LUTHERAN SCHOOL IS DEMOLISHED IN JACKSON

JACKSON -- A relic of the Great Depression came tumbling down atop memories and hard work when the old St. Paul Lutheran School was demolished Monday morning.

The school, which was located across the street from the current St. Paul school, was built in 1935 at the height of the Great Depression. For years the school, often called the Parish Hall, served as a gathering place for parishioners and local citizens alike.

"It was a utility building in the true sense of the word," reflects Rev. Walter Keisker, a former pastor of the St. Paul Lutheran Church. "It was a child of the Depression, serving the time in which it was built."

Keisker arrived at the church and school in 1938, and continued to work there for 22 years after his retirement in 1968. He missed the opening of the school, but said he was around for just about every other thing that happened with it.

He said the building belonged to Jackson's citizens just as much as it did to parishioners because it was the only facility of its kind in the city. The building had two classrooms, a dining room and kitchen that served students by day and civic organizations by night. It also contained a bowling alley that required manual labor to reset pins and an auditorium and stage for special events.

"It was for a number of years a gathering place for Jacksonians and served the purpose as a sort of miniature community center," Keisker said. "Rotary dinners were served there, and the annual Pancake and Sausage Day was held there over a 15- or 20-year period during the '40s and '50s."

The building and school became so active and highly-populated that by 1950 more space was needed. Parishioners built and opened the current school in 1951, but continued to use the Parish Hall for Sunday School classes and youth gatherings.

The school kept growing, however, and 11 years later parishioners again found themselves needing more space. They needed a nearby location to temporarily house some classes while they added on to the new building. The Parish Hall was available, but it needed a lot of work before it would be presentable for students.

Two important questions haunted them: Who would they relocate to the old school, and how would they get it into shape before the next school year?

The answer to both questions came in the form of Helenmarie Koenig. She had come to the school in 1959 from a one-room classroom in Shawneetown, so she knew about working in close quarters. She "made" a classroom in the basement of the Parish Hall, and she remained there from August 1962 until 1970.

"She is a dandy," Keisker said with a laugh. "Helenmarie Koenig has the knack of making something attractive. She had a nice schoolroom out there."

Koenig enjoyed the Parish Hall experience because her room had lots of windows and students had their own domain there. She remembered many long hours cleaning and moving things around in preparation for her stay there, but said she wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

"I was one of the last teachers in it," she said. "I was the only class there for one year, and the next year they moved the fourth graders over. We did really well there; I really couldn't complain."