23. Pastorate of Rev. Msgr. Richard M. Fitzgerald (1953-1967)
Msgr. Richard M. Fitzgerald was born on May 23, 1892 and was ordained to the priesthood on September 20, 1919. His first appointment was at St. Peter's Church in Monticello. In 1930 he was appointed to Holy Family in New Rochelle where he served for eleven years. In 1941 he became pastor of Church of the Good Shepherd in Rhinebeck. N.Y. He was appointed pastor of St. Mary's on January 29, 1953. He became a Right Rev. Monsignor in December of 1958.
Although there were weekly and monthly bulletins before his time (few were preserved), he began the weekly bulletin, "The Bells of St. Mary." which continues to the present day. These bulletins printed more information about the parish than previous bulletins. Most of these bulletins in the 1950's were preserved in our archives. After 1960 few were preserved.
To give you some idea about parish life during the 1950's, the following statistics show how busy the parish was. I will use the "1957 parish report."
Catholic population: 2,810 adults (this number might include 500 non practicing Catholics), 1,125 children. Baptisms: 236, Marriages: 57. Sick Calls: 288, Population of the school: 843.Religious education for public school students: 371.The priests were chaplains at St. Joseph's Hospital resulting in Confessions: 3,.171., Communions 52,681, Extreme Unction’s: 167, Baptisms:22. There were also ten candidates studying for the priesthood, two for the Christian Brothers and two for the Sisters of Charity.
Beside the pastor, there were three full time assistant they included at various times: Fr. Ed O'Donnell, Jim Doyle, Anthony Pucci, Benjamin Roth, John Breen, Christopher Kane and John Sullivan. They were moderators of the many parish societies of which two were most prominent: the Holy Name Society (there was also a Junior Holy Name) and the Ladies Auxiliary. As one member put it: The Ladies Auxiliary was the backbone of the parish, running card parties, dinners and cake sales to make money for the parish. They also went house to house collecting money for Catholic Charities. Other parish organizations that began during Fr. Fitzgerald's time were the Young Adults, the Ladies Skating Club and the Drama club which became the St. Mary's Stage Players. Dances were held on Saturday nights. Young men and women often met their future spouses at these gatherings.lt was, as many Catholic parishes were at that time, "a world unto itself."
Also residing in the rectory was Fr. John Harrington (1947-1961) who worked for Catholic Charities. His office was at 53 South Broadway in Getty Square. He began the outreach to the new Hispanic population. This ministry to the Hispanics was continued by Fr. Doyle. Fr. Harington also had an outreach program for those not attending Mass. He was especially proud of getting a local gang of youths called the "river rats" to come to church.
Fr. Fitzgerald began the weekly envelope system. He eliminated pew rents but did not remove the designated numbers attached to each pew( they are still there today). He completely overhauled the organ He greatly improved the rectory, installed an elevator 1956, and built a new garage He was quoted as saying: "This was the priests' home and they should have the best because they devoted their lives to the church" He was considered a talented man, writing poetry, taping books for the blind, playing the organ. He also liked to travel returning with art objects for the church and rectory. The four evangelists that today surround the high pulpit were brought back from one of his travels. He also liked to control things. I doubt that his assistants were consulted when he installed a communication system that relayed their homilies to a speaker installed in his room.
A Sunday Dialogue Mass at 10:00 a.m. began in 1955. Responses by the laity were in Latin. lt did not seem too popular at the time but it was good preparation for the more extensive liturgical changes in 1966. The 12:05 Mass was added in 1960. With the change in fasting before receiving Holy Communion (mow three hours before instead of from midnight) attendance at this Mass now numbered 300.
Services in Spanish were celebrated in the chapel by Msgr. Harrington on Saturdays. He was succeeded by Fr. Puebla, a priest from Spain, who offered Mass in Spanish in the chapel on Sundays. On Oct. 12, 1957, the bulletin included, in Spanish, information about classes to learn English These were held at the parish's "Catholic Information" (once called "Lourdes Library" by Fr. Avard) on 169 South Broadway.
