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In 1956, the Archdiocese of Chicago decided that people in the newly founded town of Harwood Heights need an additional place of worship.
Other churches in the area were overcrowded and not able to provide the local faithful with the religious services they needed. In response to this rapid post-war developement, Fr. Stephen Ryan was chosen to solve the problem. He took residence with Monsignor McGowan, pastor of St. Priscilla's Church, just south of Harwood Heights. Next, he gauged the demand.
Sometimes described as formal and "stand-offish", Fr. Conrad didn't greet his parishoners after masses that only he could squeeze into twenty minutes.
The present look
of the Sanctuary.
A door-to-door census and parishoner registration for a new church was conducted. At what is roughly halfway between St. Monica's and St. Priscilla's Church, Fr. Ryan founded the Mission of St. Monica's; an extention of St. Monica's activities but not yet properly equipped to be called a parish. In fact,
it was the basement of a local grammar school, Union Ridge. This makeshift chapel was furnished with folding chairs, home made kneelers and other ceremonial articles donated by both catholic and protestant congregations.
The original look of the Sanctuary.
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Needless to say, conditions were anything but comfortable. But, the great sense of community of the first parishoners brought them satisfaction with what they had. "We worked together" recalls parishoner Norb Adams. And indeed, there was plenty of reason to work together as the need was great. "People were always friendly" and "we were happy we could go to church here" remembers Lottie Grabarczyk, another long time parishoner. By now, shortly after Fr. Ryan's arrival, there were two sunday masses at the Mission of St. Monica: eight and ten in the morning. A temporary rectory was also bought at 7000 West Windsor Avenue, about three blocks from the Mission, which due to its nature as a school, was commonly called "St. Union Ridge". In 1957, there were fiveteen children receiving first communion and sixteen converts. As the fifties rolled on, it became apparent that the basement of Union Ridge School and the temporary rectory, which now had another makeshift chapel partitioned that held daily mass, baptisms, confessions, and even a few weddings, won't suffice indefinitely.
The present look of the Sanctuary.
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That's when St. Rosalie's longest reigning pastor, Fr. Clement H. Conrad, came into play.
Then how did he manage to organize a great community undertaking? "People wanted a church and Conrad was the catalyst" comments Grace Adams. In 1960, he was commissioned by the Archdiocese to determine if the people of Harwood Heights can support a new church, both financially and through involvement. The results of his survey were highly affirmative and on September seventh, 1960 he was given permission from the Archidiocese to build a new church with 205,000 dollars, which calculates to about 1.3 million dollars in 2004. He was also immediately appointed the pastor of this future church by Cardinal Meyer.
Thus, while still living in the temporary rectory on Windsor and Sayre Avenues, Fr. Conrad gave his soon-to-be church a new name: "St. Rosalie". As for Fr. Ryan, on June fiveteenth, 1960 Cardinal Meyer assigned him to Country Club Hills, where he was to start another new parish.
Several building sites were considered for the new church. Eventually, seven and a half acres of land on the corner of Montrose and Oak Park Avenues were chosen as the desired spot. This site was about three blocks from the Union Ridge School, so the relocation would not be significant. Possibility for expansion was an issue when choosing the perfect location, and this site provided plenty of room for a parking lot and additional buildings. However, such amenities came at a price. Ridgemoor Country Club, to whom the property belonged, desired 107,592.59 dollars in exhange for it. Including intermediary fees, Fr. Conrad was faced with a bill of 110,425.13 dollars, which translates to about 700,000 dollars in 2004. Despite the suburban location, the land cost about as much as the actual materials, design and construction of the church, which totaled the remainder of the allocated funds.
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