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VI
Archbishop Keough Dedicates the New Church
hile its
cornerstone reads 1953, the “new” church, with seating for 450,
was dedicated on November 28, 1954. Archbishop Keough presided during the
solemn High Mass along with the new pastor, Monsignor John J. Daly. With
construction now focused on converting the old church into a school, the
parish was burdened with a debt of approximately $400,000, but Monsignor
Daly was not intimidated. He had been the archdiocese’s Director of
Catholic Charities, and, as the 50th anniversary history noted, his
stewardship touch consisted of “thanking the people for their
contributions and commending their generosity. The more he thanked and
commended them, so much the more generous they became.”
Monsignor Daly discovered parishioners who gave not
just money, but time. The Ebert family moved from Highlandtown to Mayfield
in 1951, and the daughter who’s known to parishioners as Fran Gast
still marvels at the hours donated by skilled laborers to the upkeep of the
burgeoning church.
“Into the 1960s and 1970s, there was no
parish council per se, but there was no shortage of people who did
things,” Gast said. “My dad, Anthony “Bud” Ebert,
had a plumbing and heating business. Milton Thomas was a hairdresser who
loved to do woodwork. The paneling in the sacristy, the windows on the
porch of the rectory, the screens on the second floor of the rectory, the
paneling in the basement of the convent, those men were involved in those
improvements. There was a running joke in our house. If the Sisters heard a
drip, they called Bud. After he retired, they still called. Mr.
Thomas’s wife, Evelyn, used to work in the kitchen. Al DiGiacinto,
the head of the choir, was famous for the sausage he made. Mr. Eyring, the
Currans, these people worked like crazy to make the parish go. The carnival
was held into the 1970s. That spirit was one of the reasons my husband and
I moved back into Mayfield in 1980. When the kids grew up and the house got
too big, we moved in 1998, but St. Francis is still my parish. I was
married there, my kids were married there, and I’ll be buried from
there.”
Like Fran Gast, Joseph Bonadio was a teenager when
his family moved to Beverly Hills in 1954. “Father Joe” is
among the lengthy roll call of men and women of the parish who answered the
call of the Church and found their vocation there. “Celebrating 75
Years of Community Service” is the theme of St. Francis of
Assisi’s anniversary celebration in 2002, and Father Bonadio
remembers that spirit emanating from the rectory.
“I have very fond, early memories of three
priests,” Father Bonadio said. “Monsignor Daly was the pastor,
and there was Father (William) Dumps and Father (Patrick) Begley. They were
three good priests who ran the parish well. There was a nice, close feeling
among all the people, and that hasn’t changed. It has always been a
parish where people help out and do all they can to make it work. The
carnivals were always successful, because people really pitched in and made
them a success. We had come from a row house neighborhood, and this was a
more open space, outside as well as inside. It was very nice to be in this
bright, fairly new church.”