History of SPX - 2000's

An anchor of the parish, Leola Flake, completed 32 years of service to the parish as the priest's housekeeper before passing away in the year 2000.  The kitchen in the Pastoral Offices which served as the rectory until 2007 is named in Leola's memory.  As a parish we have always been blessed with many dedicated individuals such as Leola, Msgr. Tom, Betty Jennings, Martha Jo Kerr, Betty Beam - Church Sacristan for many, many years, and Mary Robertson who served as school Librarian as well as Altar Coordinator for decades.

Three staff members were hired in 2000.  Kassie Andries succeeded Virginia Hemmi as director of the CCD program.  The program has grown by leaps and bounds and also required a Spanish director.  In July, Josie Pacheco filled the new position of Spanish CCD director.  And in September John Farrell became the first chief financial officer for the parish.

  Once again St. Pius leads with candidates for deacon.  Parishioners Patrick Roffino, Dave Obergfell and Ed Leyden were accepted into the permanent diaconate formation program.


2001 began on a sad note.  An employee was found to have sexually abused several parish children during the summer of 2000.  Having already begun to implement the diocesan Safe Environment Program in 1999, a concerted effort toward child advocacy was begun with the hiring of Mary Schaar as Director of Safe Environment.  The healing process of our community was sped along as many parishioners stepped forward to cooperate with the many requirements of this awareness program.  All employees, clergy and volunteers that work with children, youth and vulnerable adults have been trained and screened. 

In the spring of 2001, Lydia Montgomergy, long time manager of the Religious Goods Store, retired and Daion Christenson stepped in as manager.  In July the parish was pleased to hear that Father Jacob Angadiath, who came from India to serve St. Pius from 1984 to 1997, was elevated to Syro-Malabar Catholic Bishop.  Many altar servers and parishioners have very fond memories of Bishop Jacob.

As the summer of 2001 came to an end, so did the tenure of Catriona Wilke as Youth Minister.  Catriona moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas Law School. Rachel Lorenz assumed the position of Youth Minister.

The school varsity football team under the head coaching of Bill Persinger not only won the DPL championship game but they also did not allow an opponent to score a point all year!  Wow.  This is a first in the long history of DPL sports.

After 2 years as an assistant in the Youth Ministry,  Consuelo (Chelo) Garcia left in early 2002 to pursue her education.  Samantha Patterson (Sam) stepped in to the vacancy left by Chelo.  In March of 2002 we sponsored a visit from Father Cantalamessa, the preacher for the pope.  We very much enjoyed the presentations that he made and the unique perspective on our church that he brings. 
 

In 2002 we greeted a new school principal.  Rob Whitworth came to St. Pius X from Ganado, Texas.  Rob is a graduate of the University of Dallas, liked the area when he was at the university and chose to return with his family to participate in educating Catholic students. 

Priest reassignments are a way of life in every parish and 2002 is no different.  In June of 2002, Fr. Mar Ortiz, a native of the Philippines came to us from New Jersey but only stayed with us until the end of August of that year.  Fr. Cliff Garner who arrived in 1999 left St. Pius X in July of 2002.  Deacon Juan Ibarra expanded his role at St. Pius X at the beginning of August.  Deacon Ibarra assists the pastor.

In 2002, the St. Pius X community was blessed with good news when the Bishop announced the establishment of a new mission in Mesquite called “Divine Mercy”.  Led by Fr. Ernie Torres of St. Augustine, many of our dear parishioners left St. Pius to become founding members of the very first Catholic Church in the city of Mesquite.  This continues a tradition of new churches either being created or having a strong association with St. Pius.  St. Michael, Sacred Heart, Our Lady of the Lake, St. Peter (Vietnamese), St. Thomas (Indian) and Divine Mercy all have significant heritage with St. Pius X.  St. Pius X of course is the offspring of St. Bernard parish.

Amid the normal changes, we significantly upgraded facilities.  The school received a new tile floor in the hall, new lighting in the hallways and classrooms, new ceilings and half of the school received new windows.  These are just some of the more noticeable changes.  Many others have taken place, such as the refurbishment of the gym.

