So he hauled the cabinets a few blocks to the old Immaculata School, now parish center for Holy Cross-Immaculata Church on Guido Street. Even if you don't belong to that church, you may have trudged its 85 steps on Good Friday. The tradition began 142 years ago, and last year about 12,000 people braved a chilly rain to make the pilgrimage. But the church was particularly important to Mr. Rippe. He not only worships there, but his parents went to school on the hill, his father at Immaculata and his mother at Holy Cross.
Nothing is ever simple.
The walls in several classrooms were so crooked that the cabinets wouldn't fit. It was looking as though the free cabinets were going to get a little pricey. I didn't want it to cost the church anything, and I thought it should be done right. Carpenter stunned A workman started stripping the walls, through the old plaster and down to the studs. Mr. Rippe, former president of Provident Bank who now presides over a decidedly successful real estate empire, took a personal interest.