A SHORT HISTORY

OF SAINT ANNE CHURCH and MISSIONS

·          1857—Archbishop Francis N. Blanchet visited the Indians and held services for them in what is now Grants Pass in December,  1857.  The Oregon City archbishop was returning from South America by way of Jacksonville seeking funds to alleviate church debt. 

·          1864-1867—The first church and its adjoining cemetery were blessed by Father Francis X. Blanchet at Allen Gulch near Waldo on March 17, 1864.  Archbishop Francis N. Blanchet later blessed the Saint Patrick church cross and cemetery on October 8, 1867. 

·          1880’s—Father Francis X. Blanchet, nephew of Archbishop Blanchet and pastor of St. Joseph parish, Jacksonville, purchased property in Grants Pass in the 1880’s hoping to build a church here “by early 1886.” 

·          1883-1887—Grants Pass begin to grow with the arrival of the Oregon and California Railroad from Portland in December, 1883.  Grants Pass became part of Josephine County in 1885 and the county seat on January 1, 1886.  Grants Pass was incorporated as a city in 1887. 

·          1895-1897—Father Louis P. Desmarais, pastor of Jacksonville, began raising funds for a church in Grants Pass, in 1895.  He blessed the new church building on October 11, 1896.  The church sat 100 persons and measured 40 X 24 square feet with an additional 16 X 14 square foot sacristy.  Non-Catholics raised $500 of the total $800 cost of the church.  Archbishop William Gross dedicated the church named after Saint Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on October 24, 1897.  The church was named after the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre in Quebec, Canada. 

·          1899—Father Michael J. Hickey became the first resident pastor of Saint Anne on September 9, 1899. 

·          1905-1909—Benedictine priests from Mt. Angel Abbey, Saint Benedict, Oregon, took over St. Anne parish from 1905 to 1909 due to a shortage of diocesan clergy.

·          1910—The St. Anthony chapel car of the Catholic Extension Society visited Grants Pass on March 3, 1910. 

·          1922—Father George Coupal, brother of Father S.A. Coupal, pastor of St. Anne, celebrated his first Mass at St. Anne after his ordination to the archdiocesan priesthood in December, 1922. 

·          1944-1946—Father Augustine Meyer, pastor of St. Anne, resumed saying Mass on a regular basis at St. Patrick of the Forest church in Cave Junction in 1944.  He began celebrating Mass on alternate weeks between St. Patrick and Holy Family church in Glendale in 1945.  St. Anne parish served three stations by 1946:  Cave Junction, Glendale and Provolt. 

·          1948-1949—Father Meyer began construction of a gymnasium opposite St. Anne church in September, 1948.  The building which served as a parish recreation and social hall, accommodated 300 persons and was located on what is now 8th and N.E. ‘C’ Streets.  Archbishop Edward Howard dedicated the hall on September 18, 1949.  Father Dan Kelly was pastor at its dedication. 

·          1951—Father Kelly obtained four Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement in February, 1951, to offer St. Anne parish religious instruction.  The sisters opened a kindergarten with 23 children in the church on September 8, 1951.  Parish Masses were already being celebrated in the larger parish gymnasium as the church was too small. 

·          1952—Archbishop Edward Howard dedicated the second St. Patrick of the Forest church, Cave Junction, on May 11 1952. 

·          1954—Father Dan Kelly purchased 6 acres on N.E. 10th Street, Grants Pass, in 1954, for the construction of a new rectory, church, convent and school building for St. Anne parish. 

·          1954—Father Dan Kelly also oversaw the construction of a mission church, Holy Family, at Glendale.  The church was to replace a lean-to meeting hall where Mass was celebrated after the first, and even smaller, church was sold and later demolished.  Father Kelly obtained a $5,000 grant from the Catholic Extension Society on August 4, 1954, for the construction of the new Glendale church. 

·          1956-1959—Father Kelly built his new rectory on 10th Street in 1956.  He began construction of a new church in 1959.  The new church was to be a fireproof, long rectangular building that would seat 700 persons.  The original church design called for two rows of pews facing what is now the west entrance where the main altar was to be placed.  Father Edmund Murnane, pastor of St. Mary parish in Eugene and friend of Father Kelly persuaded the St. Anne pastor to place the altar in the middle of the church so that people could see both the altar and the priest. 

·          1960-1962—Father Bernadin Singleton replaced Father Kelly as pastor of St. Anne in 1960 when the church was two-thirds completed.  Father Singleton said the first Mass in the still unfinished church on February 4, 1962.  Archbishop Edward Howard dedicated the new church on May 31, 1962. 