Fr. O'Brien, who became a priest in residence in 1988, passed away on August 29 of 2002.   We have a memorial to Fr. O'Brien, pictures, his writings and his obituary. 

Fr. Don Zeiler joined St. Pius X Parish in September of 2002.  This is a homecoming of sorts since seminarian Don Zeiler served an internship here at St. Pius X as part of his formation.  Once again we have been blessed with incredible good fortune in having such a wonderful person in our service.

The school varsity football team closed our the year 2002 by winning their second consecutive Dallas Parochial League (DPL) championship.  The eighth graders on this Tiger football team won DPL championships in 3 of their 4 years of participation.  The previous year they were not only unbeaten but no opponent scored any points.

In January of 2003 one of the properties owned by the parish at 2815 San Medina was determined to be surplus and was sold in that month.
  


In March, Lilia Luna joined the church office staff.



 A major milestone in early 2003 was the re-commissioning by Monsignor Pichard of a Master Plan Committee to once again address the facility needs of the parish for the long term.  The committee comprised of Len Ruby, Bill Armstrong, Cindy Dewan and John Farrell hired Droese Raney Architects and together with parish staff they reviewed the current plan.  With input from many individuals and groups, they created a new Master Plan.  This new plan envisioned four phases.  Phase I encompassed improvement of the church for handicapped access.  Phase II addressed cafeteria and youth organization needs with a new building to accommodate a kitchen, cafeteria/reception hall, scout room, youth facility, teacher's lounge and conference room.  Phase III included a new priest residence.  Phase IV would be a redevelopment of the land west of the church and would include a new day care facility, parking and a green space.

The summer of 2003 facility improvements were a mixture of additions, renovations and looking forward.  The largest project was the replacement of the remainder of the school windows that had been started in.  But just as significant to the students was the renovation of the junior high girls and gym boy's restrooms. 

Two events also marked the initiation of the new Master Plan.  As school was beginning for the year, the old convent building was being removed in August to allow for the construction of Phase II of the plan, Communion Hall.   This was quite the event for the kids to see.  The picture to the right shows the cleared land where once stood the convent.

The second event was implementation of Phase I.  This phase began and was almost completed in the fourth quarter of 2003.  This represented the second major change to the church since it was built.  The first major change was the copper roof added in 1997.  Handicapped access significantly improved with ramps from the parking lot to the plaza area, ramps to the front porch of the church and additional restricted parking.  The next major change would take place in 2004/2005 with the replacement of flooring with marble tile.

Not all of the renewal programs are for the physical plant.  In June of 2003, Bishops Grahmann and Galante asked all parishes of the Diocese to engage in the work of the new evangelization called for by Pope John Paul II by participating in Renew 2000.  Renew is a tangible pastoral plan for parishes that takes place over a three year period.  By offering materials, both in English and Spanish, that are rich in spiritual and catechetical content, this program develops a solid and long-lasting foundation for the establishment of small Christian communities.  The St. Pius community responded wholeheartedly to this plan when over 500 people signed up for groups conducted in English and over 300 participated in the Spanish program.  Many friendships have formed and our parish is strengthened as we become part of the reconciled and renewed world as envisioned by Pope John Paul II.

Another change in the parish is in the backroom operations.  In 2003 George Montgomery retired as Director of Counters to be replaced by Lelon Beckham.  Since the beginning of parishioner money counters in 1954, there have only been 4 directors prior to Lelon.  They are: Russell Spetter 1954-1958; Carl Wilkinson 1958-1969; Paul Klement 1969-1970 and George Montgomery 1970-2003.

Phase I of the Master Plan was officially completed in January of 2004.  A funeral for John K. Farrell on January 20th marked the first occasion that the ramps were used to bring a coffin into the church.

The year 2004 is an important year for St. Pius X Catholic Church marking our 50th year of service to the community.  The first event of this occasion was held February 21st, beginning with a Jubilee Mass concelebrated by Bishop Galante, Msgr. Pichard, Msgr. Weinzapfel, Msgr. King and other priests.  The celebration continued afterward in the gym and honored those pioneer parishioners young and old that have meant so much to the parish.  Smaller events throughout the year recognize the history of the parish and to looked forward to the next 50.   Click here for pictures and the event schedule.

