The History of St. Charles Borromeo Church
St. Charles Church actually was conceived in the minds of the people of this area when, in October 1902, residents assembled a parish-petition of seventy-five signatures and collected over $100 to be given to whatever priest might come to head their parish.
With help and advice from Fr. Muhlenbeck of St. Ann’s Church and Fr. Cheveraux of Immaculate Conception Church, the people sent the petition for a new parish to Bishop Ignatius F. Horstmann of the Diocese of Cleveland. In November 1902, Bishop Horstmann instructed Fr. John Charles Herr, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Crestline, Ohio, to come to Toledo and make a report on the petition. Fr. Herr found both great need for a parish in this vicinity andgenuine enthusiasm among the people.
On January 18, 1903, three months after the petition was presented to Bishop Horstmann, St. Charles was established by the bishop as the 16th parish in the city and the 122nd parish in what was later to be the Diocese of Toledo. All Catholics west of the Michigan Central Railroad and south of Nebraska Avenue comprised the new parish.
Immediately following his arrival in Toledo, Fr. Herr began looking for a site for the new church. The people in this area had been attending Mass at SS. Peter & Paul’s, St. Patrick’s, Immaculate Conception or St. Joseph’s Maumee. Getting to church was very often a difficult task in winter, even for horses. Many times the people traveled to church on foot.
On December 19, 1902, Fr. Herr purchased property at the corner of Detroit and Wayne from P.J. Keefe and Clarence Brown for $3,400, $200 of which Mr. Keefe donated to the new church.
Temporarily, George Snyder offered, gratis, the use of his blacksmith shop at the corner of LakeShore and Wayne, just one block from the future site of the new building. The $100 collected at the time of the petition was given to a carpenter to transform the smithy into a church.
As news spread concerning the temporary arrangements, help arrived. Hillebrand Brothers donated a stove. The Catherine Metzger family donated a small organ and Fathers Muhlenbeck and Cheveraux loaned chairs and an altar.
On January 18, 1903, when Fr. Herr officially was appointed pastor and celebrated his first Mass, the little church was filled to capacity with approximately one hundred and fifty people.
It is said that when Fr. Herr arrived, the people of Irish extraction were happy to have one of their own as pastor; however, the people of German extraction gave Fr. Herr’s name a decidedly German pronunciation and happily accepted him as one of their own. Fr. Herr’s ability to read the Gospels in faultless German did nothing to dispel the illusion.
March 9, 1903, ground was broken for the combination St. CharlesChurch and School buildings on Wayne Street at the corner of Detroit Avenue. The Architect was William R. Dowling; contractors were Kesting and Comte. Excavation was done by parish members, thereby saving nearly $2,000 in costs. Just four months later the building was ready for the cornerstone.
As gaily dressed bands and members of surrounding parishes paraded from their various churches, Bishop Horstmann blessed the cornerstone of St. CharlesChurch and School on July 19. 1903. Thirty-eight priests and more than one thousand men, women and children were in attendance. The day was a civic celebration, too, since Wayne Street had been paved and installed with a streetcar line that extended from Whiting Avenue to Hanover Street. Civic leaders officially opened the street the same day.
Mass was offered for the first time in St. CharlesChurch on Christmas day, 1903. Although the church in the basement was completed (with eighty pews, seven seats each), construction continued in the upper part of the building. Two parishioners, William Skelly and Joseph Von Sick, were so eager to have the church bell rung for the first Mass that they climbed all the way to the belfry and rang the bell by hand!
On April 18, 1904, two school rooms were opened at St. Charles under the direction of the Ursuline Sisters. Sixty pupils were enrolled in eight grades; grades one through four were in one room, five through eight in the other room. Bishop Horstmann officiated at the dedication of St. Charles Church and School on October 16, 1904. Following Mass, the bishop administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to eighty-two boys and girls.
The unofficial estimate of the cost of the combined church and school was $25,000.
