1948

1948 After World War II, there was an influx of returning veterans and their families to the south side of South Bend. The mini-boom created an overcrowding at St. Matthew. Monsignor William Voors of St. Matthew Church gained permission from Bishop Leo Pursley to begin preparation for what was to become St. Jude Parish. The first Mass was offered by Monsignor A. Wibbert from St. Matthew at Southmore Community Building on December 5, 1948 with 110 registered families. Father John J. Szot, a former Army Chaplain was the first Pastor assigned to St. James Parish and it is believed that the Bishop recommended changing the name to St. Jude to give us a distinct personality and so there wouldn’t be any confusion with the Episcopal Cathedral of St. James Episcopal Church in South Bend.

1950

Ground was broken for the original church for a cost of $85,000-$90,000 with thanks to the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration who offered the materials from one of their chapels they wanted razed and saved St. Jude a great deal of money. Men of the parish spent their evenings and weekends dismantling the building, transporting and reassembling it to form the new church. Architects were Pletcher and Humbrecht of Ft. Wayne and the work was done by Peter Schumacher and Sons of Mishawaka. The cornerstone was blessed on October 29, 1950. The Rosary Sodality was formed with Mary Moorman, President.

1951

The first Mass was offered at the new St. Jude Parish on April 22, 1951 by Father Szot and the dedication took place on June 10, 1951.

1953

The bronze statue of Jesus entitled “Come to Me” that is currently located in the island we drive around in front of church was a gift by renowned sculptor Richmond Barthe, a personal friend of Father Szot. Dedicated on October 25, 1953 , it was inspired by Holy Scripture (Matthew 11:28) “Come to me all you labor and are burdened and I will give you rest”.

1956

Ground was broken for a new school with nine classrooms on April 8, 1956. Four Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis arrived on September 7, 1956 to staff the school with an enrollment of 100 students in the first four grades. Kindergarten was added on October 10, 1956 with parishioner Irene Pilarski as it’s first teacher. She retained that position until 1990. With the help of men from the Parish, Father Szot formed the “Ognib Club” (Bingo spelled backwards) to raise funds for parish needs. Every Thursday night in the school hallway 3 teams of 10 volunteers ran Bingo for 200-300 people.

1960

St. Jude developed a reputation as a very active parish and consequently grew to 550 families, warranting a larger church. On November 20, 1960 ground was broken for the addition which is our present church. It was built to be the temporary church and intended to become the school auditorium/gymnasium. The Marian and Judean (Keller) social rooms were included. The architect was Anthony Panzica and construction was done by Sollitt Construction Co with an estimated cost of $250,000.

1961

The beautiful mosaic was constructed outside of the new church. (please see page 26 for details of the mosaic). The third grade class had more than 60 students taught by one Sister.

1964

The Knights of Columbus, Ave Maria Council 5521 was formed with encouragement by Father Szot. Meetings were held at St. Jude until 1975 when the Knights moved to their present location on South Ironwood.

1965

The St. Jude chapter of St. Vincent DePaul Society was formed and served a large section of the county. The volunteers who deliver food to our needy brothers and sisters rely on donations from parishioners and school children to stock the pantry.

1967

The Home and School Association was founded in the early 1960s and sponsored annual Anniversary Dances to celebrate the vibrant parish life and the first Mass ever said at St. Jude. According to a South Bend Tribune article in 1967, during the year of the 16th Annual Dance, there were 420 students enrolled at St. Jude.

In the wake of Vatican II, the parish adjusted well to the changes of the altar being turn around, the women removing their hats and Mass being said in English. Father Szot instituted the “Friendship Mass” at 8:00pm on Friday nights followed by a social hour and a program billed to be interesting, instructive and entertaining. These programs served to explain Vatican II and were part of what made St. Jude parish so strong in fellowship.