Construction on the new building officially began April 12th with excavation and minor demolition.  Pope Pius X was a proponent of more frequent communion service and so we honor him by naming our new building Communion Hall.  Completion of the building occurred in 2005. 

But this wasn't the only improvement project.  The 2003 carnival proceeds helped to finance the purchase of marble for the church.  The project to tile the ground floor was a wonderful volunteer success.  The church beautification didn't stop there.  Over the years, many pieces of stained glass have been damaged.  These were also replaced . The Spanish Mass first added in 1997 attracted over 1200 weekly worshippers in 2004.  To alleviate the overcrowding, the 1 p.m. Mass changed from English to Spanish.  The first week of the change saw attendance double for the Spanish Masses.  With all this growth came spiritual needs and thus more ministries conducted in Spanish.  Some of our most active ministries include CCD, Tuesday night and Sunday afternoon bible study groups, numerous Jovenes groups, and Guadalupanos.

Each year, we lose assets valuable to the parish.  After 2 years Rob Whitworth stepped down as principal of the school to return to his roots in Ganado, TX where he will assume the position of principal of Ganado H.S..  But after an absence of 8 years, the school happily announced the return of Dr. Carol Newman as principal. 

Over the summer of 2004 the primary building underwent a refurbishment.  New flooring, outside painting and foundation sealing were all completed.  This is one of many projects done in 2004 to improve the parish facilities.

St. Pius X was selected to participate in an intern program in conjunction with Notre Dame University.  Four ND students, working on their masters degrees, came to Dallas to work at various parishes for two years.  They gained valuable experience in parish life.  Kim Otto represented Notre Dame at St. Pius X working with both the CCD and Youth programs.  And speaking of youth, Samantha Patterson assumed the leadership of the youth ministry this year.

As the year 2004 drew to a close, Fr. Don Zeiler was reassigned to pastor the congregation at Holy Spirit in Duncanville.  This was the second tour of duty for Fr. Don at St. Pius X and many great friendships were made or renewed.  Fr. Don's replacement was Fr. Jose Figueroa. 

And to the year 2004 closed with sad news that a favorite of the parish, Mr. Sam Shelby died on December 10th.  Sam was the long-time maintenance manager before health issues forced him to the sidelines.  Sam was known to the school children as the man who could punt a ball like a rocket taking off, even with the stub of a cigar in his mouth.  Those were wonderful memories.  Sam also was a genius at getting the classrooms cleaned.  Since he was the only maintenance employee, he employeed many a school kid to empty the trash and sweep the floors.  There were always willing takers for this deal and it was pure genius because you didn't want to mess up the classroom that your buddy had to clean! Sam was buried in the Dallas/Fort Worth Cemetery.

The school was very active in the 2004/05 term.  The following teams, events or positions were pursued again:  Speech, Spelling Bee, Geography Bee, Poetry Recitation, and Guidance Counselor.  2005 marked the first ever meet win for our Dallas Parochial League Swim team.


In early 2005, Jeanie Easler retired as director of the St. Pius X Early Care and Education Center.  Carolyn Blassingame stepped up as the third director in the history of our day care.

A big event for the parish was the blessing of Communion Hall on March 28th 2005.  Three years of planning, demolition and construction came to a close with this event.  The 14,500 sq ft Hall houses a new kitchen, cafeteria, teacher lounge, conference room, scout room, concession pod and youth room.  The facility and improvements to the courtyard and replacement of the back parking lot came to $2,000,000.  The name honors the work of Pope Pius X and the building was designed by the firm Droese.Raney Architecture.  The students in the school under the direction of Robbie Gavos built a wonderful installation art project to line the procession path from the church to Communion Hall.

The third church tile project was completed in April.  Another volunteer success, this completes the changeover from carpet to Italian marble tile.

Fr. Philip from India arrived in March to be in residence with us.  We are fortunate to have Fr. Phillips for a number of months each year.  Paul Powers was assigned to our parish as a deacon making a total of five active deacons serving our parish.
In April of 2005, the back or south parking lot and drive leading to Gus Thomasson Rd. was completely replaced with concrete.  The lot was due for a makeover and after construction traffic, it really needed replacement.

