St. Ignatius of Loyola Parish Historical Data


Home Church School
St. Ignatius Parish Historical Data
Date	Event
9/28/45	Fr. William T. Hilvert is appointed first pastor of the newly-founded St. Ignatius Parish. 78 charter members.
1/13/46	First Mass held in Lonesome Pine Inn on North Bend Road; this building was used as a temporary church until a new church was built.
1/15/46	First meeting of St. Ann’s Ladies Society was held
March, 1946	New church, rectory and hall started on 23 acre property at 5222 North Bend Road.
7/5/46	Temporary school, a former public school building is purchased.
12/25/46	First Mass is offered in the new church.
9/27/47	School opens in temporary building with 105 children; Sisters of Mercy were appointed to staff the school.
12/12/47	New school bus was purchased.
5/30/48	The church was officially blessed by Archbishop (Paul) F. Leibold.
February, 1949	Athletic fields and parking areas are completed.
3/25/49	First assistant pastor, Fr. Paul Kappes is appointed
October, 1949	Automatic church bells are installed and ring for the first time.
February, 1950	Original debt of $98,000 was liquidated.
5/8/50	Ground breaking was held to begin construction of new school.
7/31/50	The cornerstone of the new school was laid by Msgr. William J. Anthony on The Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola
July, 1951	Miss Mary Lee Bogenschutz, our first lay teacher, was hired.
9/23/51	New school was dedicated by Archbishop Karl J. Alter; enrollment 240 pupils.
June, 1952	Girl Scout program was begun.
June, 1953	First all children Christmas Mass liturgy.
January, 1954	Plans were made to build a six-room house at the end of the property on Boomer Road.
5/25/54	Fr. Hilvert celebrates his Silver Jubilee.
6/17/54	Fr. Mark Gratsch replaces Fr. Paul Kappes as assistant.
September, 1954	An addition to the school was planned to include eight rooms and an undercroft.
2/21/55	First Junior Festival held by school children.
7/17/55	Fr. Hilvert announced that a new house would be raffled at the 1956 Festival as the main award.
June, 1956	Fr. Robert Thorsen replaces Fr. Mark Gratsch as assistant.
March, 1957	Special Mass of Thanksgiving offered for being debt free.
June, 1957	Boy Scout Troop #850 was organized.
August, 1958	Fr. Robert Putnick is appointed as assistant.
September, 1958	The new addition of the school was opened.
May, 1959	Fr. Raymond Aichele is appointed assistant pastor. School board votes unanimously in favor of all grade school girls to wear uniforms.
October, 1959	First fully functional library opens in school.
12/18/60	The new school orchestra holds its first recital.
January, 1961	Property at 5242 North Bend Road is purchased for a convent and chapel.
9/19/61	First Religion Instruction for Children (now PSR) is held for those children attending public schools.
May, 1963	Athletic Association begins construction on tennis courts.
January, 1964	Fr. Hilvert announced that we needed $200,000 before we can break ground for the new church. There was also much discussion on the proposed new highway, I-74.
August, 1965	First organizational meeting of St. Vincent dePaul Society.
January, 1966	Parish celebrated its 20^th anniversary with a special Mass.
September, 1966	The undercroft was converted into four classrooms, one of which would be used as a library.
11/13/66	First steps were taken to organize Parish Council.
January, 1967	The "Insight" – a monthly parish news bulletin – was born.
December, 1967	The Ladies Society realized $8,523 from their Christmas Walk.
January, 1969	Ground was broken and the corner stone was laid for the new church by Msgr. James Lunn.
5/25/69	Fr. Hilvert’s 40^th anniversary was celebrated with a program of tribute by the school children and parishioners.
7/31/69	Cornerstone was laid for the new church by Rev. Edward McCarthy, Auxiliary Bishop of Cincinnati on the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola.
3/15/70	The new Church was dedicated by the Most Rev. Paul F. Leibold, Archbishop of Cincinnati
4/12/70	A ‘Folk Mass’ was instituted at the 11:00 AM Sunday Mass.
8/13/70	The parish-owned house at 3416 Boomer Road was sold to the Archdiocese.
12/17/70	Fr. Hilvert died. His funeral was held at St. Ignatius on Monday, December 21^st.
3/1/71	Fr. John Seaman was appointed the second pastor of St. Ignatius.
4/2/72	Easter Sunday – the church bells rang for the first time at the 9:30 AM Mass.
4/18/76	Easter Sunday – the Risen Christ, the cloth mosaic design which was sewn by the women of the parish, was put in place for the first time.
8/6/76	First Parish picnic was held at Stricker’s Grove.
May, 1977	Athletic Association begins building a refreshment stand near the rectory garages.
