The corner of Rhinelander Avenue and Paulding Avenue in the Morris Park section of the Bronx will stand forever as a memorial to one of St. Clare of Assisi’s parishioners and late president of its local Holy Name Society. 

In a ceremony on October 3, relatives and friends of Anthony J. Merolla gathered along with New York City Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato, Father Salvatore DeStefano, pastor of St. Clare of Assisi-St. Francis Xavier Parish, and students from St. Clare of Assisi School to add the name “Anthony J. Merolla Holy Name Society Place” to the site.  

A lifelong resident of the Bronx, Merolla was born there on December 28, 1928. In 1951 he married his wife, Marie. He served in the United States Army and retired as a colonel from the Army Reserves. He was a parishioner of St. Clare of Assisi Church and served as the executive secretary of the Archdiocesan Union of the Holy Name Society. Merolla died in December 2022. 

During the ceremony, Thomas Tronconi, president of the parish Holy Name Society, said, “This is a big deal. Thank you, everyone.” He then invited members of the Merolla family to join him as the group counted down, then removed the cover of the new street sign. 

“Anthony always helped me every which way possible. He always gave of himself, and he was a true Holy Name person,” said Martin Dolgow, vice president of the parish Holy Name Society and friend of Merolla. 

Since 2010, the parish Holy Name Society’s annual Lenten fundraiser, in cooperation with Big Deal Supermarket, has raised almost $90,000 for church repairs, programs, and other important projects. 

The Confraternity of the Most Holy Names of God and Jesus (Holy Name Society) “promotes reverence for the Sacred Names of God and Jesus Christ, obedience and loyalty to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and the personal sanctification and holiness of its members,” according to the National Association of the Holy Name Society website.