History of Saint Joseph Parish, Port Arthur
-
1951
Summer—Property in the new town of Lakeview is purchased by Bishop Wendelin J. Nold for the formation of a new parish.
September 10—Saint Joseph’s parish is formally erected by Bishop Nold and Fr. John Cody named founding pastor.
September 16—John Oliver donates and builds the first Altar.
September 23—The first two Masses are celebrated in J.A. Boudreaux’s grocery store at Stadium Road and 6th Street. 500 people attended Mass that day.
1952
March 19—Ground is broken for the new church and rectory at 4600 Procter St.
May 18—The first Masses are celebrated in the new unfinished church: no roof, no walls.
July 1—Work begins on the new rectory.
October 1—Fr. Cody moves into the new rectory.
December 20—The first two baptisms are celebrated in the new church.
1953
April 25—Bishop Nold dedicates St. Joseph’s Church.
1954
June 20—Ground is broken for the new school building and convent.
September 23—St. Joseph School is officially opened. The first classes are held in the church and rectory while the construction of the new school continues.
December—The school building is completed and classes move into the new school.
1956
June—Fr. Martin Nester Enderle appointed Pastor to succeed Father Cody.
1958
October 9—Pope Pius XII dies in Rome.
October 28—Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli is elected pope and takes the name John XXIII.
1959
January 25—Pope (St.) John XIII announces his intention to convene an ecumenical council.
1962
October 11—Pope (St.) John XIII opens the Second Vatican Council.
1963
June 3—Pope (St.) John XIII dies.
June 21—Giovanni Battista Montini is elected pope and takes the name Paul VI.
1965
December 8—Pope (St.) Paul VI closes the Second Vatican Council.
1966
March 15—St. Joseph’s Port Arthur Federal Credit Union is organized by members of the parish for the purpose of saving money together and to make loans to each other for good purposes at low interest.
July 4—Pope (St.) Paul VI creates the Diocese of Beaumont and names Msgr. Vincent M. Harris the first bishop of Beaumont.
September 28—Msgr. Vincent M. Harris is consecrated bishop at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Houston.
September 29—Bishop Harris is installed in St. Anthony Cathedral in Beaumont.
1967
May 25—Fr. Kenneth Greig is the first priest ordained for the newly formed Diocese of Beaumont. Fr. Greig celebrated his first Mass at St. Joseph’s.
1969
April 8—St. Joseph’s founding pastor, Fr. John Cody, dies and is interred in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The parish hall at St. Joseph’s is named in his memory.
1970
August 22—Father Salvador Culotta appointed Pastor to succeed Fr. Enderle who became Pastor of St. James.
1971
April 2—Ground was broken for the new (current) St. Joseph’s church and rectory.
April 27—Bishop Harris is named coadjutor bishop of Austin to succeed Bishop Louis Reicher.
June 4—Bishop Warren Louis Boudreaux, auxiliary bishop of Lafayette, is named the second bishop of Beaumont.
November 9—The new church was dedicated by Bishop Boudreaux and the first Mass was offered there.
1972
October—Parish Council was founded.
1975
May 10—Parishioner Joseph DeFrancisco is ordained a deacon at St. Joseph’s by Bishop Boudreaux.
June 14—Parishioner Keith Reese is ordained a priest at St. Joseph’s by Bishop Boudreaux.
August 2—Deacon Joseph DeFrancisco is ordained a priest at St. Joseph’s by Bishop Boudreaux and named associate pastor.
1976
June 15—Fr. Thomas Phelan is named associate pastor of St. Joseph’s Port Arthur.
September 11—St. Joseph’s celebrated its Silver Jubilee.
St. Joseph Church helps sponsor Vietnamese refugees in the city of Port Arthur.
1977
March 2—Bishop Boudreaux is named the first bishop of the newly founded Diocese of Houma-Thibodeaux.
December 13—Bishop Bernard J. Ganter, first Bishop of Tulsa, is named the third Bishop of Beaumont.
1978
May 8—Fr. Culotta celebrates his Silver Jubilee of Ordination as a priest.
June 15—Fr. Culotta is named the founding pastor of St. Jude’s Beaumont. Fr. Richard DeStefano is named the third pastor of St. Joseph’s.
June 15—Fr. Tom Phelan is named associate pastor of St. Mary’s in Orange and Fr. Keith Reese takes up residence at St. Joseph’s while serving as priest-counselor of Bishop Byrne High School.
August 6—Pope (St.) Paul VI dies at Castel Gandolfo.
August 26—Albino Luciani is elected pope and takes the name John Paul I.
September 28—Pope John Paul I dies after less than a month in office.
October 16—Karol Jozef Wojtyla is elected pope and takes the name John Paul II.