The Annual Yonkers St. Patrick's Day Parade began again on March 11, 1956. The Yonkers parade, which began at St. Mary's in 1863, had ended fifty years earlier when organizers choose to march in the much larger New York City Parade. The parade began with Mass at St. Mary's. The reviewing stand was on the lawn of St. Mary's rectory. 10,000 people marched in this 1955 parade.
'In the school in 1955 there were 840 students with 18 teachers of which 10 were Sisters of Charity, and four Christian Brothers. There was no tuition for the school although parents had to contribute at least fifty cents in the Sunday collection. When there was room non- parishioners (Catholic) were allowed in the school. Thanks to donations from the Alumni Association, a cafeteria was built in the basement of the Parish Hall. Children could choose to eat hot meals at lunch. Cost was $1.50 a week. It was made clear that only the school children could use these facilities.
A major, problem was the physical condition of the school. Built in 1861 and expanded in 1885, it was an very old building. People knew that it would eventually have to be torn down and replaced with a new one. Where would the moncome to do this? St. Mary's parishioners were mostly working class people.lt was rare to have much of a surplus at the end of the year. Complicating things was the uncertain future of what was called "Downtown Yonkers.”I a brief historical background is helpful in understanding what was happening in St. Mary's at this time. The post World War II years saw a significant shift in the habits of Americans. Rising prosperity and increased educational opportunities, especially for veterans, made it possible for many Americans to own their own home. Aided by the new federal and state roadways, the automobile opened up a new accessible world to live. Parishioners of St. Mary's, especially the newly married, began to leave the parish for homes in the suburban parts of Yonkers and beyond it was the beginning of the end of Getty Square as the preferred shopping center of Yonkers Shopping malls accessible by car were now the place to shop. The Cross County Shopping opened in 1956 quickly eclipsed Getty Square. Substandard housing in the area and urban "removal" further accelerated the exodus.
The building of the New York State Highway was an example of this transformation. When it was finished in 1956 it reached from Buffalo to the Bronx, a total of 563 miles, crossing the Hudson River by means of the Tappan Zee Bridge. It made the suburbs, especially Rockland County, accessible. It also made the Cross County Center and Central Ave. in Yonkers the preferred places to shop for residents of Westchester and the Bronx. It also had a direct impact on St. Mary's cemetery. The State of New York needed its Thruway to pass through part of the cemetery. As far back as 1952 negotiations had begun to find a solution that would be acceptable to St. Mary's. It was finally agreed to exchange two acres of land on the east side of the cemetery for five acres of land next to the north side of the cemetery property ("which fronts on Sprain Road north of Curtiss Lane") . Human remains in the old part of the cemetery were carefully removed and buried with the appropriate blessings in the newly acquired land. On June 17, 1956, this new section was consecrated by Most Rev. Joseph Flannery, Auxiliary Bishop of New York. At this ceremony, attended by five priests and more than a hundred parishioners and relatives of the deceased, a former Supreme Court Justice, representing the State of New York, handed over the deed to the new property to Rev. Richard Fitzgerald. This enabled the cemetery to acquire much needed land for future burials.
The last six years of Fr. Fitzgerald’s pastorate were devoted to the building of a new school This was to be his legacy to the parish and to the city of Yonkers Aware of pessimistic projections for the future of "Downtown Yonkers" he put his faith in the urban renewal projects, as exemplified in the plans for Phillips Towers., This was to be built the west of his new school Advertized as the "First middle income rental development in lower Westchester. Located on Riverdale Avenue from Prospect Street to Vark Street in the heart of downtown Yonkers " It consisted of three buildings of fifteen floors each containing 540 apartments. Parishioners of St. Mary's, especially those who had previously lived in the affected area, were given priority. Msgr. Fitzgerald wanted his new school to open at the same time as this new housing Opened in 1965, Phillipsie Towers ,a Mitchell-Lama co-operative enterprise, was a great success The new St Mary's School, would open three years later.
