Celebrating 150 Years of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish
Remembering the Past, Celebrating the Present,
Our Vision for the Future
1857 - 2007

A church building supports and shelters a community of believers.  It is a structure of mortar and stone that lives and breathes through the people who gather to worship and call the place home.  The parish church archives the history of the generations who came before us and those who will follow.  It is where we are baptized, confirmed, married, and buried.  This is where we form friendships that last a lifetime and where we support one another on our journey.  We live our ordinary lives in an extraordinary manner, one day at a time, walking in the faith of our fathers.

A church is the repository of hopes and dreams and pain and sorrows belonging to each one of us, past, present and future.  During a span of one-hundred fifty years, St. Mary of the Assumption parish built three different church buildings.  The churches were constructed over time to meet the needs of a growing parish in the expanding city of Mentor, Ohio.

In 1797, the first settlers arrived in Mentor from New England.  They bought their land from the Connecticut Land Company.  These pioneers packed their possessions and traveled many weeks by horses and covered wagons to their new home.  The Western Reserve was considered to be a prime area.  This fertile and level land was a welcome contrast to the rocky New England countryside they left behind.

The settlers arrived ready to fashion their homes and farms out of the Ohio wilderness.  Soon dirt roads and farms were scattered throughout the area called Mentor.  Life was filled with back breaking work for all members of a family.  Some early settlers were wood cutters who cut trees for the wood burning engines on the railroad.  There was a railroad in Mentor on Station Street.  The majority of families farmed their land.

As early as 1819, Mentor Library Company opened the first subscription library in the Western Reserve.  In 1820, four-hundred sixty people lived in Mentor.

In 1855, the people of Mentor Centre incorporated as Mentor Village and the Mentor Village School District was formed.  The settlers of this area believed in education for themselves and their children.  Today there are towns peppered along the shore of Lake Erie that reflect their New England roots.  These cities all have their churches, libraries, parks, schools, and centers of local government that the early settlers deemed important to a civilized society.

The people of Lake County formed their religious communities and built churches that represented the various faiths.  The history of St. Mary of the Assumption is intertwined with the history of Painesville and Willoughby Catholic communities.  Lake County was considered mission territory within the Cleveland Catholic Diocese.

Travel back in time to 1840 when the first Catholic families in Mentor walked to Painesville to attend Mass in someone's home.  Before 1850 it was normal for a priest to visit the area four times a year.

In 1850 the Diocese of Cleveland appointed a resident pastor to Painesville and the first Catholic church in the area was a converted carpenter shop.  Mentor Catholic families walked to Painesville to attend Mass until 1857.

From 1857 until 1864 Mass was celebrated in Mentor in the home of William Casey of North Center Street.  Ten families made up the original Catholic community in Mentor.  In 1864, Mentor became a mission church under the care of St. Paul's Church in Euclid, Ohio.  Reverend Anthony T. Martin traveled on an open, hand operated section car provided by the men who worked for the railroad system.  Father Martin came from Euclid to Mentor monthly to minister to the families.  In 1865, the combined population of Mentor Village and the Township was approximately 1,600 people.

The 1868, under the direction of Father Martin, plans for the construction of the first St. Mary Church in Mentor were begun.  The location was planned for South Center Street.  It was to be a plain structure to measure twenty by forty feet and constructed of native oak and ash trees. 

The trees were cut on the farms of George Dickey and Robert Murray and hauled to a saw mill in the area.  This lumber was sun-dried for about five months and then delivered by horse and wagon to Malin's Mill in Painesville to prepare it for construction.  A historical note is that in 1876, James A. Garfield purchased the same Dickey farm.  It became known as Lawnfield. 

Building of the first St. Mary church began in the early fall of 1868 and was completed in December of the same year.  The seating capacity accommodated ninety six people.  The total cost was approximately $1,200.

The parish numbered twelve families.  The financial burden was significant to these people who had limited material means but possessed a strong commitment to the future of St. Mary of the Assumption parish.