In the early days of the parish, two of the councilmen took monthly collections in church. One councilman carried the basket, the other carried a ledger. As each parishioner placed this contribution into the basket, a councilman would enter the person’s name and the amount into the ledger. Prevailing contributions were $.50, $1.00, and a few for $2.00.
In March 1911, the Toledo Times conducted a contest offering prizes to groups for saving labels from various products. St. Charles parish waged an intensive campaign and won first prize of $1,000. Leon Gedert brought the greatest number of labels to school and won a new suit of clothes!
The first son of the parish, Fr. Alfred Metzger, celebrated his first solemn Mass on Saturday, August 16, 1914. After being appointed at St. John’sChurch in Delphos, Fr. Metzger arranged baseball games, with Fr. Herr, between St. Charles’ altar boys and St. John’sHigh School. Fr. Herr furnished St. Charles’ team with uniforms and equipment at his own expense. Since there were no ball fields in this area, parishioner Joseph Beach made one for the team in a vacant area between Somerset and Mayberry streets.
St. Charles lost many families to St. James parish in 1913 and to Our Lady of Perpetual Help in 1918. Nevertheless, the parish continued to grow until, in 1921, it was in need of an assistant priest. Fr. Gerald F. Connolly was appointed first assistant on October 3, 1921.
The victim of a long illness, Fr. Herr died at age 57 on July 20, 1928. He was succeeded by Fr. Charles A. Renck, a native of Cleveland.
In 1929, Fr. Renck increased the length of St. Charles’ original property on Wayne Street by purchasing two properties from Dr. D. E. Bowman. Under his supervision the St. Vincent de Paul Society was organized in 1930 to assist the needy of the parish.
Fr. Richard A. Roach was appointed third pastor of St. Charles Church in 1934 when Fr. Renck became pastor of St. Michael’s Church in Findlay. During the ten years of his pastorate, Fr. Roach eradicated a $54,000 debt and accumulated a considerable amount of money for a new church building fund. Through the generosity of parishioners, he replaced the frosted glass windows of the church with fifteen stained glass windows symbolic of the Mysteries of the Rosary.
Successfully combining seriousness and humor, Fr. Roach was always close to his parishioners. It is said that his whimsical commentaries on current events and his anecdotes about clerical life in the Diocese of Toledo and Cleveland brought much merriment to his fellow priests.
On January 11, 1944, Fr. Roach died in MercyHospital following a long illness. He was 57.
Fr. James A. Horrigan became St. Charles’ fourth pastor on September 18. 1944. The parish was growing steadily and with it the number of children attending St. CharlesSchool. Therefore, Fr. Horrigan added to the school an outside fire escape from the second floor, a wooden portable building that housed a classroom, and later, a stone block addition to the portable building to provide yet another classroom. In 1946 the Parent-Teacher Organization was begun with more than one hundred parents attending the first meeting.
Fr. Horrigan increased the length of the church property in 1951 with the purchase of the Moore property at 1847 Dunham Street.
In 1955 when St. Jude parish was founded, and then in 1956 with the formation of St. Patrick of Heatherdowns parish, St. Charles’ western boundaries were changed to what would remain until July of 2005. Then the boundaries consisted of the territory from the Terminal Railroad and Nebraska Avenue, South to New York Central Railroad, West to Byrne Road and South to Glendale Avenue. The loss of many St. Charles parishioners was felt, but past and present were linked by the fact that St. Jude’s first pastor, Fr. Cyril Lauer, was a nephew of St. Charles’ first pastor, Fr. Herr.
On December 27, 1960, Fr. Horrigan, age 64, died in St. Vincent’s Hospital. He had been afflicted for years with a severe case of diabetes.
Fr. Joseph D. Shenk was appointed fifth pastor of St. CharlesChurch on February 17, 1961. Fr. Shenk’s first large undertaking was a complete census of the parish. Results determined that there were at the time 1100 families residing in the parish.