St. Pius X has a number of very beautiful buildings, statues and artwork.  Communion Hall incorporated an art project designed exclusively for the building, this rendition of the Leonardo DaVinci painting the Last Supper.

With the completion of Communion Hall, the summer of 2005 meant changes at the school.  The old teachers lounge and cafeteria became two new classrooms and three storage areas.  Room 100 became the art room and new room 101 became the music room.  In addition, rooms 303 and 306 in the primary building were converted to a new computer lab and computer development area.  Rooms 204, 208 and 209 were painted, new ceilings installed and new lights.  The parish hall also underwent an updating.  The ceiling was replaced, new lights added, the walls painted, 14 panes of glass replaced, the religious goods store was removed and window curtains replaced.  For a complete project list, click here.

St. Pius X has always been a very generous and diverse parish.  In 1975 when South Vietnam fell, the parish helped a large number of refugees from that country get established here in our neighborhood.  After the devastation of hurricane Katrina in August of 2005, our parishioners leapt into action to refurbish and reconfigure 3 houses that the parish used for meetings.  These houses were then used to house families fleeing from the destruction of New Orleans from the hurricane.  In addition to providing free housing, furniture and utilities for the families, the school accepted their children and the children of other families affected by the hurricane.  Free education was provided to a total of 12 students.  We are very proud of our parishioners for their efforts.

In October of 2005 Rev. Arturo Kannee, a native of Venezuela, arrived at St. Pius X as parochial vicar.  In late November Deacon Juan Ibarra moved to Virginia.  Juan was a tremendous asset to the parish.  December saw Kassie Andries leave as CCD director.  Long-time Spanish CCD director Josie Pacheco stepped up to handle the entire program. 

2005 certainly was an event filled year. 

As 2006 dawned and who knew what a busy year this would be.  The year started with long time employee Loc Tran retired after many years of faithful service to the parish.  Loc's family is originally from China but migrated to north Vietnam to escape persecution for being Catholic.  When the communists took over north Vietnam, Loc moved to south Vietnam and fought for the south Vietnamese army.  When that country fell in 1975, Loc and his family came to the United States under an assistance program from the U.S. State Department.  Loc worked at St. Pius since that time.

On March 31st and April 1st of 2006 the parishioners once again tackled an enormous volunteer project.  The plaza area in front of the school and church was due for a major overhaul.  Trees were trimmed, old vegetation removed, stone edging added, yards and yards of dirt and mulch brought in, lighting added to the trees, benches redone and hundreds and hundreds of plants installed.  Preliminary tasks were completed Friday including the staging of material but the work really began on Saturday.  Over 100 people participated in this wonderful project.  Click here for details and pictures.

Keeping with a theme of nature, a greenhouse was purchased and installed.  This facility is used for the gardening elective at the school and for other nature lovers.

The auction committee selected the Roffino family as the honored guests in 2006.  Tony and Mary Roffino and family are the bedrock upon which a wonderful parish is built.  We were pleased to have this family as our first honored family.  The auction itself was a great success and we welcomed Mary and her family to the event.

As usual, Fr. Philip from India arrived in April to be in residence with us for a couple of months.   In an effort to promote internet safety, a Cheyenne Kimball came to the school to perform a concert that was filmed by MTV.  The students interviewed Ms. Kimball and all had a great time while learning ways to behave responsibly the internet.

Our carnival this year was held May 20th.  This was a new experience for us in that in previous years the Ladies Society ran the carnival.  This year Jean Cook marshaled the forces of many parish organizations.  The new courtyard was the focus of the food booths, the gym had games for the kids and the field was home to a very large entertainment tent and some bounce houses.  As they say, a good time was had by all.  Prior to the carnival we completed a lighting project on the field.  John Farrell, Deacon David Leerssen, Jon Sherman, Tom Farrell and the SPX maintenance staff did a wonderful job of putting up the light poles and supplying the power.  Thank you to Leroy Juel for the donation of the poles and some lights.