In 1875, Father Martin's monthly visits were discontinued due to poor transportation from Euclid, Ohio.  Mentor was assigned to the pastor of the Painesville parish until 1898 when the Mentor Catholic community was transferred to the care of the Willoughby parish.

Around 1910, Mentor became the summer retreat of the rich and famous of Cleveland.  Wealthy businessmen constructed large homes with all the amenities of the ear for their families.  They brought their wives, children, and servants out of the city for the summer to enjoy the countryside.  Mentor's fertile farms fed them and local drivers transported them to their estates.

In 1911, electricity was introduced in St. Mary's church on S. Center Street.  The cost was $84.50.  By 1914, there were sixteen families in the parish.  During the summer the little wooden church, built in 1868, overflowed with people who couldn't even get inside for Mass.  People would stand outside looking in the windows.

In 1922, Father William P. Thorpe, an assistant priest in Willoughby, was given complete care of the Mentor Catholic community.  Father Thorpe purchased 2 1/4 acres of land on the northeast corner of Hart Street and Mentor Avenue in 1923.  The cost was $20,000.  St. Mary's former rectory and administrative offices were located in the house that was on the property purchased by Father Thorpe.  In 1973, the same house was moved across Mentor Avenue and placed next to the school and continued to be the rectory for the parish until May, 2007.  A barn was also located on the property purchased by Father Thorpe.  The barn was torn down and well preserved lumber from it was saved to build a new church in 1933.

Finally in 1927, Archbishop Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland designated the Mentor territory a parish and appointed Father William Thorpe the first resident pastor of Mentor.  There were fifty families who were members of the parish at this time.

Mentor was growing and transportation improved with the interurban cars that traveled on tracks from Cleveland to Ashtabula along Route 20.  The automobile shortened travel time when the weather cooperated.  In 1930, the combined population of Mentor Village and Mentor Township was 3,542 people.

In 1933, in spite of the hardships of the Depression, Father Thorpe began construction of a desperately needed larger Catholic church in Mentor.  he obtained a loan of $25,000 from the Ladies Catholic Benevolent Association and ground was broken in September, 1934.  To minimize the costs of construction, Father Thorpe dispensed with the general contractor and assumed the entire responsibility himself.  He received invaluable assistance from parishioners and the architects and many subcontractors.  Reclaimed lumber and brick were used in building the new church.  Final dimensions were 80' x 35' with a side addition and a rear addition.  The seating capacity was three-hundred people.  The cost of the new church was $19,440.  This building is presently occupied by National City Bank and is located across the street from the current St. Mary of the Assumption church.

In 1937, Father Thorpe was transferred and Father Daniel O'Shea succeeded him.  Father O'Shea retired in 1940 due to failing health and Father Michael Moriarty replaced him.  Father John Farrell was appointed pastor in June 1942.

Under Father Farrell's direction, a mortgage of $25,000 was retired and twenty-one acres of land, where our present church and school reside, were purchased and paid for during his administration.

Father Farrell was transferred in 1950 and Monsignor George Whitehead was named pastor.  The population of Mentor Village and Township was almost 10,000 people.

An old farmhouse owned by T.G. Hart and originally located on the land purchased by Father Farrell, was remodeled and furnished as a convent for four Ursuline nuns who would arrive to teach in the parish school.  In the Fall of 1952, across the street from the parish church, St. Mary School opened its doors with eight classrooms and 113 children. 

In the 1950's the church basement was used for many spaghetti dinners and fish frys.  St. Mary of the Assumption parish conducted massive clothing drives to benefit the needy in post-World War II Europe.  The church basement was the collecting and sorting area of the mountains of clothing that were prepared for shipping overseas. 

Monsignor Whitehead died in 1953 and Monsignor Thomas Murphy became pastor until 1956.  At this time, the population of Mentor and St. Mary of the Assumption parish was growing.  Monsignor Murphy had increased the number of Sunday Masses, but the parish church built in 1934 and accommodating three-hundred people at one time, had become inadequate.  Due to the  increase of new families, the school was unable to accommodate more children at this time.