As Fr. Shenk began plans for a new church and school, many problems arose: lack of room for construction, determining adequate parking space, and especially the peculiar wedge shape of the church property. Therefore, five additional properties on Dunham Street and S. Detroit were purchased by St. Charles parish between October 1961 and March 1962.
Plans for the proposed church and school buildings were drawn by the firm of Britsch, Macelwane and Associates, Toledo architects. Contracts totaling $735,000 were awarded to Comte Construction, general contractors; Robert T. Farley, Inc., plumbing and hating; and C.A. Harlan Electric Company, electrical. Ground was broken on April 2, 1963, with Fr. Shenk and Sr. Gertrude, then principal of the school, turning over the first and second shovels full of earth.
In December 1963, the new school building was ready for use. Bishop Rehring officiated at the ceremony of the blessing and laying of the cornerstone for the new church in August 1964, and the first Mass was celebrated April 2, 1965, exactly two years after ground was broken for the new construction. Formal dedication of the new St. CharlesChurch was conducted by Bishop Rehring on August 19, 1965.
Fr. Shenk hired the first parish secretary in August 1967, Mrs. Rita Busdieker. He also hired one of the first lay principals of a Catholic Diocesan elementary school, Mr. Gary Sparks.
When Fr. Shenk was appointed pastor of Holy Angels Church in Sandusky, Fr. Edward O. Hug came to St. Charles as the sixth pastor on July 8, 1970.
Faced with a parish debt of $365,000, Fr. Hug initiated an “Immediate Action Program” in February 1972 with the assistance of John B. McCarthy Associates. The purpose of the program was to raise a large amount of money within a short period of time. Parishioners were asked to pledge monetary assistance over a two-year-period. $190,000 was collected through the “Immediate Action Program” thereby greatly reducing the parish debt.
Fr. Hug then organized a Stewardship Program to increase the amount of the weekly collection in order to have a steady, adequate income with which to operate the church. With the success of the “Immediate Action Program” and the large amounts of money obtained through the Wednesday night bingo, Fr. Hug was able to reduce the parish debt to $34,000 by 1978.
In the spring of 1972, St. Charles parish received from the estate of Miss Mary Catherine Keefe, approximately $65,000. This gift was used to demolish the original church and school building, landscape the lot where the building had stood, erect the monument displaying the original bell from the first church, remodel the rectory and construct the service building/garage behind the rectory.
Reconciliation rooms were built in the church in the spring of 1977 to accommodate the full implementation of the new Rite of Reconciliation. The rooms were erected at minimal cost through the generosity of parishioners.
In August of 1975, Sister Theresa Tusek, OSF, was appointed by Fr. Hug as St. Charles’ first pastoral associate. Her work and presence among the parish was evidence of the expanding role of Pastoral Ministry in the parishes today.
On September 25, 1979 Fr. Joseph O’Brien succeeded Fr. Hug to become the 9th pastor of St. Charles. For four years Fr. O’Brien guided the parish.
Fr. William Richter became pastor July 1, 1982. Fr. Richter was the 10th pastor and continued the great traditions of the parish. He always had a smile, a sense of humor and really enjoyed being with the people. He had many phrases that were associated with him, most noted was the phrase, “That is marvelous, simply marvelous.” The Annual parish Festival, held in late August, grew through the 80's and many in the neighborhood looked forward to the yearly event. Bingo is mentioned more than once in the old bulletins of the early 80's.
The youth group was active as was the parish. There was a summer parish picnic held at the former Holy Spirit Seminary located at Airport Hwy and Reynolds Rd. For some time the bulletin had advice from Lucy the cat who always had one sentence that provided some wisdom. Christ Renews His Parish also marked the times of the 80's. There was a flourishing bible study group and a study group of the Catholic faith.
On May 3, 1984 Bishop-Elect Robert W. Donnelly was installed as the 2nd Auxiliary Bishop of Toledo. The Bishop served St. Charles Parish as an Associate Pastor from 1965 to 1967.