Two additional parishioners joined the ranks of the diaconate.  Ed Leyden and Dave Obergfell were ordained on June 24, 2006.  As with most of the St. Pius X men that have been ordained, they are working elsewhere in the diocese.  And even though this is a regular occurrence, we never quite get used to losing priests.  In June Fr. Jose was to be re-assigned to St. Luke parish in June.  As Fr. Jose left, we were blessed with another visiting priest from India, Fr. Sebastian.  And the school lost two employees.  Maureen Kelly, a second grade teacher and Cindy "Schatzie" Bell, a long-time secretary both moved on.

The parish began a new program called Why Catholic? an adult faith study of scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  This is a follow-up of the popular Renew program initiated in 2003 and concluded in 2005.

The St. Pius X Men's Softball Team placed 1st in the Mesquite Church "D" Fall League.  And a third Spanish Mass was added in September to accommodate the need.  We continue to grow in leaps and bounds.

2006 did not have the number of completed improvement projects as in previous years but we certainly did some important things.  The biggest improvement has been to the plaza which has been enhanced with beautiful plants.  With Communion Hall coming on line, two houses belonging to St. Pius have been made available.  This allowed us to pursue another step in the master planning process, moving the priests from the rectory to homes.  These two houses were updated for residential use and the priests moved in the fall.  2006 also saw the continued restoration of the metal fixtures in the church.

A tradition at St. Pius X has been the strong commitment to Catholic education.  St. Pius X parishioners and the parish have supported Bishop Lynch H.S. from the inception through both manual and financial support.  The football stadium and baseball field are both named for St. Pius X families - Roffino Stadium and McIngvale Field.  And at the end of 2006 the parish completed a 5 year pledge to raise $100,000 to support the construction of the Bishop Lynch H.S. fine arts building.  Bringing a busy 2006 to a close, Martha Cano joined the parish office staff as a receptionist.

2007 started with a really big change.  For the first time in 50 years there won't be a Kerr staffing the church office.  Martha Jo Kerr began the tradition in 1956 and Neely Kerr began working at St. Pius in 1974 and worked for the parish until January of 2007. 

Another step in the Master Plan was implemented.  When the priests moved into homes, the rectory was now able to begin a more complete conversion into the Pastoral Offices.  Work proceeded to renovate and remodel parts of this facility into appropriate office space. 

Msgr. Thomas Weinzapfel, pastor for the parish for so long was honored for the tremendous work he did shepherding this parish.  The committee that organizes the auction in support of the school selected Msgr. as the honored guest at the 2007 auction.  The parish is deeply indebted to Msgr. Weinzapfel. 

The biggest event to start the year was the restoration of one of the  beams that supports the roof of the church.  These massive supports carry the whole weight of the roof.  One that was not visible for inspection had been damaged by termites.  Left unchecked this would have had far reaching consequences.  Just look at what the beam looked like after the damaged wood was removed.   The project was very delicate.  To learn more about it, please Click here.
 

After 39 years the tabernacle has been restored.  Over time all metal objects are subject to environmental decay and the metal fixtures in the church are no exception.  Over the last couple of years all of the holy water fonts, the incense stand, and all candle stands have been restored.  The tabernacle is by far the largest and most beautiful metal object in the church and the restoration was completed in time for the 2007 Easter service.

This is a dynamic parish, growing, ebbing and growing again.  Since January of 2002 St. Pius X was pleased to be able to support and house the fledgling independent ministry of Angels R Us.  This group provided resources to indigent mothers and since that time was using a surplus Early Care house for their operation.  With the growth of our day care program, this house is once again required for their use and Angels vacated at the end of May.

In May of 2007 we welcomed Bishop Kevin J. Farrell as head of the Diocese of Dallas.  The Bishop visited all of the parishes and schools in very short order and everyone was pleased at the outreach.  Born in Ireland, Bishop Farrell's previous assignment was at the Diocese of Washington D.C.

During the summer, the remodeling of our 2736 San Vicente house was completed.  This allowed our Early Care program to have an open house to welcome kids, parents and staff to the new after school care facility.  For a full list of improvement projects, click here.

