Click for SF Chronicle - July 28, 2005 Sacred Heart's Salvation: Lawyer Fred Furth pays $5 million for Catholic church

"Parishioners at Sacred Heart church in San Francisco's Western Addition have been praying for a miraclesince Christmas, when the Roman Catholic Archdiocese closed their beloved 109-year-old church. This week, they got their miracle.

Fred Furth, a 71-year-old antitrust attorney and vintner who lives in Healdsburg, paid $5 million to purchase the church on Fillmore Street and its rectory, convent and play yard, saving the buildings from demolition.

Furth intends to use the church and other buildings to expand Sacred Heart's school, which has continued to operate since the church was closed. He plans to keep it a Catholic parochial school and rename it the Megan Furth Academy after his daughter, a teacher, linguist and Olympic horse rider who died in 2003 at age 31... "

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