7/1/78	Miss Mary Lee Bogenschutz officially assumed the responsibilities as principal of the school. (June 13, 1976 was set aside as Miss Mary Lee Day, a day to honor her as the first lay teacher of St. Ignatius and a teacher at St. I’s for 25 years.)
10/30/78	Fr. Don Behler became the 3^rd pastor of St. Ignatius.
7/1/79	Sr. Marietta Sharkey, O.S.F., became the first full-time director of Religious Education.
May, 1980	The installation of the pipe organ was completed.
7/7/80	The mortgage on the new church was declared "PAID".
11/21-22/80	The Christ Renews His Parish process was initiated with the men’s formation weekend. (First Men’s weekend on parish grounds took place March 14-15, 1981)
Nov.-Dec., 1980	The interior of the church was painted and new carpet was installed.
12/14/80	The Giving Tree was announced. This project was representative of our year-round and varied outreach to our sister-parish, St. Leo.
1/16-18/81	Formation weekend of the Women’s Christ Renews His Parish took place. (First women’s weekend on parish grounds was on April 25-26, 1981)
5/17/81	The First Spirit Sunday was celebrated.
11/21/81	Deacons Jim Meade and Mike Blum were ordained to the priesthood in our church.
8/22/82	St. Ignatius Bereavement committee is born.
3/25/84	St. Ignatius School starts the Everybody Counts Program.
11/8/84	Ladies Society stage a Christmas Walk to refurbish the kitchen in the school cafeteria.
5/11/86	A dream of the St. Ignatius 250 Club becomes a reality when ground breaking takes place for the new Community Center.
6/21/86	Luis Riva receives his Holy Orders to become a Permanent Deaconate.
5/17/87	Dedication of Community Center.
June, 1987	Bingo begins at St. Ignatius to reduce parish debt.
September, 1987	New parish offices are completed in the South wing of Hilvert Hall.
1/2-16/88	1^st annual basketball tournament is held in new gym.
5/13-14/88	The 1^st Showbiz production "St. I Spirit – Then & Now" is performed under the direction of Irma Lewis.
July, 1988	Fr. Mark Gratsch is appointed pastor replacing Fr. Don Behler.
1/30/89	Special Mass is held marking the end of the Community Center Fund Drive.
8/27/89	Kris Schoettmer is named the new CCD director.
11/5/89	Drago Bubalo becomes St. Ignatius new music director.
January, 1990	Interior walls of church are painted with new carpeting being installed in October.
4/22/90	A festival Kick-Off Party is held in the priest house to raise money for the major award at the new Parish Festival which will be held on August 17, 18, & 19.
June, 1991	Fr. Jack Mattscheck is appointed associate.
9/7/91	Fathers Accountable to Healthy Enduring Relations and Spirituality (F.A.T.H.E.R.S.) begins at St. Ignatius with a retreat.
11/29/91	Ground breaking ceremonies are held after the 9:15 AM Thanksgiving Mass for the addition to the school which will include 6 classrooms, new offices, computer room, library, an elevator and will be made handicap accessible with construction beginning in December.
8/30/92	Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk celebrates the 12:15 Mass dedicating the new school. A time capsule is placed behind the corner stone before being placed.
10/13/92	St. Ignatius Parents Teacher Organization is organized.
November, 1992	Miss Mary Lee is awarded Principal of the Year.
July, 1993	48 NEW stained glass windows are donated by various parishioners.
7/27/93	Fr. Mark Gratsch dies. His funeral is held at St. Ignatius on July 30, 1993.
10/12/93	Fr. Thomas Bolte is appointed pastor
7/9/94	The program for the assistance of Catholic Education (P.A.C.E.) begins at St. Ignatius.
2/24/95	Fr. Paul Gruber celebrates his 50^th anniversary.
6/9/95	Miss Mary Lee retires as principal after 44 years at St. Ignatius.
7/1/95	Mr. Tim Reilly is appointed the new principal.
September, 1995	Construction begins on the new concession stand and storage facility of the Athletic Association.
1/13/96	Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk presides at the opening celebration Mass depicting 50 years of St. Ignatius. Is was on this date in 1946 that the 1^st Mass was said by Fr. William T. Hilvert at the Lonesome Pine Inn on North Bend Road. This would begin a year long celebration at St. Ignatius with monthly events covering St. Ignatius 50 years as a community parish.
1997	New annex is built behind the community center and new windows installed in the school
1998	New concession and athletic building built
7/31/99	St. Ignatius night at the Cincinnati Reds ballgame! Mary Massa and Jenny Bates, of the contemporary group *Celebrate*, sing the national anthem.
11/22/99	St. Ignatius establishes their presence on the World Wide Web as SaintI.org!
2000	Project 2000 is approved and plans started for St. Ignatius' largest building project!
8/6/00	St. Ignatius day at the Cincinnati Reds ballgame! Members of *Celebrate* sing the national anthem.
2001	First catholic school to receive Inclusion Award