When Judith Ross passed away in September 2011, after a five-year struggle with cancer, her husband, Dr. S. David Ross, a Springfield internist, wanted to do something in honor of his wife.

"Family was important to her. She was a wonderful person. We were married 47 years. Our seven children are all grown and married, and we have 11 grandchildren," says Ross. "She was a great mother and grandmother. She enjoyed cooking, loved having family around and was active in many community things."

While Ross is a native of St. Joseph, Mo., his wife was originally from Green Bay, Wis. "I always told people, 'You couldn't be more Catholic and more Packer than she was.' She was at St. Agnes a lot. We were regulars at the 4:30 p.m. Saturday Mass."

Ross saw his wife go through 11 operations, and over 40 cancer treatments in her struggle with the disease. "Before she died I knew I wanted to do something at St Agnes in memory of her. I just wasn't sure what was appropriate, so I talked to Father Bob."

Father Bob Jallas is pastor of St. Agnes Parish. He pointed out an old plaster-of-Paris statue of Mary, from the original St. Agnes Church that hung in a southwest corner of the new church. The statue had darkened with age and was in need of replacement.

Father Jallas gave Ross a religious goods catalogue to look through, and Ross selected a hand-carved statue of the Holy Family, made out of linden wood, imported from Norway, and carved in Italy. The carved statue was then painted using a process where the colors remain true. "My wife and I lived in Europe for four years of our married life. I liked the work of artisans in Italy who made the statue," Ross said.

In addition to giving the statue to St. Agnes, in memory of his late wife, Ross started a scholarship for graduates of St. Agnes to attend Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield.

Ross purchased land for a family mausoleum to be erected at Roselawn Cemetery near Riverton. A large statue of a guardian angel hangs on a nearby tree, overlooking the mausoleum, in which his deceased spouse is buried.