic as a young man, Tony taught in Catholic schools for 32 years. He also had a real devotion to the Blessed Mother and attended daily Mass. Tony and Meredith were married in 1980 and adopted their daughter Joncey from India in 1982.

By designating St. Dominic Savio’s Endowment Fund in the gift annuity, Meredith’s contribution will have a lasting impact for SDS, honoring Tony for many years to come.

Recently I was gifted by a wonderful journey to Africa for nearly a month. There were three of us traveling together: Sr. Toni Temporiti, cpps, Sharon Layton from Australia, and myself. We planned our own itinerary to Ke nya, Tanzania, and South Africa and left St. Louis on Feb. 17.

My personal reasons for wanting to go were: to be educated and broadened personally; to be able to better serve African woman in St. Louis through programming at Nia Kuumba; to be better prepared to support systemic change for African people; and to make "real" connections with people and projects in Africa for future planning.

Did this happen? I think so - in a variety of ways. Already connections for micro-financing projects with African women/men are taking place.

Some outstanding personal memories from the trip are:

1. The Catholic Church is booming in Africa! (In Nairobi alone there are 286 houses of religious communities - where much formation for priesthood and religious life is taking place!)
2. The big five (elephants, giraffes, lions, rhinos, and hippos) love their natural habitat.

But ...

1. Women are really low on the "totem pole."
2. Millions of people and animals are starving to death - destitute for food and water.
3. The infrastructure is totally inadequate in many areas.
4. Many governments are corrupt.
5. Much more education is needed on all levels.
6. And a whole lot more...

In spite of the above, some of the values which I experienced lived there are: the importance of hospitality, shaking hands, taking time, guests, eating, gifting, extended family, community, elders, ancestors, etc. It caused me to reflect on how often we Westerners forget the importance of human relationships through haste, efficiency, time value, and promptness; or forget the importance of just BEING through busyness, efficiency, or the inability to be silent and listen.

How all of this will play out, I’m not really sure. I know I’ve been changed! Sr. Toni and I have developed a PowerPoint presentation that we are doing with groups in St. Louis. Plans are in the works to do it at St. Dominic Savio in late August. Watch the bulletin for details.

This year’s picnic on June 3rd was a huge success and a fitting tribute to our 50th year of success at St. Dominic Savio. Many thanks to Kathy and Tom Shaver, Lisa and Matt Wildhaber, Colleen and Rob Hudler and all the many others who made this another memorable parish picnic.