Dave Bakke: Destroyed S. Illinois church was part of family history

When the walls of Ridgways St. Joseph Catholic Church fell during Wednesday mornings storm, the tremor was felt in Tallula.

That is where Dennis Drone lives. He scoured the next days news coverage of the southern Illinois storms that killed six in Harrisburg, looking for some mention of the old church. Nothing.

I would have been happy with just a line, he says, saying that 20 miles east of Harrisburg, the storm blew in the church.

The Harrisburg Daily Register reported that, though the church is ruined, the marble altar is untouched.

As far as we can tell, it's hard to find a scratch on it, the Rev. Steve Beatty, St. Joseph pastor, told the Register.

As you can guess, that church means a lot to Drone. He was born in Ridgway in 1937. The family name was LaDrone back in France, but, as happened with many emigrants to America, the original name was shortened by an official when Denniss great-grandfather, Joseph Drone II, arrived in this country.

Joseph eventually settled in Ridgway, where the saying was that if your name was Drone in Gallatin County, you have to go outside of the county to find someone you arent related to.

Joseph Drone and three other men were instrumental in building St. Joseph.

They got money for building the church from France because the family stretched back there, says Dennis. Many of the settlers down there were from France.

The church was beautiful. It was built on the same construction design as the cathedral in Belleville. Thats the Belleville diocese down there. The bishop at the time dubbed it the little cathedral of southeastern Illinois.

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Dave Bakke: Destroyed S. Illinois church was part of family history