Seventy-two years ago on October 21, 1951, St. Mary’s Church in Cleveland was dedicated to serving the Catholic people in this area. To get a true understanding of how St. Mary’s came to be, we must reflect on the efforts of the fifteen families who came together to form St. Mary’s/
Among those families there was a pioneer spirit of cooperation, community, and commitment to the Catholic faith. They gathered in homes to pray the rosary, teach their children Christian doctrine, study the bible and plan for a dream they all shared- that there would some-day be a Catholic church in Cleveland, Texas.
It is believed that there was a group of Fransiscan monks who traveled to this area in the late 1890’s. Many people were converted to Catholicism; however, when the monks left this area, there was no effort to perpetuate the Catholic religion among this group of newly converted people and soon many drifted back into established Protestant churches in the area.
From this time until after World War II, there were not a significant number of Catholic families in this area. In 1945, Catholic families had to travel to Liberty, Texas to attend mass. A narrow dirt road connected Cleveland to Liberty and it was not unusual for stubborn cows to block the way because of open range laws.
Later around 1947 or 1948, Catholics began to travel to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, Texas to attend mass. Fr. Thomas Cemon was pastor at Sacred Heart along with Father George Rhein who served as the assistant pastor. Father Cemon was an advisor to this early group who wanted to begin the church in Cleveland.
The small group of Catholics traveling to and from Conroe learned from Mrs. Bessie Simms Austin that her foster mother, Mrs. Premont of Premont, Texas had established a bank account in the Farmers State Bank (First Bank & Trust) for the purpose of starting a Catholic church. No one had ever attempted to use the money, so this group set out to find the amount and make use of it. We found there was $500.00 in the account. It was 1949, and Mrs. Bessie Simms Austin encouraged this small group of Catholics by stating that she would donate a small parcel of land ‘on the edge of town” on Highway 321. This pioneer group was small in number but the spirit was great.
Father Cemon journeyed from Conroe occasionally to say mass at Mrs. Austin’s home. He advised and led this group on their quest. When Catholic laymen and Father Cemon went to see the Bishop to get permission and help to build a church, permission was granted with the stipulation that the parishioners raise half the cost and the Extension Society would grant the other half.
In July, 1950, Bishop W.J.Nold, successor to Bishop Byrne, received assurance from the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, who was the President of the Extension Society, that they were ready to help build a chapel in Cleveland. The Auxiliary Bishop’s name was William D. O’Brien. The Extension Society offered half of the cost and an anonymous donor gave the other half-provided the chapel be named “St. Mary’s”. Since the monies were not payable until the church was under roof, there were difficulties to get money to begin; however, all went well and construction started on the land donated by Mrs. Bessie Simms Austin of Cleveland, Texas in January, 1951.
The Assistant pastor of Sacred Heart, Father Thein had a friend named George C. McHale, an architect. Mr. McHale donated his service to draw up the plans agreed upon by the men of the new parish and approved by Bishop W.J.Nold. Mr. McHale designed the Swedish architectural structure. The building was designed with no front entrance facilitating a future addition to the street side.
Construction on the building began early in January, 1951. Don K. Jones served as the construction superintendent with other early parishioners and their friends working on the building. Although the work was tedious and hard, the church was completed for the dedication on October 21, 1951.
Doris Whatley’s parents donated the crucifix above the altar and Don Jones’ parents donated an old pump organ which was converted over to electricity by hooking up an electric type vacuum cleaner. At that time the old cry room was not closed off and was for the choir. Among the pioneer group, there were approximately three women who had sung the High Mass of the Angels (in Latin, that is). After many practices for the dedication ceremony, the day finally came to perform. The group performed the singing despite their nervousness; however, they forgot to unplug the vacuum cleaner to turn off the organ right away. The noise of the motor was so loud that in the solemnity and quietness, when it was finally turned off, it sounded like a dying cow. The group’s faces flushed at the time but found the incident comical looking back.