Lelon Beckham retired from being head of the counting teams and he was replaced by Jim Farrell. T he eighth grade classes of 2007-08 and 2008-09 donated money to put in lights in the back parking lot along the sidewalk leading to Communion Hall.

Three our young parishioners continued the strong scouting tradition in our parish.  Caleb Matthews, Atilano Garza and Luis Lerma, Jr achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.  All three conducted their Eagle project on our property, improving the environment by planting trees.  Caleb planted trees around our Early Care houses.  Atilano planted five pear trees behind the church.  Luis planted a number of trees on the field along Materhorn.

As 2008 dawned, Palm Sunday saw the debut of a newsletter for the parishioners dubbed "The Pius Times".  This first edition is available for viewing here.  (Large File Warning, Don't Click Unless You Have Time.)   Fr. Philip once again spent his winter break from the seminary in India.  We enjoy having Fr. Philip for what is our summer.

The parish determined that property oat 2815 San Medina was surplus and sold in 2008.

The Collins family, Joe and Mildred, were honored by the 2008 school auction.  Joe was very influential in the early development of the parish and a key advisor to Msgr. Weinzapfel for many years.  One of the Collins daughters, Pat Shotland, taught at our school for many years.

The big volunteer project for the year 2008 was landscaping in front of and on the east side of the parish hall.  This completes the landscaping that was done in 2006 to the west side of the parish hall and the plaza.  The effort was extraodinary and  involved over 120 individuals.  In addition, the Eagle projects of two scouts were incorporated into this project.  Click here for the full report and pictures.

To the delight of many, the ladies room in the church was also remodeled this year.   Hooray.

2008 is a milestone in our parish.  The 40th anniversary of the completion of the church occurred this year.  Curiously a decision needed to be made concerning when to commemorate this event.  The original dedication of the building was the feast of Pope Pius X which in 1968 was September the 3rd.  However, this feast day was moved to August 21st.  So the decision was made to celebrate the occasion close to the feast day rather than the original dedication day.    So on Saturday, August 23rd at the 5 pm Mass.  Bishop Kevin Farrell celebrated Mass with pastor Msgr. Pichard.  On hand and recognized was John Barthel the designer of the building (click here for John's obituary).  A short video of pictures taken to document the construction was shown at all Masses over the weekend.  After the 5 pm Mass there was a massive celebration in the courtyard in front of Communion Hall where food was abundant.  Click here for pictures from the evening but for even more information about the church construction, renovations, repairs and this celebration, including a special addition of the Pius Times, please click here .

On a sad note our pastor Msgr. Larry Pichard was reassigned in November.  Fr. Larry is a product of the St. Pius X School and we are very proud to have had him as pastor.  On November 29th the diocese announced that he would be replaced by Fr. Michael Guadagnoli on January 5th 2009.

The year 2009 started off with the sad news that our friend and former leader Bishop Tschoepe died on January 24.  Bishop Tschoepe would be missed.

We welcomed our new pastor Fr. Guadagnoli at a reception on January 11th after his first full weekend of Masses.  Also on the 11th the ringing of the bells at the consecration of the hosts and wine was implemented at all Masses, a tradition that had stopped a number of years prior.  Read more about the bell ringing here. 

Speaking of the bells, for many years the use of bells in the church to signify the consecration were not used.  In 2009 the actual bells used over the previous years in our church returned to service.  The bells in use are those from the original church, now the parish hall.  These bells were given to the church in memory of Leonard D. (Lee) Benedetto in 1967 by his son-in-law Angelo Saraceni's brothers Ralph, Joseph, Domenic and Tony.  Beginning January 12th we began a major project to replace the air handling equipment at the church.  For a complete project description, click here.

The school has a tradition, begun in 1960, of hanging the class pictures of each graduating class in the hall.  In 1970 the transition to color pictures began.  Unfortunately, the technology wasn't very good and the pictures for years 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973 faded.  We engaged the Impressionist School Portraits to restore the pictures.  Click here for before and after pictures.

In March of 2009, Rebecca Sutton, the 4th through 6th grade science teacher was selected as one of 2 honorees from 50 countries for her work teaching rocketry to the students.  Click for more information.