Father Joseph Dreher was appointed pastor in 1956.  Under his direction, festivals and bazaars were expanded to raise funds for an eight classroom addition to the school which included the construction of an auditorium-gymnasium.

The auditorium had a seating capacity of 650 persons and besides filling the needs of a cafeteria, a gym, and a meeting hall for various parish groups, it became a church on Sundays and Holy Days.  By 1957, the Catholic population of our parish had increased to 1,350 families.

It wasn't long before Sunday Masses were again providing standing room only.  Crowds lined the aisles and halls for each Mass even though there were eight Masses celebrated every Sunday.  A new church seemed the only answer.

In 1960, the combined population of Mentor village and Mentor Township was 21,650 people.  In 1963, Mentor Village and Mentor Township consolidated to become the City of Mentor.

Under Father Dreher's guidance, a drive for pledges from the parishioners was organized and tithing was encouraged within the parish.  After eight years of planning and securing funds, the current St. Mary of the Assumption church was completed and dedicated in 1964.  The cost of construction was $400,000.  Originally there were 23 rows of pews made of red oak.  the glass for the windows was imported from Germany and was prepared by the John Winterich Company.  The cross above the main altar is nine feet long and made of Japanese mahogany.  The image of Christ is six feet long and carved from linden wood.  The new church seated 1,200 people. 

In 1964, there were 1,800 families in the parish.  There were 950 students in the day school, 550 public school elementary students, and 250 high school students attending religion classes.

Father Dreher served as pastor until 1966 and Father Albert Karper became pastor until 1967.  He was followed by Monsignor Michael Ivanko was was pastor until August, 1971.  In 1970, the population of Mentor was 36,912 people.

Father Nicholas Novosel was appointed pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption in 1971 and served until 1977.  The two school buildings were connected by an enclosed hallway at this time.  The rectory, built in 1915, was located on the north side of Mentor Avenue, next to what is currently the National City Bank building.  In 1973, the rectory was moved to the south side of Mentor Avenue and placed next to the school building.  The old church and property was sold to National City Bank.

At this time, the parish festivals offered grand prizes of a television, a speed boat, Cadillac, and a new house.  The house was built by the people of the parish.  This continued for a few years until worker burnout set in and festivals ceased for a while.

Parishioners recall Thanksgiving Day Mass being an annual event for the parish.  Children dressed as pilgrims and everyone gathered in the gym after Mass for coffee and donuts.  It was necessary to have forty dozen donuts to feed everyone.

Father Wildred Smith became the pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption in March, 1977.  The Diocese of Cleveland decreed a change in parish boundaries for Lake County during this year.  St. Mary's original boundaries extended north to Lake Erie, south to Chardon St. Mary, east to Heisley Road, and west to Immaculate Conception Parish in Willoughby.

The new decree gave northern parts of St. Mary of the Assumption parish to St. Bede the Venerable parish; western and northern parts were given to St. John Vianney parish; southern areas were given to Divide Word parish.  After the boundary changes were in place there were 1,225 families in St. Mary of the Assumption parish.

In the 1980's, the Kindergarten was moved from the church basement to the Sunshine room in the school.  School classrooms were increased to meet the needs of student enrollments.

At this time, the program titled "Christ Renews His Parish" was established at St. Mary parish.  "Renewal" enriched the spiritual needs of the people.  the program formed bonds of friendship that strengthened individual commitment to the parish.

In 1988, St. Mary's Adoration Chapel was dedicated.  Parishioners committed to a specific hour to spend in prayer on a regular basis in the chapel.  This spiritual practice, continuing today, blesses the individual and the entire parish.

The population of Mentor continued to grow and numbered 48,960 people in 1990.  The number of families in the parish climbed to 1,720 after the boundary changes of 1977.  In 1992, Farrell Hall was added on to the school and dedicated in honor of Father John Farrell who purchased the land where our present church and school are located.