1970

Tragedy struck St. Jude Parish with the unexpected loss of Father Szot due to a heart attack after the 5:30 Mass during Lent on March 16, 1970. Parishioners were quickly alerted and 500 people showed up for an 8:30 pm Mass that very night. The week following Father Szot’s death was Holy Week. Quoting from that week’s parish bulletin: “We dedicate this week - Holy Week 1970 - to our Pastor, Father John J. Szot. Beginning in June of 1949, Father poured out his life building true Christian life in our parish. May we live and share that life together this week under his leadership now from heaven.” Assistant Pastor Father Kenneth Sarrazine was Acting Pastor until Father Raymond Balzer became the second Pastor of St. Jude in July 1970. He brought his love of children and devoted much of his ministry at St. Jude to them. He conducted annual speech contests for them and as an avid tennis player, had courts installed to give lessons to the children of the parish. Father Balzer had an extraordinary devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and held a monthly Holy Hour on First Friday evenings. He also organized the Legion of Mary.

1975

Father Edward Narcowich became the next Pastor of St. Jude in July, 1975. He redesigned the sanctuary, choosing coordinating furnishings; tabernacle, ambo, baptismal font, altar and the holy water fonts at the entrances. He also updated the lighting and commissioned the stained glass windows. He had the rectory remodeled in 1976.

1980

The addition of the Kindergarten classroom and Community Room was built (currently the preschool and art classroom). The seventies brought more changes with the removal of the communion rail, and the introduction of receiving the Body of Christ in the hand. Lay people were trained as Eucharistic Ministers and the people were allowed to receive under both species. The Eucharistic Fast was shortened to one hour, a far cry from the no food or drink (even water) from midnight on, which had been the norm. Microphones were installed, women were allowed in the sanctuary, laity did readings and instead of preaching a sermon, the priest gave a homily.

1982

Father Henry Mascotte came to St. Jude as the fourth Pastor in July, 1982. During his tenure the church received new carpeting & linoleum; the pews were refurbished; a new organ was purchased; a pole barn containing four garages was constructed; 3 houses and 2 garages were torn down; the school, church and rental house were re-roofed; a new entrance and bathroom were added to the gym; St. Jude marquis was installed on Johnson Road; and a computer system was installed in the church office.

1986

The first annual St Jude Parish Festival was held, chaired by Jinx Heaton. Originally, the Festival was a one day celebration that include loads of food and refreshments, Bingo and gaming tables, children’s games, crafts, cake walk, hayride, auction and a raffle. After five successful years, it was decided to add an “adult night” with a Hog Roast. In 1993 the auction became its own event in April. The raffle became the Grand Raffle in 1994 with a grand prize of a new car.

1993

Bishop John D’Arcy appointed Father James Stoyle as the fifth Pastor of St. Jude in August, 1993. He quickly instituted a daily rosary, weekly Holy Hour, First Friday Adoration and Penance services twice a year. The Athletics Association main fundraiser was working the Notre Dame Football Concession stand. It started as a small parking lot stand, grew into the stands under the bleachers and after the stadium enlargement became a major enterprise of 30 volunteers in the new upper deck. The School Board also ran concession stands for Notre Dame basketball and special events for a few years.

1995

The Rosary Sodality was reinstated. The Rosary Sodality members pray the Rosary at funeral homes and request Masses for deceased parishioners. They also send cards to parishioners, sponsor two dinners each year, a cookie walk in December, Spring pilgrimages and is responsible for a variety of charitable activities. Girls were invited to serve as Altar servers. The air conditioning and heating systems were upgraded and lighting in the church increased. The Community Room (current Art Classroom), The Keller Room and the rectory were all updated. The Marian Room was divided to develop a Computer Lab and a smaller meeting room. A memorial gazebo to honor parishioner Dick Gerstbauer was added to house the statue of the Blessed Mother that was blessed on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, 1995.

1997

Phase one of the new playground was installed at the school. The tennis courts were converted to basketball courts. The landscaping was entirely redone around the church and school. Along with blessing of the pets, the new statue of St. Francis in the peace garden was blessed on the Feast of St. Francis, October 4, 1997. The sanctuary was redesigned to conform with the liturgical norms of the church.