·          1963—Holy Family Mission, Glendale, became a mission of All Souls parish, Myrtle Creek, on September 3, 1963. 

·          1966-1967—Father Nicholas Deis succeeded Father Singleton as pastor of St. Anne.  He saw the new sisters’ convent completed and blessed on October 22, 1966.  The convent was located on the 10th Street property southwest of the church.  He also saw the completion of the new St. Patrick of the Forest hall, Cave Junction, in 1967. 

·          1967—Father Greg Gage became the first priest to be ordained from St. Anne parish.  He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Portland on May 20, 1967, at the Portland Cathedral.  Father Gage celebrated his first Mass the following day, May 21 Pentecost Sunday, at St. Anne.  Archbishop Robert Dwyer was homilist for his first parish Mass. 

·          1968—Father Deis added a second floor to the parish gymnasium on 8th and ‘C’ Streets.  The upstairs was used as a parish hall and meeting room for the Knights of Columbus.  The downstairs contained six classrooms, a kitchen and a smaller hall.   

·          1969-1970—Father Jeremiah Linehan, pastor of St. Anne, established a new mission at Rogue River.  Mass was first celebrated at Hope Presbyterian Church, Rogue River, on December 7, 1969.  Father opened a station at Provolt on August 15, 1970, with a Saturday Vigil Mass at the Provolt Grange Hall. 

·          1979—St. Anne dedicated its new parish center in back of the church on Sunday, September 23, 1979. 

·          1980—Archbishop Cornelius Power blessed the new St. Patrick of the Forest church, Cave Junction, on August 10, 1980.  The new church, built at a cost of $160,000, seated 200 persons.  It was built adjoining the parish hall on West River Street.  Father Tom Whelan, OSA, and Father Ray Elam, OSA, took over pastoral duties at the Rogue River Catholic Mission, in the summer of 1980.  They began conducting retreats in Rogue River for the Southern Oregon Catholic parishes. 

·          1981—Father Remi (Ronald) Shibler, OSB, of Rogue River, was ordained a priest in the Benedictine Order in the Mt. Angel Abbey church by Archbishop Cornelius Power at St. Benedict, Oregon, on May 30, 1981.  A week later, Father Remi celebrated Mass on Saturday evening, June 6th, in the Rogue River Catholic Community Church (Hope Presbyterian).  He celebrated his first Mass at St. Anne church, the following day, June 7th.  

·           1983—The new Southern Oregon archdiocesan retreat center, St. Rita of Cascia, was dedicated on Pentecost Sunday, May 22, 1983.  Father Tom Whelan, OSA, and Father Bill Ryan, OSA, were in charge of the retreat center.  The retreat center, located in Gold Hill, cost $120,000, largely financed by contributions by the Catholic parishes of Southern Oregon.

·          1985—The St. Anne convent was closed in 1985. 

·          1989—The Provolt mission was moved to the American Legion Hall in Williams in 1989.  It is now called the Provolt-Williams Mission. 

·          1992—Alanna McLean and Beth Tardieu, vacation bible school teachers at St. Anne, approached Father Karl Schray about the possibility of starting a Catholic elementary school.  Father Schray approached David Paul-Zuber, principal of Sacred Heart School, Medford, about adopting St. Anne School as a satellite school of Sacred Heart.  David Paul-Zuber agreeed to serve as principal to both schools to meet Archdiocesan school requirements.  The new school was approved by the St. Anne parish councils and the Archbishop of Portland and opened on September 8, 1992.  The school opened with a first grade class of 20 pupils and a combined second and third grade class with 18 pupils.  The classes were held in the parish center classrooms and the new school office was located in room 3 in the center.  The Provolt-Williams mission closed with the last Mass celebrated in the Legion Hall on April 12, 1992. 

·          1993—St. Anne added a separate third grade in 1993 with a total student enrollment of 38.  Bob Chapin of St. Anne parish was ordained a deacon for the Archdiocese of Portland by Archbishop William Levada on November 5, 1993, in the Portland Cathedral. 

·          1994—A half-day kindergarten and fourth grade were added to St. Anne School in the fall of 1994.  All grades are located in the parish center classrooms.  Frankie Bytheway became St. Anne Catholic’s School’s first principal.  The school was now independent of Sacred Heart School.  The school opened with 96 students.  A priests’ residence was acquired on Churchhill Street the same year.  Fr. Bob Barricks was assistant from 1994 to 1996.