The City of Mentor celebrated in 1997, its 200th anniversary of the founding of the first settlement in 1797.  A few years later, the City of Mentor received the Ohio Lake Erie Commission Award for environmental stewardship of Lake Erie.  Mentor was the first city on the lakeshore to receive this award.

The year 2000 chimed in the millennium celebration.  Parishioners gathered outside the church doors at 11:59 P.M. on December 31, 1999.  At Midnight, St. Mary's church bells rang out as people walked through the church doors into the church, ringing small bells that had been handed out to everyone.  The first Mass of the new millennium at St. Mary's was celebrated.

At this time there were 2,113 families in the parish.  Plans were announced to refurbish the school, adding classrooms once again, and using the old gym to house a library/science center renovation.  The Weaver Activity Center was built to replace the original gymnasium built in 1956.

To accomplish these plans for expansion, a Millennium Capital Campaign for financial pledges began.  The theme of this fund raising endeavor was Building and Growing Together in Faith and Love.

In 2002, Father Wilfred Smith retired after twenty-five years as pastor and on December 8, 2002, Father Thomas Elsasser was installed as pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption parish.  In this year, the Weaver Activity Center was completed and dedicated by Bishop Martin Amos.

Vibrant Parish Life Phase I began in 2005.  All parishioners were asked to assess the current needs of the parish and envision steps for moving into the future.  The need for a gathering area close to the church and a new Pastoral Care Center were suggestions that emerged from the parishioner assessment.  In 2006, Vibrant Parish Life Phase II began with a capital campaign titled Vision for the Future.  Parishioners were requested to make financial pledges that would enable the parish to move forward to accomplish our vision for the future.  Once again parishioners stepped forward, firm in their commitment and dedication to our parish family.  Construction began on the pastoral care offices and the parish gathering center.  In the future, Phase III will refresh our church building.  $2,500,000 was estimated to complete all phases.

Parish sacramental records in 2006 show 79 Baptisms, 89 First Communions, 77 Confirmation, and 25 marriages.  There were five people who completed the Rite of Christian Initiation as Adults in our parish.

St. Mary of the Assumption parish family reaches out to others in need.  In 2006, St. Mary's volunteers cooked and served 6000 meals to the hungry and homeless of Cleveland.  This was accomplished through the St. Patrick's church and Franklin Circle hot meals program.

In 2006, the St. Vincent de Paul Society of our parish served approximately 127 individuals and families.  They distributed 430 bags of food from the St. Mary's food pantry.  Our St. Vincent de Paul Society contributes funds each month to the St. Patrick's hot meals program and Christ the King parish food pantry in the inner city.  Parishioners also volunteer at Christ the King parish tutoring program in East Cleveland.

In 2007, the Pastoral Care Center and parish gathering center will be dedicated by Bishop Anthony Pilla.  Today there are 2,400 families in our parish.  There are over 450 students from Kindergarten through eighth grade enrolled in our day school.  There are over 200 students enrolled in the Parish School of Religion.  St. Mary of the Assumption parish family celebrates 150 years of service and presence in the City of Mentor and the Diocese of Cleveland.

We, the family of St. Mary of the Assumption, are the living and loving followers of Jesus Christ.  We read of Him in the Gospels and commit our lives to His teaching.  This is no small task.  We refresh ourselves through prayer and the sacraments.  We bring a wondrous message of peace and love that our world thirst for.  This is our mission.  We follow in the footsteps of all those who came before us in our parish.  We honor their faith and dedication and their farsightedness.  They planned for the future of St. Mary of the Assumption.  They anticipated our arrival and the needs of the parish.  We can do no less for those who will follow us.

Informational Sources:
Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Archives Department
Mentor: A Retrospective by Janice Habinski and Ronald L. Prosek
Mentor - The First 200 Years, published by the Mentor Bicentennial Committee/Old Mentor Foundation

Compiled and written by Angela Kovitch
Copyright, 2007.