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History
Saint Mary Church
Church Dedicated in 1888
Conneaut was organized into a parish with Rev. Father
Jennings as its first pastor in 1884. Prior to this time,
Conneaut, along with Ashtabula and Jefferson, were organized
as missions under the care of one pastor in 1850. St. Mary
Church is situated on land bought by Father Jennings in the
spring of 1887 with the stained glass windows donated as
memorials by parishioners. (Click
here for the list of parishioners.) The bell was
purchased by Rev. Father Murphy, pastor, and dedicated to
St. Ignatius by Bishop Ignatius Horstmann in 1897. School
construction was begun in 1900 with formal opening and
dedication in August of 1901. The summer of that same year
five acres on West Main Road were purchased for a cemetery,
and dedicated to the patronage of St. Joseph.
In 1938, under the pastorate of Father Gribbon, the church
underwent improvements to its interior which featured a new
sanctuary and tabernacle. Father Kennedy followed Father
Gribbon. It was also learned that Father Kennedy had drawn
up the first plans for St. Mary’s Hall, later to be the hall
eventually realized under the pastorate of Father James
Stevenson who came to St. Mary Church in the decade of the
forties. In 1949, St. Mary School was under the leadership
of Sister Mary Anthony of the Holy Humility of Mary order as
principal and directed a staff of teachers comprised mostly
of nuns from the well-known Blue Nuns from Villa Maria in
Pennsylvania.
In 1964, Father Stevenson’s tenure was coming to a close but
not before he was able to see the dedication of St. Mary’s
Hall become a reality. The Hall was dedicated in 1964 with
the east classrooms completed at that time.
Unfortunately in June 1972, the school closed and St. Mary
students merged with St. Frances Xavier Cabrini School.
With the Blue Nuns no longer teaching, we saw the convent
close and another significant era in St. Mary’s passed into
history.
Upon Father Summers’ retirement in 1996, Father Nathan
Willis became the pastor sharing responsibilities with St.
Andrew’s Church in Sheffield. Under Father Willis’ tenure,
the old school building was torn down and the parking lot
resurfaced.
When Father Willis retired in 1998, our current pastor,
Father Raymond J. Thomas became the pastor of St. Mary as
well as St. Frances Cabrini parishes. Since that time, both
parishes have worked collaboratively under Father Thomas’
guidance with joint committees overseeing the operations of
both parishes.
For more details of St. Mary
Church, click here.
History
Saint Frances Cabrini Church
The
history of Saint Frances Cabrini Church in Conneaut begins in
1850 with the establishment of the first Catholic community.
Along with Jefferson and Ashtabula, Saint Mary in
Conneaut was established as a mission of the Catholic
Community in Painesville.
Parallel with the growth of the city and Catholic
community at Saint Mary’s, Bishop Emmet M. Walsh in 1952
declared Mother Cabrini as a mission of Saint Mary Church in
Conneaut and named Father Orlando Rich, Saint Mary assistant
pastor, to serve the needs of the Cabrini Community.
With
a labor of love the church building was erected on land
donated by the James Armeni family and on December 22, 1954
the mission church was dedicated.
It was on January 11, 1955 that Saint Frances Xavier
Cabrini was formally declared a parish of the diocese of
Youngstown and Father Rich was named its first pastor.
Shortly after the building of the church was completed,
it was necessary to enlarge the church so side areas were
constructed as well as a beautiful tower to house the church
bell. 1957 saw
the construction of the parish house, which was a parish wide
project, and another work of love by the parishioners.
In
1959 a parish school was opened and staffed by the Dominican
Sisters of Adrian, Michigan. For a while, the sisters lived in the school, but in 1968, a
convent was built on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Talarico. In
1969, the Dominican Sisters left Conneaut and were replaced by
the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart who,
with a dedicated staff, continued the Christian
ministry of religious education at St. Frances Cabrini
Community School. The
school closed in 2002 due to declining enrollment.
Parish
Offices:
744 Mill Street
Conneaut, Ohio 44030
Phone: (440) 599-8570
Fax: (440) 593-6772
Email: stmsfc@hotmail.com
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