St. Francis Church - Morrellville

Summer Repeat because I can't stop thinking about St. Francis today. The following is a brief history of the Church taken from the 1973 Dedication Book for the new Church at the corner of Barron Avenue and D Street.

Before and after World War I, a large number of Slovak families settled in Morrellville and Oakhurst. Due to the walking distance to St. Stephen's Church in Cambria City which most Slovaks in the West End belonged to - a meeting was held in August 1920 and approximately one hundred families agreed to establish a building fund and pledged substantial amounts of money. They bought the old Church of the Brethen Building (currently the site of the church parking lot).

By 1922 - they were putting the finishing touches to the refurbished church building. The first pastor of St. Francis, Rev. Father A.P. Sabados was assigned to the newly formed parish December 22, 1922 and they celebrated their first mass on Christmas Eve 1922.

In 1940, the Vincentian Sisters of Charity sent three nuns: Sister M. Raymond, Sister M. Emanuel, and Sister M. Carmela who was later replace by Sister M. Casimer. All three were ancient and still there when I made my communion in 1970. And yes, they were MEAN and scared the crap out of kids of all ages! And they were probably buried with rulers and clickers in their hands.

After Father Sabados retired in 1968, Rev. Father David Koshko took over until his sudden death in 1969. Rev. Father Stephen Gergel took over and in his time serving the faithful at St. Francis - made great strides in constructing a new Church and Parish Hall.

I know up until the 1970's - there was still a Mass said in Slovak.