The chapel is named for Magdalena Mauer Bold (1878-1962) and St. Mary Magdalene. Magdalena Bold, the beloved mother of donor Walter Bold, was a German immigrant who arrived in America at age 3 with her mother and two brothers. (Her father became fatally ill during the voyage and was buried at sea.) Her mother settled in Millvale, Pa., along the Allegheny River, to rear her three children. Magdalena left school at age 11 to help support her family, working for residents of Squirrel Hill. At age 17, she met and married August Bold, a baker.
St. Mary Magdalene is revered as a faithful disciple. All four Gospels place her at the cross, and she is the first witness to the Resurrection. The Gospels portray her as one of the women who traveled with Jesus and the apostles and provided for them out of their own resources.