As Bill Manning looked skyward Monday morning at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, he saw more than cranes delicately installing three bronze bells in the building’s tower.
In his mind’s eye, he also saw images of his late father and mother.
“I think they’re probably looking down from heaven right now,” Manning said.
The longtime St. Bartholomew member is the financial donor who made possible the purchase and installation of the reconditioned bells that once pealed at the now-decommissioned St. George Catholic Church, closed in 1993 in Cincinnati. The local church contacted The Verdin Company in Cincinnati about searching for a set of three matching bells.
And the business that boasts a warehouse of old church bells highlighted these, offering what the Rev. Chris Wadelton, St. Bartholomew pastor, called “the sound of a major chord.”
That struck a major chord for Manning, who then had the largest one inscribed for his mom and dad: “ … In memory of … parents Helen V. and William J. Manning,” before the three bells were hoisted into the three-compartment tower, replacing a singular bell now removed and retired.
“They would love this,” Manning said as youngsters and adults alike watched the plodding and careful work.
Manning’s father died in 1988. His mother died in 2004.
The ringers weigh from 500 to 1,400 pounds each. And they now give the 2001 structure its first full set of bells it originally was designed to have.
Read the full story in tomorrow’s Republic.
