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12. The Peter and Jacob Bonifas Gift Windows.
The Bonifas window is similar to the Hentzen window at position 4 in that the left and right panels record different donor names from the same family. The window is 70 inches wide and 18 feet tall and is located next to the altar-shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In this position it is the farthest window southwest in the regular Nave of the church. Peter & Jacob, Children of European Immigrants.
Peter (1850-1926), and Jacob Bonifas (1868-1917), who settled in Osage Mission were two of the 12 children of Peter Bonifas, Sr., and Margaret Jung Bonifas, of Delphos, Seneca County, Ohio. Pete Bonifas, Sr. was born in Luxembourg and Margret was born in Germany. They were married in Seneca County Ohio in 1849. When they arrived in American has yet to be found. |
Photo and Banner Photo - R. Brogan
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Peter & Susan Thines Bonifas. Shared by Iahmb
The majority of the Bonifas family remained in Ohio where they practiced the Catholic Faith. While Peter Bonifas and Susan Thines were both in Ohio in 1870, soon thereafter they were married in Kansas City. Peter's obituary indicates he came to Kansas in 1872. In 1880, Peter and Susan were farming in Grant Township, Crawford County, Kansas, where they remained on their farm until at least 1886. At some point later they settled on a farm just east of Osage Mission and he later engaged in an Osage Mission business partnering with Frank Menton.
In June of 1893 Rosa Catherine Bonifas, Peter and Susan's daughter, Rosa, graduated from Saint Ann's Academy. Among her classmates were:
Peter's younger brother, Jacob, is a bit of a mystery. in 1880 he was 13 years old and still living with his parents in Jennings, Van Wert County, Ohio. By 1887 he ventured to Kansas City were he was employed as a cooper. [1] Eventually, Jacob, 32 years old, joined Peter's family in Mission Township in 1900. Jacob seems to fade from most records but family members indicate his passing in 1917. But he also had a church window named after him shortly after arriving at Mission Township.
In June of 1893 Rosa Catherine Bonifas, Peter and Susan's daughter, Rosa, graduated from Saint Ann's Academy. Among her classmates were:
- Lizzie Brogan,
- Nellie Brogan,
- Annie Brogan,
- Maggie Hayden,
- Fidelia McCall,
- Olive Mudd,
- Mamie Ryan,
- Mary Slaughter,
- Maude Tinker
- Teresa Venneman,
- Edith Wimsatt,
Peter's younger brother, Jacob, is a bit of a mystery. in 1880 he was 13 years old and still living with his parents in Jennings, Van Wert County, Ohio. By 1887 he ventured to Kansas City were he was employed as a cooper. [1] Eventually, Jacob, 32 years old, joined Peter's family in Mission Township in 1900. Jacob seems to fade from most records but family members indicate his passing in 1917. But he also had a church window named after him shortly after arriving at Mission Township.
Sister Lucy Bonifas
(https://owensborodiocese.org/2016/03/09/sister-lucy-bonifas-osf/)
A Religious Family.
As previously noted, the family of Peter Sr. and Margaret Bonifas were deeply religious and of the Roman Catholic faith. The family produced a priest, Fr. Roger D. Bonifas (1920 to 2013) and Sister Lucy Bonifas. Sister Lucy became a novice in 1955 and only recently retired in 2016. She has led an interesting life as a seamstress, nurse, hospital worker and administrator.
The information shown here about, the Bonifas family and Sister Lucy, is distilled from an chapter in Randy Dunavan's book Who's Behind the Window. [2] There is much more in the book.
As previously noted, the family of Peter Sr. and Margaret Bonifas were deeply religious and of the Roman Catholic faith. The family produced a priest, Fr. Roger D. Bonifas (1920 to 2013) and Sister Lucy Bonifas. Sister Lucy became a novice in 1955 and only recently retired in 2016. She has led an interesting life as a seamstress, nurse, hospital worker and administrator.
The information shown here about, the Bonifas family and Sister Lucy, is distilled from an chapter in Randy Dunavan's book Who's Behind the Window. [2] There is much more in the book.
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Some Reference Information:
1. Cooper - A person who makes and repairs wooden kegs and barrels. 2. Randy's book, Who's Behind the Window?, details a progression of Catholicism with much focus on the migration of families from Maryland, through central Kentucky and into southeast Kansas. The book provides a great deal of detail on seventeen families and a priest who have named windows in St. Francis Catholic Church in St. Paul, Kansas. The priest, Father John Schoenmakers, was the founder of the Osage Mission, the St. Francis de Heironymo Parish and the town of Osage Mission, now St. Paul. The information shown in these brief articles about the window is only a sample of the names, photos and other information in the book. We should not forget that the families named on the windows are the people who put us here in St. Paul. |
The Peter & Jacob Bonifas stained glass window # 12 is crowned with the Precious Triad. Cross ~ Anchor ~ Heart.
This symbolizes the theological virtues of Faith-Hope-Love. (Photo - R. Brogan)
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