The Post-war Years

History:
Home
Introduction
Beginnings
St. Mary, Rockport
Stone Church
Age of the Streetcar
We Become a Parish
New School
Fr. Calvey
Building Traditions
Altar & Rosary
Calvey Club
Main School Bldg
Depression Years
Youth Organizations
War Years
Post-war Years
Parish Cemetery
Building Years
Aspects of Parish Life
Pastorate of Fr. Kelly
Hunger Center
Changing Needs
R.C.I.A.
Pastoral Council
Reaching Out
Parish Staff
Year of Celebration
Parish Leaders
Daughter Parishes

Other sections:
Calendar
Church & ministry
Scenes
School
Organizations

Fr. Thorpe had received permission from the diocese to spend money to repair and remodel the church in 1938 with the condition that the parish debt of $106,082.68 be paid before St. Patrick's could undertake any other major expenditures.

With a three-year subscription taken up in 1941 and again in 1942, the parish was debt-free by December 1946.
Parishoners pulled together a debt-reduction campaign in the early 1940s

By 1951, the parish had grown to 1,950 families from 914 in 1945. Once again, parish facilities were inadequate and plans were made to begin building. A larger rectory was needed, as were a larger church and more classrooms. Plans were made to transform the school auditorium into eight classrooms, although that work was low on the priority list since the hall was needed for Mass while improvements were made to the church. A third three-year subscription was taken up in January 1947 with Fr. Thorpe asking a minimum of $0.25 a week for the length of the campaign.

As St. Patrick's grew, so did Rockport Township. Three new parishes sprang up at this time: St. Mel (1945), St. Mark (1945) and Ascension (1946). Fr. Martin Gallagher, the former assistant and a good friend of Fr. Thorpe's, was founding pastor of Ascension, the last daughter parish of St. Patrick Parish.

Miss Ellen Donovan had died in 1938 and the Sisters of the Incarnate Word took over her orphanage. In September 1944, they also started teaching in the parish school alongside the Sisters of St. Joseph. On June 30, 1946, Fr. Thorpe announced that they would take over all the classrooms. Since the parish had no convent, the Sisters of St. Joseph had continued to commute from the motherhouse each day. The Sisters of the Incarnate Word, on the other hand, could live in the nearby Home of the Holy Family. Also, the order was able to promise a nun for every classroom for the foreseeable future.

St. Patrick students contributed to parish fund-raising efforts by raffling off a $50 Victory Bond at the fall bazaar in 1946. When the bazaar moved to the summer in the 1950s, the school began sponsoring its own bazaar, which is still held, although without the raffle. During its more than 30 years of existence, the students' raffle brought in many thousands of dollars for the church and school.

While raising funds for their building needs, the people of St. Patrick Parish did not forget the needs of others. There were many relief collections in the years after the war, including a special one for the home parish of Bishop Amadeus Rappe in France. As first bishop of Cleveland, he had responded to the needs of the people of Rockport. Now their spiritual descendents could repay the kindness.

The diocesan Holy Name Society campaigned to have a Holy Name Society in every parish. They set Father's Day 1948 as the day for all the men to be sworn in as members. Members of the Calvey Club chose to enroll along with the rest of the diocese, even though they had been a Society since 1931. Their formal name would now be The Calvey Club, The Holy Name Society of St. Patrick Parish.

The method for electing parish councilmen was changed in 1949. Standard policy was that only men, 21 and older, who contributed to the parish could vote or run for election. Fr. Thorpe was unhappy with the low turnout for council elections - only 40 or 50 men regularly came to the church basement after Mass to cast their votes - so he implemented a new policy. He now asked the men to remain in their pews after Mass while ushers passed out ballots, which were dropped in boxes as the men left.

There were other innovations in 1949 and 1950. The Altar and Rosary Society sponsored the Blanket and Merchandising Clubs and a White Elephant Sale. The parish began a Turkey Festival, the brainchild of William Chambers, to help support the nuns. Announcers Toe and Don Hartsel were joined on stage by "White Meat," a giant white-feathered turkey.

As 1950 began, renewed effort was put into raising funds for the building campaign. Fr. Thorpe called a meeting of the parish councilmen, ushers and officers of the St. Patrick United Societies (Altar and Rosary, the Calvey Club, the LCBA and the Patrician Club) for January 4, 1950. These men and women formed a fund-raising committee so building could be started. That year, the St. Patrick's Day party became a one-night bazaar at which a 1950 Buick was raffled. Extra effort was also put into the fall bazaar that year.

In April the ladies of the Altar and Rosary Society started the Mothers' Memorial Confraternity. They went door to door collecting donations and cards with the names of people to remember in prayer - the Calvey Club followed suit with the Fathers' Memorial Confraternity a couple of years later. Through the ladies' efforts, the raffles, the subscription, card parties and other events, the parish soon had enough money to proceed with their building plans, and to contribute $90,000 toward the construction of St. Edward High School.

On November 26, 1950 the Chinese counterattacked in Korea, pushing the United Nations forces back. The parishes of the diocese had a novena of prayer for peace beginning December 17. The only parish death from this conflict seems to have been Lt. Alfred Jirka, killed while flying the wounded from Seoul to Okinawa, Japan.