 ·    1995—The old church on 10th Street was converted into a    kindergarten and first grade classrooms and school offices in 1995.  The former St. Anne convent was converted into parish offices.  A fifth grade was added to the school this year.

·          1996—St. Anne School opened with the addition of a sixth grade in the fall of 1996.  St. Anne parish celebrated one hundred years as a parish community, October 11-12, 1996.  Archbishop  Francis George celebrated the Anniversary Mass in St. Anne church on October 12.  It was also the 150th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Portland (formerly the Archdiocese of Oregon City).  Fr. Todd Molinari was assistant from 1996 to 1999. 

·          1997—St. Anne Catholic School opened the new school year in the fall of 1997 with 8 teachers and 148 students, grades K-6.  No new classes were added this year.  Construction began on a new classroom and library building for the school.  Fr. Gregory Moys was appointed parish administrator of St. Anne parish by Archbishop Francis George, July 1, 1997. Raul Rodriguez of St. Anne and Shepherd of the Valley (Central Point) parishes was ordained as deacon for the Archdiocese of Portland at Sacred Heart church, Medford, on November 28, 1997.  Bishop Basil Meeking, retired bishop of Christchurch, New Zealand, was the ordaining prelate. 

·          1998—Teachers and students moved into the new five-classroom and library in January, 1998. Archbishop John Vlazny appointed Father Moys pastor of Saint Anne in January, 1998.  Archbishop John Vlazny blessed the new classroom and Father Karl Schray Library building with Father Schray in attendance on May 1, 1998. A seventh grade and afternoon Pre-K grades were added to the school in the fall of 1998. 

·          1999—Father Michael Walker of St. Anne parish was ordained a priest for he Archdiocese of Portland in the Portland Cathedral on June 12, 1999, by Archbishop John Vlazny.  Father Walker celebrated his first Mass at St. Anne church the following day, June 13. 

·          1999-2000—St. Anne Catholic School added an eighth grade in the fall of 1999.  The new grade, along with the seventh grade, were located in the parish center.  The school opened with 193 students, Pre-K through 8th grade.  Fr. John Cihak was appointed parochial vicar replacing Fr. Todd Molinari, July 1, 1999.  The first eighth grade in school history, the Class of 2000, graduated on Sunday, June 11, 2000.  Fr. John Cihak and Fr. William Dillard open up the first high school summer camp for priestly vocations, June 19—22, at Little River Christian Camp, Glide, assisted by St. Anne parishioners and Knights of Columbus.  The named it, “Quo Vadis”  22 young people attended.  The entire church sanctuary was renovated in the summer of 2000.  The sanctuary was enlarged with new lighting, a permanent ambo for the proclamation of Scripture, and a presider and ministers’ chairs made by Our Lady of the River parishioners, installed.  Jim McVeigh, a parishioner of Saint Anne, was ordained to the permanent deaconate by Archbishop John Vlazny at the Portland Cathedral on December 9, 2000, followed by the historic ‘curb side’ deacon reception on NW 17th Street, Portland.

·       2000-2003—Angel Perez, while doing his pastoral year as a seminarian at St. Anne’s, was ordained to the transitional deaconate for the Archdiocese of Portland at St. Luke church,

      Woodburn, on February 24, 2001.  Fr. John Cihak was appointed professor of fundamental theology at Mt. Angel Seminary July 1, 2001.  Fr. Henry Rufo became the new parochial vicar at St. Anne on the same date.  Fr. Stephen Fister was also appointed parochial vicar to St. Anne and Director of St. Rita Retreat Center, Gold Hill on July 1, 2001.  Archbishop John Vlazny, before preaching on Eucharistic adoration at St. Anne, was “baptized” in the Rogue river on Saturday, August 25, 2001.  Our Lady of the River Mission, Rogue river, initiated a capital fund drive to erect their first church building, November 30, 2001.  St. Anne parish hosted a liturgical music workshop the same weekend featuring nationally known church music composers, Jaime Cortez and Bob Hurd.  David Stone became the new principal of St. Anne Catholic School in July, 2002, replacing Frankie Bytheway.  Brother Gabriel Francis (Virgil Brad Tetherow) of St. Anne parish and a member of the Servants Minor of St. Francis,   was ordained a priest on June 29, 2002 and offered a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Anne on Sunday, July 14.  Fr. Casmir Onyegwara, of the Diocese of Orlu, Nigeria, became the new parochial vicar of St. Anne, replacing Father Rufo, July 1, 2003.

   Fr. Gregory Moys

  Pastor