About St. Andrew · Lemay, Missouri
St. Andrew Catholic Church was a Roman-Latin rite parish located at 309 Hoffmeister Avenue in Lemay, Missouri, in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Founded in 1904 and serving its first Mass on February 5, 1905, the parish grew from 200 founding families into a tight-knit south St. Louis County community for nearly 120 years. The present Italian Romanesque Revival church building, completed in 1930, sits on high ground overlooking the Lemay neighborhood and houses decorative statuary, a pipe organ, and Stations of the Cross. In 2023, as part of the Archdiocese of St. Louis's sweeping "All Things New" reorganization, St. Andrew was subsumed into neighboring St. Mark Parish, also in Lemay.
- Established
- 1905
- Patron
- St. Andrew the Apostle (the First-Called, brother of St. Peter)
- Rector
- Rev. Allen Boedeker (pastoral administrator since 2011; later ordained a priest; became associate pastor at St. Mark Parish upon St. Andrew's closure in 2023)
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of St. Louis
Why belong here
St. Andrew was a small, neighborly parish where everyone knew each other and where the bonds of faith were lived out in ordinary, everyday ways: fish fries, Christmas tree lighting, Rosaries, a Christmas cookie-baking tradition with the nuns, schoolchildren walking to Mass along Hoffmeister Avenue, and Sacramental celebrations marked by communal care. The parish had a deep culture of hospitality, stewardship, and shared memory — parishioners regularly described it as 'a real community.' Its historic 1930 Italian Romanesque Revival church, with its bell tower visible from a distance, gave the neighborhood a beloved landmark for generations.
Mass times at St. Andrew
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Adoration times
- Thursday 8:00 a.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Parish History
St. Andrew Parish traces its origin to December 24, 1904, when Archbishop John Glennon appointed Father Albert Mayer to organize a new parish between the River des Peres and Jefferson Barracks. The first Mass for the people was celebrated on February 5, 1905, with about 200 founding families. The present Italian Romanesque Revival church was completed in 1930 and the parish served south St. Louis County for nearly 120 years before being subsumed into St. Mark Parish on August 1, 2023, under the archdiocesan "All Things New" reorganization.
- Founded December 24, 1904; first Mass February 5, 1905
- Neighbors at founding: St. Boniface and Our Lady of the Assumption
- Founding pastor: Fr. Albert Mayer
- Present church building completed 1930
- Closed August 1, 2023; merged into St. Mark Parish, Lemay
Church Building & Architecture
The 1930 church is Italian Romanesque Revival, in the style common to many early-20th-century Roman Catholic churches in St. Louis. The bell tower is built in the manner of an Italian campanile — appearing freestanding though attached to the main body. The exterior features decorative multi-colored brick, terra-cotta ornamentation, and X-shaped brickwork believed to reference St. Andrew's cross. The interior follows the early-20th-century Liturgical Movement, with a prominent tabernacle, canopy over the altar, large crucifix, side altars to Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. Anne with the child Mary, and the Infant Jesus of Prague, plus a pipe organ, Stations of the Cross, and stained-glass windows depicting the Arma Christi and the Ship of Peter.
- Italian Romanesque Revival style (1930)
- Campanile-style bell tower
- Grotesques flanking the main doors (angel with Scripture; Devil tearing pages from the Bible)
- X-shaped brickwork referencing St. Andrew's cross
- Pipe organ and choir loft
- Stained glass with Arma Christi and Ship-of-Peter medallion
Pastoral Team
Under the 2011 structural model set by Archbishop Robert Carlson, the parish was led by a small pastoral team rather than a resident pastor. Sacramental duties were supplied by priests assigned by the Archbishop, first Dominican friars and later priests from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
- Deacon C. Allen Boedeker — pastoral administrator
- Mrs. Mary Boedeker — pastoral associate
- Mrs. Karen Wood — business manager
- Sacramental ministers: Fr. Aaron Arce, O.P.; Fr. Abe Arganiosa, O.P.; priests of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
Parish Life, Ministries & Traditions
Parishioners remembered St. Andrew as a tightly knit community whose identity was shaped by long-running traditions. Fish fries and an annual festival brought neighbors together, and the parish hosted a Christmas tree lighting each year. Mothers once baked oatmeal cookies with the nuns each Christmas. The parish had a drum corps and bowling lanes in earlier decades and was known for its warmth and hospitality.