The school auction selected the Sansone family as the 2009 honored family.  Mr. Mike Sansone was a marine veteran of World War II and survived a devastating attack by the Japanese on the ship USS Franklin.  The Franklin was recognized as the most damaged ship that did not sink during WWII.  Mike and Kay are well known for their generous spirit and the wonderful children they have raised.  Kay and Mike's family were able to join them for a very fun auction.

In 2007 a number of Sweet Gum trees around the Pastoral Office had to be removed since they were proving to be a hazard.  Sweet Gum trees produce balls that when dropped cause a walking hazard.  In April of 2009 Mitch Taylor took on the task of planting Maple trees along the south facing of the building as part of his Eagle Scout project.  On the west face of the church he also replaced three crepe myrtle bushes that had some issues with Bradford Pear trees to match the other side of the drive.  For pictures click here.

Art is a big part of the St. Pius X culture.  Art is in the church, school and in the homes of our talented parishioners.  One talented parishioner is Jerry Jensen.  Check out his art here.

To close out 2007 the parish sold a second surplus property.  The house at 3003 San Medina was sold.

Speaking of art, on May 17, 2009 we introduced the latest improvement in our bulletin.  In 2008 we were able to upgrade to color printing inside the bulletin.  With the May 17 bulletin, we have additional resources and a new look. 

With support from many parishioners, Byron McKnight, Bibi McKnight, Mitch McKnight and our CFO John F. Farrell traveled to Guatemala on a mission trip.  The McKnight's have been doing this for many years but this was the first time for our CFO.  Check out all things Guatemalan.

June 19th, 2009 marked the beginning of the Year for Priests as declared by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  This is in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of St. John Marie Vianney, whom he has declared the Universal Patron of Priests.  St. Pius X kicked off the year with a special Alumni Newsletter written by our very own alum, Bev Kosco class of 1971.  Check it out here.

Zachary Packard, a seminarian with family ties to St. Pius X, spent about 6 weeks with us over the summer, learning the ropes and getting to know the people.  Zach's mother Mary is a member of the Cook family, Bill and Betty Cook.  They were long time members of the parish and their children all attended St. Pius X School.

 

Over the summer the original chain link fence around the playground was replaced with a metal fence that matches the other metal fencing that we have been installing this decade.  Click here to read a description and see pictures of that project.  

We welcomed seminarian Zachary Webb to the parish at the beginning of September.  Each seminarian spends a year with a parish as part of the development process toward being ordained a priest.  The pastoral year goes from September to May. 

 

2009 was a very busy year with many changes.  After many years of service, our cafeteria manager, Kathy Milano, moved on.  Ann Stover, moved up to assume the management of the cafeteria.  Previously Ann was in charge of the day care food service program managed by our cafeteria.

In October of 2009 Fr. Lloyd Morris came to St. Pius X to serve as a priest in residence.  A priest in residence is affiliated with a church of their choosing (in consultation with the diocese) normally after they have retired from active duty as a priest.  The parish is pleased to have Fr. Morris and his wife as part of our family.
 

The St. Vincent DePaul Society at St. Pius X received a grant that enabled them to reach out to their clients and perform service that they currently do not have the financial resources to manage.  The first project involved Mary Schaar, Phillip Young and Bill Bauer of SVDP and parishioners associated with FW Properties, LLC.   SVDP paid for the materials and FW Properties organized and staffed the endeavor.  For more about this joint venture, click here.


We had a little fun in November of 2009 with a concrete repair that we did in the back parking lot.  Click here for a few fun pictures of that event.

The sound system was upgraded courtesy of David Hemmi.  In November the microphones and amplifier were replaced thus improving the quality of sound for everyone hearing that sound through our speaker system.  In December we were pleased to announce a big improvement in the system for our hearing impaired parishioners.  A loop system was installed.  This system takes the sound going through our system and transmits it on an AM frequency.  This signal can then be picked up by an ear bud device (similar to headphone set) for those without hearing aids or a loop worn around the neck for those with hearing aids.  The loop sends the sound directly to the individual's hearing aid.  Mr. Hemmi generously donated the equipment and his time.  We thank him for a tradition of giving to St. Pius X Parish begun by his father.