Monsignor Fitzgerald's plan for the new school was very ambitious. He took to heart the 1957 clarion call of Thomas Dickerson, New York State's Secretary of Commerce, to "Think Big". It included 24 classrooms, a kindergarten, central service facilities and special rooms for modern education. Another building adjacent to the school would include a new auditorium gymnasium, a convent and more classrooms. The Parish Hall and the old convent would be demolished. The Bothers' residence would remain. The problem was financial. By 1965 it became clear that the parish could not raise the more than$2,300,000 needed for the project. Plans for the auditorium gymnasium and convent were eliminated. A capital fundraising campaign was started in 1965 to raise at least $250,000 to begin construction. The overall cost was now $1,300,000.00
On May 22, of 1966 this letter was sent to Msgr. Fitzgerald by John J. Maguire, Coadjutor Archbishop of New York: "In regard to Thursday's ceremonies of which your reminder was just received, I am sure that unless approval is given you to assume the financial burden of your building program, I'll not be able to participate in any groundbreaking ceremonies. Monsignor Hunt tells me he plans to discuss this with you." Ouch!
The problem was the insistence by Msgr. Fitzgerald not to reduce the number of classrooms from twenty-four to eighteen. A series of heated letters and meetings followed. In July of 1967 the pastor was still arguing his point. Ground breaking ceremonies did take place when the eighteen classrooms were finally agreed upon. There is a photo of the ceremony in our archives showing the Mayor of Yonkers, not Bishop Maguire, holding the shovel. On September 19, 1967, having reached the age of seventy-five, Cardinal Spellman thanked Msgr. Fitzgerald "for his many years of service and regrets that he will soon be leaving St. Mary's parish." I doubt that the pastor wanted to leave. Even after the fundraising campaign had raised $250,000 the debt for the parish was $570,000.
A new pastor, Fr. Bernard Cunningham, was installed on November 12, 1967. Construction of the new school continued while the students went to classes in the old school.
In May of 1968, Brother Augustine Loes, Provincial of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, informed the new pastor that the Christian Brothers, citing decreased personnel, were withdrawing from St. Mary's School Parents were shocked by the decision and immediately organized (including public protest) hoping to change the decision It didn't help that the Brothers, concentrating on staffing high schools, assigned three Brothers to join the staff at Sacred Heart High School. It was quite a year for the new pastor. On July, 1968 Fr. Cunningham, citing illness, retired..A new pastor, Right Rev Aloysius Weber, arrived in July 28, 1968. The old school was torn down that summer and students began classes in September in the new school. The new school was dedicated and blessed by new Archbishop of New York. Terrence Cardinal Cooke on May 18, 1969.
As the struggle to build a new school occupied Msgr. Fitzgerald in his last six years, there were momentous events that impacted on the people of St. Mary's: Election of the first Catholic President, the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War and the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. It would be fascinating to read about the reaction of the parish in the weekly bulletin, "the Bells of St. Mary." Unfortunately few copies remain in the archives and none of them deal with these topics. One thing is for sure the parish was no longer "a world unto itself"
When Msgr Fitzgerald retired, he resided until 1971 in the Convent Mary the Queen on Vark St. (it was built as a retirement home for Sisters of Charity in 1956). He moved to the Lourdes Residence in Palm Beach Florida, and then to the Mary Manning Walsh home in Manhatten. He died at the age of 94. His funeral Mass was celebrated in our church on July 7, 1986. He was buied in Gate of Heaven Cemetery.
Msgr. Bernard V. Cunningham was appointed pastor on Nov. 12, 1967. He was born in 1911 and ordained a priest in 1938. He spent over twenty years as chaplain in the U.S. Navy retiring with rank of a Commander. In 1965 he was named pastor of Our Lady of Loreto Church in Manhattan and Director of the Holy Missions. In November, 1965 he was elevated to the rank of Domestic Prelate (Rt. Rev. Monsignor). Citing illness he retired from the pastorate of St. Mary's in July, 1968. I could find no further information about him after he left our parish.