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December 4, 2002
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Local artist creates new altar for Christ the King Chapel
A year in the making, Kansas limestone altar and ambo works of art
By Deacon John Neal
He's an artist, but you wouldn't guess that from hearing him describe his work.
"I am a one-man wrecking crew: I design, build and install."
That's
how Marion "Lucky" Jeffords III sees his artistry. Anyone else
looking at it is likely to marvel at its beauty.
Jeffords is the stonecutter commissioned to design, build and install the new altar and lectern in Christ the King Chapel at the John Paul II Center, 1300 S. Steele St. in Denver. The altar was installed Nov. 23. Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., dedicated it during Mass the following day.
While the dedication was a brief but impressive part of the journey to the chapel, creating the altar and lectern took more than a year. The process began with a visit to the chapel and a meeting with Father Christopher Hellstrom, vice rector of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary.
The new altar and lectern are cut from Silverdale limestone quarried near Wichita, Kan.
"I prefer Kansas limestone because it has the more natural look of stone," Jeffords said. He said the most common limestone quarried in Indiana looks artificial, almost as though it was formed in a mold.
"It should look like stone," he added.
The new altar weighs in at 4,000 pounds, while the lectern tips the scales at about 1,000 pounds. The detailed carving on both is intricate and all done by hand.
"The only tools I have are my hands, some sandpaper, an air compressor and electricity," Jeffords said. The electricity is for a router he uses for some of the more difficult angles and cuts.
When the limestone for the altar showed up at his shop, it was a rectangular block about 12 inches thick, 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. Today it is a work of art. Its carving, cutting and sanding is sure to be the equal of any altar in the state, if not superior.
Jeffords is a bear of a man with hands the size of frying pans and shoulders as wide as the garage door of his countryside shop located in the gently sloping hills south of Littleton. With his ponytail, mustache and powerful stature, your first impression might be that he has a Harley stashed somewhere behind his shop. After all, moving stone around that can weigh hundreds to thousands of pounds is no job for the weak. But his outward appearance belies a disposition that seems as gentle as a lamb.
As a second-generation stonecutter, Jeffords started his career in South Carolina, where he made headstones and monuments for graves. His father, at 72 years old, is still active in the business. After moving to Colorado about 22 years ago, the younger Jeffords decided that the "monument" business was no longer satisfying. Gravestones were beginning to be built by large monument companies in a mass-production atmosphere, not the place for an artist who likes to work slowly and skillfully.
There is no doubt that Jeffords is an artist. While he is quiet about his work, it can be seen in some of the most expensive homes in Denver.
"I spent about five years at one house in Cherry Hills," Jeffords said. "In 1990, architect David Tryba came to me and asked me to build an altar, ambo and tabernacle for the chapel at Regis High School. That was my first experience with church architecture."
Since that time, Jeffords has done work at St. John's Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Denver and is currently working on a project for the new Our Lady of Loreto Church in southeast Aurora.