Part XIII

At the close of 1950, Holy Trinity Parish numbered 241 families. Because seating at Mass was crowded, the Church Committee purchased a tract of land for expansion. In that same year, Father Leo Meyer, pastor of Saint Mary Parish, died, and Father George Baumer, a former assistant at the parish, returned as the new pastor.

Sadness was present at Saint Mark Parish in 1952, as the parishioners laid to rest their beloved pastor, Father Joseph Vrhunec, who had served them for 28 years. Shortly after, the bishop appointed Father J. Edward Istocin as the new pastor.

Father Cillo’s preparations for additional priests to help him at Mother of Sorrows were realized when at the end of 1952, the bishop assigned Father Wilbur Farina as the first regular assistant. Things seemed to be growing everywhere as far as church life was concerned. Saint Francis de Sales School had overflowing classrooms and more Sisters came to teach there. Construction of the temporary church and school began at Holy Trinity Parish.

The Kenmawr Mission grew enough so that on February 25, 1953, Bishop Dearden erected it as a parish under the patronage of Saint Malachy. Father William Weirauch was appointed the first pastor. The cornerstone for a parish school was laid that May, and the new parish had 337 families registered.

The following year was momentous for the Catholics in the area. Bishop Dearden dedicated the church at Holy Trinity Parish in June. In July, Mother of Sorrows satisfied its debt and the mortgage was burned. And two new schools opened, at Holy Trinity and at Saint Malachy, in September. The Sisters of Saint Francis of the Providence of God, originally a community that served those of Lithuanian heritage, staffed the school at Holy Trinity, which began with 125 students, and the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, a Polish community by origin, opened the school at Saint Malachy, with 99 students