Graphic Artist Who Designed Medallions At Holy Name Recalls Working For Cardinal George
(CBS) -- One of the people remembering Cardinal George this week is a South Side graphic artist, Larry Cope.
Cope was working a few years ago for Liturgy Training Publication when, out-of-the-blue, he got a call from Cardinal George.
"He wanted me to design the center medallion for Holy Name Cathedral. He wasn't happy with some of the sketches he'd seen beforehand," Cope says.
Cope went on to design, not only the center medallion in the dome over the archbishop's seat in the cathedral, but the four smaller medallions that surround it.
He later was asked to modify the cardinal's coat-of-arms.
Larry Cope says, "Before I designed the medallion, what was up there was Cardinal Cody's coat of arms. So, it was really important to the cardinal to say to the parishioners of the archdiocese that this is the people's church."
Cope calls Cardinal George a stickler for details on church matters, but says, outside of that the cardinal was friendly and had a good sense of humor. In fact, the two took a selfie together a few years ago during a presentation of a poster of the five medallions in the Holy Name Cathedral dome.
Cope says it was an honor to know the cardinal.