“Beauty For Ashes” – Memorial at Hyde Park Chapel, London Where Family was Killed in 1944 WWII Bombing

On 3 July 1944 Penelope Steele returned to her London home from a weekend away. Living in this war-torn time people were on constant alert from enemy bombings. As Penelope entered the street of her home on Exhibition Road, she noticed emergency vehicles on the street. To her horror and grief, the building she had called home was decimated. Her parents, Gerald and Maude Steele, gone. Her grandmother, Evelyn Mackinlay, gone. Fourteen others had also perished in the bombing. Everything she loved was instantly taken from her.

During this tragic time untold others suffered a similar heartbreak as almost 30,000 Londoners were killed, and 100,000 houses had been destroyed. Penelope’s life had been altered forever. Over ten years later the place she had called home was still a haunting memory of that fateful night.

Cliffton G.M. Kerr, President of the British Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1955 was tasked by the President of the Church, David O. McKay, to find a chapel location in downtown London. After a year’s search, Kerr came upon the bombing site, now up for sale. With President McKay’s permission, the property was acquired by the Church.

Years of coordination and prayerful design work were completed, and the dedication of the new Hyde Park Chapel was held in 1961. President McKay gave the dedicatory prayer and included in his blessing to “protect this building by Thy comforting and guiding influence, and may it never be destroyed until the purposes for which it has been erected are completely fulfilled.”

Penelope petitioned President McKay to have a plaque, honoring the lives of the Steele’s and Mackinlay maintained in the building. Unique permission was granted, and it remains in the choir loft today behind the magnificent organ. Annually, Penelope and subsequently her children and grandchildren, continue to lay flowers in commemoration of this impactful day in their lives.

On 3 July 2024, 80 years after the bombing, a memorial service was held in the chapel. Two of Penelope’s surviving children, James Kitson and Juliette Mount Charles, and others of their posterity joined in the chapel with many members of the Church for a special event, “Beauty for Ashes.” Beautiful music, kind words and grateful hearts were shared.

Sister Kathy Stapley, one of the coordinators of the event, quoted the prophet Isaiah saying, “to give unto them beauty for ashes, [and] the oil of joy for their mourning … [and] spirit of heaviness.” Continuing quoting Isaiah she said, “And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair the waste cities…”

Stapley continued, “from the literal ash and smouldering rubble of this site much beauty has risen in the intervening years.  We honour the long vigil of remembrance that has been kept by your family in coming here.  There is much beauty in the act of not forgetting, even as life moves on.”

Elder Mark Jenkins, Hyde Park Visitor Centre Director, in his remarks reminded those in attendance that “a house is merely a structure, while a home is personal and enhances our life, shaped by its residents. It is how we see ourselves, where we've been and what we value. It is a place of shelter, memories, happiness, love. As they all say, home is where the heart is.”

Penelope’s son, James, remarked that his mother loved the roses and all wonderful smells blended together. She maintained a beautiful garden and grew a rose named the Penelope. As an organ number played, similar flowers were passed to family members in a wonderfully touching moment.

Juliette Mount Charles, the only surviving daughter of Penelope, commented that “my mother would have been so touched and overwhelmed, as indeed I am. I’m so grateful and appreciative as it is just incredible what has been done today. Though my mom has been gone for 10 years, I will continue to come here each year as long as I possibly can.”