Date: 2002

 

Description: This Christmas ornament comes from St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, now part of Unity Point Health, one of the largest and major hospitals in Sioux City. St. Luke’s was built as a combination of many different hospitals that stood in Sioux City through the years, tracing all the way back to Samaritan Hospital, founded in the 1880s. Samaritan merged with other hospitals like the Methodist and Lutheran Hospitals, and officially became St. Luke’s in the 1960s. Today it is part of the Iowa Health System and includes a clinic network, St. Luke’s College, and other health amenities. The main hospital is located on 27th and Stone Park Boulevard and it is known for birth and pediatric services. Each year the hospital cares for some 65,000 patients. The hospital also plays its part in the community, contributing nearly $10 million to community benefits. Every year around Christmas St. Luke’s issues 2,000 of these 24k gold-on-brass ornaments and sells them as a fundraiser for their Rehabilitation and Home Health service programs. Each year has a different Sioux City landmark featured on the ornament, including City Hall, the Peirce Mansion, Floyd Monument, Grandview Park Bandshell, and the Flight 232 Memorial.

 

This particular ornament was issued during their 2002 fundraiser and depicts the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a magnificent statue located in a public park and attraction on the Northside called Trinity Heights. It stands on 33rd and Floyd Boulevard or the site of the old Trinity School, which lends its name to the park. Trinity School was originally built in 1912 as a Catholic secondary education institution, in a time where high school and college were largely combined because high school level was non-compulsory. As this trend changed in education and high school level became standard, Trinity School was converted into Trinity High School in 1929. The school closed in the 1940s when the new Bishop Heelan Catholic High School opened, and for years it served as the site of Western Iowa Tech Community College (WITCC). When WITCC moved to Morningside in 1974 Trinity Heights was built on the site of the old Trinity School. The park and attraction features beautiful gardens, statues, and shrines for prayer and reflection. Of particular interest is the large wood carving of The Last Supper by a local artist from Le Mars, and the two giant statues at either end of the park, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Queen of Saints and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the latter of which is pictured here on this ornament.

 

Donor: Carl Diamond