1998

Our Golden Anniversary was celebrated with a well attended dinner and dance in the Keller Room and a beautiful pictorial directory with lots of history included. All of the social activities run by Rosary, HASA, Athletics and the Festival has increased enrollment in many areas of St Jude Parish and School: 898 families in the parish, 36 people enrolled in RCIA, 131 students enrolled in CCD, over 100 children attend Vacation Bible School and K-8 school enrollment was 250.

2000

Long time parishioner and helpful handyman, Herm Beutel continued to volunteer his time to the parish with a home base in the garage. He even hosted annual Christmas parties there.

2002

Father Derrick Sneyd was appointed the 6th Pastor of St. Jude Parish. Not long after his arrival Bishop John Michael Darcy chose to combine St. Jude, St. Mary of the Assumption and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parishes. Of the options given to parishioners to choose from, the new name selected for the joined parishes was St. Catherine of Siena.

2004

Lay evangelist Jim Murphy continued his beloved ministry at St. Jude. He offered many retreats, sacramental preparation, Lenten sessions through the years to help us all grow in our relationship with Jesus and strengthen our community at St. Jude.

2006

Father John Delaney was appointed the 7th Pastor of St. Jude Parish and it was on January 28, 2007 that St. Mary of the Assumption Parish was officially merged with St. Jude. St. Jude welcomed St. Mary's members with open arms, of whom, many are still with us today.

2009

Bishop Rhoades was appointed the Ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne – South Bend on November 14, 2009, by Pope Benedict XVI. The convent was torn down in 2007 and the house between the playground and the garage was torn down in 2008.

2010

St. Catherine of Siena Parish went back to being St. Jude and Sacred Heart of Jesus Parishes. A Rosary Walk dedicated to Annette Macknick was added to the Memorial Gazebo by Michael Amor for his Eagle Scout Project.

2011

A new chapter of education began in Indiana when school choice was adopted. At the same time, a parish study group was working hard to establish a vision of a permanent church and major improvements to the school at its current site. This lead to an extensive in-parish survey in the winter of 2012 followed by a $3.9 million parish-wide capital campaign known as "Our Time to Build" that kicked-off that fall.

2013

Completed between March and October of 2013, the building campaign saw major renovations to the church including new flooring, lighting, pews, stained glass windows, furnishings, bell tower, and the addition of a narthex. The school and church benefited from the addition of an elevator and the construction of two new classrooms, conference room, and combined school/parish office space. St. Jude began offering Preschool which took over the previous Kindergarten classroom. The school roof was redone, two custom mosaics of Blessed John Paul II and St. André Bessette, and custom-painted oils of the Stations of the Cross were commissioned. A great deal of time and funding went into improving the external grading of the site, including the purchase and demolition of a home that had been greatly impeding the front view of the property, as well as extensive expansion and modernization of the building's security and HVAC systems.

2015

A new rectory was built for St. Jude Parish with gratitude to a generous donation by a revered long-time parishioner.

2018

After a several year hiatus, the St. Jude Parish Festival was held again in 2018 and 2019 bringing the memories and fun to a new generation. The first graduate of St. Jude School became a priest—Father Danny McShane ‘04 who serves in the Peoria IL Diocese.

2020

Due to the world-wide Covid 19 pandemic St. Jude, like churches everywhere was forced to worship at home via televised Masses. Outdoor Stations of the Cross were originally installed at St. Mary of the Assumption as an Eagle Scout Project by Drew Sittley in 2002 and were erected at St. Jude along the north wall of the church.

2022

The Keller Room experienced a major update with new flooring and paint giving a much brighter place to gather especially for school lunches every day. With an anonymous gift, the Memorial gazebo with the statue of Mary was replaced with a new larger gazebo. The Rosary Walk was updated as an Eagle Scout Project by Dalton McCarty.

2023

The second graduate of St. Jude School became a priest—Father Bobby Krisch ‘05 who serves in the Ft. Wayne-South Bend Diocese and concelebrated the 75th Anniversary Mass at St. Jude Parish. There were many events to celebrate this milestone for St. Jude culminating with the Mass and a Dinner Dance.