- Annual fish fries
- Annual parish festival
- Christmas tree lighting
- Christmas cookie-baking tradition with the nuns
- Earlier decades: bowling lanes, dance shows, parish drum corps
St. Andrew Catholic School
St. Andrew operated a parish school for many decades, drawing children who walked to Mass and class along Hoffmeister Avenue watched over by the convent. The school closed in 2003 amid a national decline in Catholic-school enrollment. Alumni from the 1950s were among the most emotional voices at the parish's final Mass in 2023, sharing memories of nuns, schoolyard pranks, and lifelong friendships.
- Parish school served multiple generations of Lemay families
- Closed in 2003
- Alumni gathered at final Mass (July 30, 2023) to share memories
The Lemay Neighborhood
Lemay is an unincorporated community in south St. Louis County, just south of the St. Louis city limits and adjacent to the Mississippi River. The River des Peres, whose name recalls an early Jesuit mission to the Kaskaskia Indians, was channelized after repeated flooding — most devastatingly during the Great Flood of 1993, which destroyed much of the low-lying residential area northeast of St. Andrew Church. That land was later converted to a park. The church itself sits on high ground and can be seen from a distance.
- Unincorporated south St. Louis County community
- Bordered by the Mississippi River and River des Peres
- Site of the original Jesuit Kaskaskia mission (along the River des Peres)
- Great Flood of 1993 devastated nearby neighborhoods
Closure and Merger into St. Mark Parish (2023)
On August 1, 2023, as part of the Archdiocese of St. Louis's "All Things New" initiative — the largest restructuring in the archdiocese's history — St. Andrew was permanently closed and its territory merged into neighboring St. Mark Parish in Lemay, alongside St. Bernadette, St. Martin of Tours, and St. Matthias. Together those parishes formed the sixth-largest of the archdiocese's 135 parishes. The parish's final Mass was celebrated on July 30, 2023, followed by a community barbecue. Sacramental records were transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Father Boedeker continued at St. Mark as an associate pastor.
- Final Mass: July 30, 2023 (community barbecue followed)
- Officially closed: August 1, 2023
- Merged into St. Mark Parish, Lemay
- Other parishes in the same merger: St. Bernadette, St. Martin of Tours, St. Matthias
- Sacramental records transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Louis
Visiting & Contact
The parish offices could be reached at (314) 631-0691 or by email at [email protected]. Driving directions (as published by the parish): I-55, exit east onto Bayless Ave., turn south onto Lemay Ferry Rd., turn east onto Hoffmeister Ave. The church sits at 309 Hoffmeister Avenue in Lemay, Missouri 63125. Following the 2023 closure, sacramental records and ongoing parish life continue through St. Mark Parish.
- Address: 309 Hoffmeister Ave., Lemay, MO 63125
- Phone: (314) 631-0691
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://saintandrewlemay.org/
- Directions via I-55 → Bayless Ave. → Lemay Ferry Rd. → Hoffmeister Ave.
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Albert Mayer1904–1938
Founding pastor, appointed by Archbishop John Glennon on December 24, 1904.
- Rev. James Huber1938–1953
- Rev. Herbert Melies1953–1970
- Rev. Bernard Suellentrop1970–1982
- Rev. Robert Herman1982–1988
- Rev. Edward Hilgeman1988–2001
- Rev. Joseph Weber2001–
- Rev. Eugene Selzer2004–
- Rev. Vic Barnhart2009–2011
Last resident pastor before the 2011 pastoral-administrator model.
- Deacon (later Rev.) C. Allen Boedeker2011–2023
Named pastoral administrator in 2011 under Monsignor James Telthorst (dean of South County parishes); later ordained a priest; led the parish through its final years under 'All Things New'.