Among those early pioneer families were:
Leo and Lela Bacon
Walter and Agnes Bowman
Mr. and Mrs. Saul Como
Josephine (Como) and Otis Cruse
Don and Doris Jones
Donald and Geraldine Kelley
Joseph and Mildred McConell
Bob and Frances McMahon
James and Hazel Moore
J.W. and Pauline Purcell
Lynn and Judy Roedener
Al and Fran Rovinelli
George and Ann Silva
Raymond and Elsie Taylor
Raymond Wheeler
The first priest was Father Gerard Kennedy of the Oblate Order mother house at the Immaculate Conception Church on Harrisburg Blvd. in Houston, Texas. He was also in charge of a mission church in Humble, Texas. He would drive from Houston on Saturday and stay overnight in the living quarters of our church, hear confessions, say Mass Sunday morning and go back to Humble. Bishop Nold had said that the parish mission that would have a rectory would be deemed a parish and the other and affilial church of it.
In 1954, the church had the opportunity to buy the lot and house next to our church property to the west from Mr. and Mrs. Don Belt, Sr. The men of the parish negotiated the purchase and parishioners assisted in renovating and making ready for their first full-time pastor.
The priests who served at St. Mary’s were:
1952-1954 Fr. Gerard Kennedy, O.M.I.
1954-1964 Fr. James J. Gordon, O.M.I.
1965-1966 Fr. James Conway, O.M.I.
1966-1974 Fr. Daniel J. Lynch, O.M.I.
1974-1975 Fr. Thomas Simcox, S.C.J.
1975-1981 Fr. Leonard F. Will, SC.J.
1981-1982 Fr. Charles McBride
1983-1985 Fr. Anthony Stredney
1986-1987 Fr. Kenneth E. Mikulik
1987-1988 Fr. John B. Jones
1988- 1993 Fr. Jeremiah Murphy, M.S.C.
1993 -1997 Fr. Michael Dwger, MS.C
1997 – 1999 Fr. Angelo D. Scolozzi, M.C. III O.
1999 – 2002 Fr. Joseph Malayampuram, C.M. I.
2002 – 2008 Fr. Paul P. Kahan, S.V.D.
2008 – 2013 Fr. Eric Groner, S.V.D.
2013 – 2020 Fr. Vincent Alexius, S.V.D.
2020 – present Fr. Andy Vu, S.V.D.
There are many recollections of the priests who have served at St. Mary’s. There are a few significant events that took place while these priests were part of our live:
1973-1974 The Parish Hall building was began under Father Simcox and was completed in 1974 under Father Will.
1975 Dr. Romeu was ordained as the first deacon of St. Mary’s under Father Will’s direction.
During the time Father Will was here, 1975-1981, he organized masses in Spanish and Father McBride continued this.
October 3, 1981 The first parish Festival was held called the St. Mary’s Bazaar at Stancil Park.
December 12, 1981 our Lady of Guadalupe Mass and Supper was held. This was our first Spanish/English social.
1983 The church was enlarged and had a new roof. The original porch area was taken in as the addition to the church. Also, the extension to the Parish Hall consisting of the conference room and offices was added at this time.
December, 1988 Completion of CCE Classrooms. The Classrooms were ready for students in January after Christmas holidays.
January, 1990 St. Mary’s departure from the Houston-Galveston Diocese due to a re-drawing of the diocesan boundaries of Texas.
March 8, 2020 St. Mary’s Catholic Church, one of the fastest-growing parishes in the Diocese of Beaumont celebrated the groundbreaking of a new church building at its new site at 904 Kirbywood Drive. The 13,000-square-foot building is Phase 1 in a multi-phase master plan on the Church’s property, which was once Kirbywood Golf Course.
February 14, 2021 the new church building was blessed and the first Mass was celebrated. Bishop Toups was joined for the celebration by Bishop Emeritus Curtis Guillory, SVD; Father Andy Vu, SVD, pastor; Father Michael Jamail, Father Michael Somers, SVD, Provincial of the Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word; and Father Justin Arockiasamy, SVD, District Superior of Texas. The new building was funded in part by a grant from The John G. and Marie Stella Kennedy Memorial Foundation.
These are but a few of the recorded important happenings in the history of our church at St. Mary’s. It is important for us to trace our footsteps of yesterday in order to know where we are going in the future. The efforts of those early Catholic pioneer families are greatly appreciated by all of St. Mary’s parishioners, giving us courage to recommit to the goals of today.