The Parish festival flourished in the 80's becoming a tradition of parish life. This same time also found many pints of blood being donated through very successful donor days. In July of 1985 Sr. Angelita, USO, was hired as the pastoral associate. There were many parish organizations meeting, including CCD, Altar Rosary, RCIA, school board, parish council, property/finance council, bingo, Bible study, Mother’s club, liturgy committee, servers, lectors, ushers, Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, the choir, the Charismatic prayer group, a pre-school Sunday school, the Bereavement support group, festival committee, baptism instruction, St. Vincent de Paul, Athletic Council, Fish Fries (Early 80's in the fall and beginning in 1989, in Lent) , Spaghetti Dinners and Paper Drives, Community Concerns Committee, Girl scouts, and Youth Group, the St. Charles Mixed Bowling League, collecting food items for Feed Your Neighbor, to name those in print from the past bulletins.
The school began the “Latch-Key” program providing supervision and organized activities for students before and after school at the beginning of the 1987-88 School year. This program still continues today. The school enrollment in October 1987 was 158 students.
Note: January 10, 1988, opportunity to buy the lot where the “playground area” is now located for $11,000. It is the house where Agnes McGovern lived. In January 17, 1988 Bids to paint church ranged from $21,000 to $48,000. An updated bid was done in September 1989 that indicated the new cost to be $29,400. The increase from $21,000 to $29,400 was due to increase in labor cost. The painting began January 8th, 1990 and was expected to take 3 weeks. The parishioners moved the pews to save cost.
The Diocesan Synod began in 1988 and Concluded November 12, 1989. Fr. Richter began requesting parishioners to represent the parish in January 1988. Donna Rodriguez and Ruth Wittenmeyer agreed to organize the Synod Adult Education Committee. Out of this the folks volunteered to chair the following Diocesan Synod Committees, Parish Life and Ministry, Terry Schroeder; Christian Formation, Donna Magrum; Ecumenism, Judith Dalton; Evangelization, Dorothy Best; Social Concerns, Dolores LaVrar; Stewardship and Planning; Raymond Czerniakowski; Worship, Mel Geithmann. Along with the Synod came the Diocesan Parish census. Katie Erhart volunteered to represent the parish on the Diocesan Synod Committee.
On March 23, 1988 parish Bingo came to an end after twenty-five years. This was due to the declining the numbers of players and the lack of workers. The School saw the establishment of the School Endowment Fund in the Spring of 1989. The parish went from 1173 households (or 3312 people) to 685 households (or 2540 people) from the years 1982 to July 1989. In the same time frame Mass attendance went from 1143 to 749.
In March, 1990, the pastor began a wish list that included a new room on the rectory for $9,000, a new stencil cutting machine for $2,500, Parish Office renovations for insulation and new carpet for $3,700, and paving the new parking lot area for $7,500. By August 5, 1990 the money was collected to pay off the expense of the rectory roof (which included the removal of the old asbestos shingles). On August 12, the goal for the new stencil maker was achieved. In October of 1990 the monies had been raised to complete the office renovations, just in time to install insulation to keep out the winter cold. In 1990 the interior of the church was painted; the rectory, garage and school entrance roofs were replaced and the house on the church property was demolished for a future parking lot.
The 1990's continued the tradition of the parish festivals, Lenten Fish fries and the blood drives. The operating expenses continued to exceed the weekend collections and finances had to be taken out of savings to cover costs.
There were several large changes in the parish staff that took place July 1, 1992. Fr. Richter said his good-byes and Fr. David Henning was welcomed as the 11th pastor. Additionally Sr. Angelita, the pastoral associate, resigned from St. Charles due to increasing health problems. Bernie Fletcher who was responsible for the bookkeeping retired due to health reasons. Sharon Ezackovich was hired as the next secretary and remained working until she passed away from cancer in 1993.