The History of the Parish

 
         Saint Francis of Assisi Parish is a wonderful blend of hundreds of families. We share an active parish life: we worship together; our children attend our school; we reach out to each other and to our community through our many ministries, organizations, and activities. While many of our families have belonged to the parish for several generations, others are relatively new. Our parish family continues to grow.

How did our parish get its name? When was our parish formed?  Who answered the call to form the mission, and then the parish, of Saint Francis of Assisi? Who were the families who made up the mission, then parish, church of St. Francis of Assisi?  Where did they celebrate mass? How did our parish develop and grow into our parish today?

The patron saint of our parish is Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the religious order of priests and brothers known as the Franciscans. Fulfilling the motto of Saint Francis, “My God and My All,” the Franciscan priests first brought the great message of the Cross to the people in our area. The holy seed of the word of God, first sown by the Franciscans, continues to thrive in our parish today. Our beautiful church on Ringwood Avenue is a fitting tribute to Saint Francis and to all those who continue to spread the Good News.

In the late 19^th century, the Franciscan Friars of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Order of Friars Minor began to minister to the people in the Wanaque Valley. The friars resided at Saint Anthony Monastery in Butler, where they administered a parish. The Franciscans also established a mission church that would become Saint Catherine of Bologna Parish in Ringwood. Traveling by horse and buggy between his order’s congregations in Butler and Ringwood, Father Francis Koch, O.F.M., often stopped in Wanaque. Beginning in 1880, he first celebrated mass with the people of Wanaque. Later, Father Koch would return to the area to help guide the mission that would become our parish of Saint Francis of Assisi. Except for a brief period from 1901 to 1904, when the priests of St. Bonaventure Friary in Paterson assumed the pastoral care of the community, the Franciscans would minister to the people of Wanaque well into the 20^th century.

Many families came in search of work in the area. They counted on income earned in the mines such as those in Ringwood, which had been worked since the days of the American Revolution. The closing of the Ringwood mines around 1897 caused widespread unemployment among the miners. As a result, they were forced to look for new work; they moved down from Midvale to “Wynockie” in the area now known as Haskell. There they found jobs in the paper mill run by the Wynockie River Paper Company, which stood at the site of the present Wanaque Dam. Mass was celebrated in a home at the corner of Highland Avenue (now Warren Hagstrom Boulevard) and Ringwood Avenue; in another home, near the Haskell School on the corner of Storms Avenue; and in the Mechanics House, owned by the Odd Fellows, in Midvale.

          When the Franciscans resumed their care of the people of Wanaque in 1904, Father Hyacinth Rueberg, O.F.M., guardian of the Butler Monastery, decided to build a mission church in Wanaque and there was formed on October 17, 1905, “A religious corporation, Saint Francis of Assisi Church, Wanaque.”  It was Father Hyacinth’s intention to buy land and build a church on the property where the buildings are now situated on Ringwood Avenue.  At the time, the property was being used as a baseball diamond and was unavailable for sale.  Father Koch again became involved with the Wanaque Valley.   With his help, the Wanaque River Paper Company donated the plot of ground for the first church, located on a little hilltop at the rear of the paper works which is now the site of the dam.  Then in 1905 a two-story cement block building with gable roof and belfry was erected.  The second story was designed for the purpose of worship.  In May, 1906, the first high mass was celebrated in the newly completed church.  Father Koch worked with the people to help them to complete the combination church and school.

Based on information from baptismal records, it seems that Father James Keenan guided the mission after completion of the church, from 1906 to1908.  In 1908 Father Raymond Walsh replaced Father Keenan.  He in turn was succeeded by Father Lawrence Bultmann in the fall of 1909.

Father Francis Koch invited the Gray Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Peekskill, New York to send a number of the order’s sisters to educate the children.  Sister Seraphine, O.S.F., the first superior, and Sister Yolande arrived before the convent was completed.  They lived in the back room of the church and taught catechism to the children.  Once the convent was completed, Sister Carol and Sister Helena arrived to become the first faculty of Saint Francis of Assisi School.  The two sisters taught all the grades; the student enrollment was sixty children.

Over the next seven years, Saint Francis of Assisi Mission Church was presided over by as many priests.  Father Seraphim Geegan served for two years, from 1914 to 1916.  Father Raymond Walsh, Father Leonard Heckman, and Father James Keenan (during the calamitous flu of 1918, on his second of three assignments to the parish) each served for one year, respectively, from 1916 to 1919.  Father Theodore Chemin served from 1919 to 1921, and was followed by Father Otto Spahn, who served briefly in 1921.  Later that year, the newly ordained Father Harkins assumed leadership and served until the following summer.  At the time of Father Harkins’ departure in August of 1922, the mission church’s affairs were being held in the Community Hall in Midvale.

From the mid 1920s to the 1940s, Saint Francis of Assisi Mission Church and School underwent significant changes. Father Thomas Cosgrove served for five years, from 1922 to 1927.  During his tenure, the church was moved permanently downstairs.  Father Cosgrove was followed by Father Vincent Kelly, who served until 1930, when Father Xavier Niederlander arrived.  Father Niederlander remained until 1935.  By that time, two masses were celebrated each Sunday.

