Saint Mark
Studio Unknown - After 1950
John Gardner Sept. 2, 1855 - Feb. 22, 1935
The small clerestory window in the north transept, the third of the four windows in St. Paul's honoring the Gospels, features Saint Mark, the Evangelist. He is depicted as a bearded man wearing a loose fitting white garment with a red cloak and holding a blue book ornamented with a golden budded cross. He has long brown hair, brown eyes, and his skin appears to have been exposed to the sun. His facial expression seems sad or introspective. The banderole over his head reads:
Take Mark
And Bring Him WithThee
Il Tim IV. 11
THE STORY: It is believed that Mark became a follower of Jesus before He died. When Paul was taken prisoner in Rome, he specifically asked Timothy to "take Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministering," the words from Timothy used in the window. In writing what is proclaimed to be Peter's account of Jesus' work, Mark is thought to have written the plainest, most direct, and most human of the Gospels. Rather than dwell on the past, his gospel records events, describes the feelings of people, the anguish of suffering, and the relief felt by Jesus' touch.
MEMORIAL: John Gardner was born in Key West on September 2, 1855.
He married Susan Melana Curry on February 1, 1892 in St. Paul's Church, with The Reverend Gilbert Higgs officiating.
For over 30 years, John Gardner worked with the Ferdinand Hirsch Cigar Company as shipping clerk and trimmer. At the time, the cigar industry in Key West was at its height. With civil war unrest taking place in Cuba, much of the cigar industry there moved across the Straits of Florida to Key West. The weather conditions in Key West were perfect for cigar making, and the island had skilled Cuban cigar makers as well as willing local workers like John Gardner who devoted a lifetime to the industry.
John was an active churchman, serving for over 16 years as Sunday School Superintendent of the (First) Holy Innocents Episcopal Church. He was a lay reader, served on the vestry of (First) Holy Innocents and St. Paul's. When (First) Holy Innocents closed its doors in October 1917, he was responsible for saving the records, taking them to St. Paul's where they serve as an important part of their archives today. John died on February 22, 1935 and was buried from St. Paul's three days later.
Source: The Golden Cockerel: The Art, Symbolism & History of the Stained Glass Windows, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Key West, Florida by Winifred Shine Fryzel.
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