The Holy Trinity windows are located in the Narthex at St. Mark’s
The windows were given in memory of Penelope R. Gros
The windows were designed by Cummings Studio, San Francisco and cost $960.
When the main church was constructed in 1956, there were initially only four completed stained glass windows. Three of these are the particularly beautiful windows were installed in what was originally the main entrance of the church. These three windows were called the Holy Trinity windows and were the first windows people saw as they entered the church.
The initial contract for the windows was signed by Canon West o October 22nd, 1956. The contract specified that “no inscription is to appear in the glass as to the donor.” St. Mark’s archives also did not specify the donor, but a plaque was later added above the windows. It reads:
“To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of Penelope R. Gros from her friends, sons and husband.” (St. Mark’s Archives)
The Gros family were active early members of the church. Other memorials given by the Gros family include a garden in memory of Penelope’s mother-in-law Gladys Gros, a window in memory of her father in law Schuyler Gros, and the steeple given by Schuyler’s second wife (Katherine Gros) in memory of her first husband.
Penelope’s husband was Robert Gros, son of Gladys and stepson of Schuyler Gros. Robert was a founder of St. Mark’s and was very active on the Vestry and in other leadership positions. Robert was also a prominent Californian who was the an executive at PGE as well as an authority on world affairs who lectured around the world (St. Mark’s Archives, San Francisco Examiner).
It was hard to figure out much about Penelope’s early life until we discovered that Penelope was not her original name! She was born in Oakland, California on December 30, 1923. Her given name was Ethyl Alice Rickard. Her parents, Thomas and Katherine Blackburn Rickard, were both from the Berkeley Piedmont area. They were married in 1921. Penelope’s sister, Barbara, was born in 1922 and Penelope on December 30, 1923…both in Los Angeles where the family had moved (US Census).
Sadly, Penelope’s father died in 1927 when she was only four. Her mother took both of her daughters and moved back to Oakland. Penelope’s widowed grandmother lived with them and helped with the children while Penelope’s mother worked as a Private Secretary to support the family. By 1940, 16-year-old Penelope (still called Ethyl Alice) was living in San Rafael with her mother and stepfather. She graduated from Tamalpais High School and “finished her education” in La Porte, Indiana (US. Census, Daily Independant Journal).
By 1942, she was no longer Ethel Alice, but had change her name to Penelope, known as “Penny.” That year she married to Ensign Robert Charles Fox at his family’s estate in La Porte, Indiana. The Fox family were very wealthy and owned a woolen mill. Penny certainly met her future husband while she was “finishing her education” in La Porte. The couple moved to Corpus Christi, TX where Ensign Fox served as an instructor at the Naval training station (San Bernardino County Sun).
After World War II ended, the family moved to Palo Alto where Robert Fox went to work as a Sales Manager for a chemical company. They had two sons – Robert Jr. and Gregory. Sometime between 1950 and 1953, the couple divorced. On December 31, 1953, Penelope Rickard Fox and Robert Gros were married at the home of Schuyler Gros of Palo Alto. Since both the bride and the groom were divorced, the wedding was officiated not by Canon West from St. Mark’s, but by Justice John W. Shenk of the California Supreme Court. The wedding announcement focused on Robert, a Stanford graduate and:
“…the future benedict, who has addressed many Marin County audiences is manager of the advertising and publicity department of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., and is a world traveler and lecturer. He has become acquainted with many famous persons and his word pictures of them are among the highlights of his platform appearances. Recently he was named one of 100 young men chosen as “San Francisco newsmakers of tomorrow.” (San Francisco Examiner)
Hopefully he brought this same energy to his stints on St. Mark’s Vestry!
Like many of our memorial stories, this one does not have a happy ending. The people memorialized by the widows experienced all of the range of happiness and sadness that we deal with in our own lives, so it’s still important to remember them and tell their stories…no matter how difficult.
By 1955, the Gros family had moved to San Francisco and Robert had been promoted to Vice President of PGE. Many years before, in 1949, Penelope had suffered an attack of spinal meningitis. Ever since that time, she had, according to the newspapers, repeated hospitalizations and illnesses and suffered from chronic spasms of pain. On November 14, 1955, unable to cope with the continuing pain of her illness, the paper noted that it was believed that Penelope had taken her own life. An empty bottle of sleeping pills was found lying near her bed (San Francisco Examiner).
On November 19th, the Palo Alto Times noted that:
“A memorial fund is being established by St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in memory of Mrs. Robert R. Gros who died at her San Francisco home Monday. Both Mr. And Mrs. Gros were members of St. Mark’s. Friends of the family said today that those who wished to pay tribute to Mrs. Gros in this way could make checks to the Penelope Gros Memorial Fund and mail them to Canon Edwin E. West.” (Palo Alto Times)
It was these funds that were used for the Holy Trinity windows
There’s no mention of her daughter, my childhood friend, Penny Gros. Penny was my classmate from the 4th grade to the 9th grade at Castellija Girl’s school, Palo Alto. She was a rather quiet, sweet girl, and we were fairly close friends. I vaguely recall hearing of her mother’s tragic death. We have not kept in touch for many years and I don’t know if she’s still alive or not.
Re-reading this article I forgot to mention a salient feature which was that Penny Gros had a full head of beautiful red hair which made her a stand out everywhere. Anna Klay