In July of 1935 Father Keenan returned for the third time.  He built an addition to the school to provide indoor bathrooms for the children.  On the second floor, quarters were built for the priest in charge.  In August, 1937, Father Vincent Kelly was again assigned to Saint Francis of Assisi Mission Church.  Permission was granted by the Wanaque Board of Education for the priest to conduct catechism classes in the public school buildings after school.  Upon Father Kelly’s death, Father Urban Scanlon was appointed the Parochial Vicar.  Father Urban designated much of the second floor for school use, opening up four classrooms.  In 1943, ninety-three students were enrolled at Saint Francis of Assisi School.  Four members of the Gray Franciscan Missionary Sisters served as its faculty. On November 27, 1944, Saint Francis of Assisi Mission Church became Saint Francis of Assisi Parish.  Father Urban became its official pastor.

On January 26, 1946, Father William Joseph Hayes, a chaplain in the Second World War, assumed the pastoral duties at Saint Francis of Assisi.  As the number of school children increased, Father Hayes made annual improvements to the old school.  In 1951, the entire building was used for classrooms; during the last half of that year, Sunday mass was celebrated in the Community Hall.

Working continuously to raise money for the erection of a larger church for a rapidly growing parish, Father Hayes acquired property on Ringwood Avenue for a new church.  In October, 1950, ground was broken and on December 16, 1951, the cornerstone for the new Saint Francis of Assisi Church was laid.  The Most Reverend Thomas A. Boland, Bishop of Paterson, officiated at the dedication ceremony.  On December 17, 1951, the bishop offered the first mass in the new church.  The first Sunday masses were celebrated in the new church on December 23, 1951.  The building was designed by Brother Cajetan Baumann, O.F.M.

In June 1952, Father Godfrey Weitekamp was appointed pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi Church.  In August 1952, ground for the new school was broken and six months later, on February 2, 1953, the children occupied the new building.  In September 1952, a nearby order of teaching sisters, the Capuchin Franciscan Sisters of the Infant Jesus, agreed to provide instruction for the children. In the fall of 1952, the enrollment at Saint Francis of Assisi School was 240 students.  By June 1955, there were 364 pupils and, for the first time, one teacher for each of the nine grades. 

Permission was granted for a friary to be built and ground was broken in April 1953.  On November 8, 1953, the completed brick building was officially blessed by the Most Reverend James A. McNulty, Bishop of the Paterson Diocese.

In 1958, Father Paschal Kerwin was appointed pastor; he was assisted by Reverend Roland Burke.  In the summer of 1961, Reverend Raymond Beach became the new assistant to Father Kerwin. Under the direction of Father Beach, a Confraternity of Christine Doctrine (C.C.D.) high school program was instituted.  In addition, many interior renovations were accomplished.  In August 1963, Father Beach initiated the Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Carnival. The Carnival is an important annual social and fundraising event held on parish grounds each summer. It has been held continuously since 1963. Father Beach was appointed pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in 1964.

The Reverend Edward J. Sullivan, O.F.M, became the pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi in November, 1970.  The Learning Center at the school was constructed in January of 1973.  The formal installation of Father Evan Banks, O.F.M., as pastor was held on October 4, 1976.  Father Evan was assisted by Reverend Cardius Kazanchy and Reverend James Nero.

In 1982, a Franciscan team ministry was begun; it was shared by Reverend Raymond Hirt, O.F.M., and Reverend Daniel Lanahan, O.F.M.  In 1983 Reverend Andrew Giardino, O.F.M., joined the team. Saint Francis of Assisi parishioner Robert Kronyak was ordained a deacon and served with the Franciscan team. The Franciscan team ministered to the parish until 1990.

With its completion of over a century of service to Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Order of Friars Minor presented the parish to the Diocese of Paterson.  Reverend Remigio Rocco began his pastorate in 1990 as the first diocesan priest to lead Saint Francis of Assisi Parish.  Father Rocco was joined in 1991 by Reverend William Mooney, who served as associate pastor until 1994. During Father Rocco’s tenure at St. Francis of Assisi Church, he was ordained a monsignor. Father Vincent Klim served as associate pastor from 1995 to 2000. Parishioner Jose Rivera was ordained a deacon in 1999. Monsignor Rocco initiated the teen group Antioch for parish youth and young adults, as well as the Emmaus group and Emmaus retreats. The two organizations helped strengthen the spiritual and communal bonds among the parishioners and were a major focus of church life during his tenure. Monsignor Rocco expanded the Religious Education and Formation (R.E.F.) program for public school students. He oversaw major interior renovations, as well as the creation of a chapel and narthex at Saint Francis of Assisi Church; the modernization of the school; and the building of a parish center.  Monsignor Rocco retired in June 2006; at that time the Diocese of Paterson appointed Father Lancelot Reis as the second diocesan pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish.