In 1937, the rains came but they did not wipe out the faith of the St.

Saturday, March 18, 2000

In 1937, the rains came but they did not wipe out the faith of the St. Joseph Catholic community. And St. Joseph welcomes the public today to join in the celebration to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the new church, said Gery Holtzapfel, co-chair of the Golden Anniversary Celebration committee.

"The flood just ruined everything," Mrs. Holtzapfel said. "I’ve seen pictures of the floors. It was a gigantic wave. It was beyond repair."

Without immediate funds available, the St. Joseph congregation had to move to the St. Joseph High School gymnasium, Mrs. Holtzapfel added.

"I went to church for a long time in the gymnasium," she said.

Many others did, too, Mrs. Holtzapfel said.

"You don’t have to have a building for church," she said. "They banded together because they had love for St. Joseph and for each other. The Catholic community likes to stay together."

After about 10 years of fundraising, St. Joseph parishioners finally succeeded and broke ground at Fifth and Chestnut streets in Ironton.

The first Mass was celebrated in the new church Oct. 12, 1949.

Although not the exact date of the 50th anniversary, St. Joseph congregation members decided today would be the perfect day to celebrate the church’s anniversary, Mrs. Holtzapfel said.

Today is St. Joseph’s Day, she said.

"St. Joseph was the husband of Mary and the stepfather of Jesus and we honor him," Mrs. Holtzapfel said. "He’s also the patron saint of workers and he’s who the church is named after."

Mass will be at 9:30 a.m. today and will be followed by a group picture outside the church. At about 10:30 to 10:45 a.m., a reception honoring the anniversary will begin, Mrs. Holtzapfel said.

"Anybody can come and anybody would be welcome, especially during the celebration," she said.

This is the third building in the history of the Ironton St. Joseph Church. The first church was built in 1864 and was located between Second and Third streets on Adams Street.

Congregation growth prompted the construction of the second church on Third and Adams, which was dedicated Nov. 28, 1889, Mrs. Holtzapfel said.

Since 1950, the new church has served as a gathering place for parish religious and social events.

In the past 50 years, 576 couples have received the sacrament of marriage, about 1,700 people have been baptized into the faith and the Liturgy for the Faithful Departed has been celebrated for 935 parishioners.