1979
June 1—Fr. Richard DeStefano moved to the Archdiocese of Hartford for 3 years to be closer to family. Msgr. Marvin F. Enderle is named pastor of St. Joseph’s. Fr. Keith Reese is appointed associate pastor of St. Peter’s in Groves and Fr. William Hanafin associate pastor of St. Joseph.
1981June 1—Fr. Hanafin is named priest-in-charge of St. Maurice, Mauriceville, and Fr. Francis X. Conroy is named associate pastor of St. Joseph’s on his return from service in the U.S. Air Force.
1982
January 6—Msgr. Marvin Enderle is appointed pastor of Assumption Parish, Beaumont and Fr. Conroy is named administrator of St. Joseph’s.
June 9—Fr. Conroy is named pastor of St. Mary, Fannett and Fr. James E. Young is appointed pastor of St. Joseph’s.
1985
Fr. James Vanderholt is named pastor of St. Joseph’s.
June 1—Parishioner James (Jim) McClintock is ordained a deacon at St. Joseph’s.
St. James and St. Joseph schools consolidate to form Central Catholic School. Sr. Julie Greig, OP, is named principal.
1986
June 1—Fr. James (Jim) McClintock celebrates his first Mass at St. Joseph’s. Fr. James Engle is named associate pastor of St. Joseph’s.
1987
May 27—Fr. Vanderholt celebrates his 30th anniversary of ordination.
1988
March 31—Bishop Vincent Harris, first bishop of Beaumont, dies at the age of 74 and is buried at St. Anthony Cathedral in Beaumont.
August 7—St. Joseph’s breaks ground for the new Cody Hall.
1989
August—New Cody Hall is completed. Demolition of the original church building/Cody Hall commences.
1990
June 9—Bishop Bernard Ganter dedicates the new Cody Hall.
1991
August 15—Fr. Vanderholt publishes the first history of the Diocese of Beaumont: The Diocese of Beaumont: The Catholic Story of Southeast Texas.
September 11—St. Joseph’s celebrates its 40th Anniversary.
The Diocese of Beaumont celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
1993
February—First Spanish Masses are held at St. Joseph’s.
October 9—Bishop Bernard Ganter dies after a 14-month battle with a malignant brain tumor.
1994
May 9—Bishop Joseph Galante is installed as the Fourth Bishop of Beaumont.
June 11—St. Joseph parishioner Christopher Steck of the Society of Jesus is ordained a priest by Arcdhbishop Lipscomb of Mobile Alabama.
June 26—Fr. Steck celebrates a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Joseph’s.
September 10—Marble Statue of St. Joseph the Worker (in front of Cody Hall) is blessed by Bishop Joseph Galante.
1996
May 19—Farewell reception held for Fr. Jim Vanderholt. The Conference Room in the parish hall (now the parish offices) is named in his honor.
June 1—Fr. Stephen McCrate is named pastor of St. Joseph’s after serving as temporary administrator of St. James.
July 1—St. Joseph’s Port Arthur Federal Credit Union merges with Golden Triangle Federal Credit Union.
1997
January 16—Msgr. Marvin F. Enderle dies
October 6—Bishop Boudreaux, second bishop of Beaumont, dies.
1999
May 11—Msgr. Martin Nester Enderle, second pastor of St. Joseph’s, passes away at age 80. He served for over 41 years in south Jefferson County at St. Mary, Bishop Byrne High School, St. Joseph, St. James, Immaculate Conception, and St. Peter.
May 16—Fr. James C. Engle, former associate pastor of St. Joseph’s, passes away.
May 19—Bishop Galante celebrates Fr. Engle’s Mass of Christian Burial at St. Joseph.
2000
July 28—Bishop Curtis J. Guillory, SVD, is installed as the fifth bishop of Beaumont.
2001
September 10—St. Joseph celebrates its 50th Anniversary with Mass and a reception.
2002
Summer—Deacon R. Eathan Oakes (later Fr.) is assigned for his diaconal internship to St. Joseph.
2003
February 1—Bishop Guillory ordains Deacon Luis Javier Magana—the first permanent deacon of St. Joseph’s parish.
May 29—Msgr. Salvador Culotta celebrates his 50th anniversary of ordination with Mass and breakfast at St. Joseph’s.
2005
April 2—Pope (St.) John Paul II dies in Rome after 27 years as Pope.
April 19—Joseph Alois Ratzinger is elected pope and takes the name Benedict XVI.
2010
April 1—Msgr. Richard DeStefano, former pastor of St. Joseph’s, passes away.
May 4—Sr. Germain Trahan, OP, former pastoral minister at St. Joseph’s, dies.
May 7—Fr. McCrate celebrates Sr. Germain's funeral Mass at St. Dominic Villa in Houston.
2012
May 11—Deacon Keith Fontenot begins his diaconate ministry at St. Joseph’s
September 8—Parishioners gather to celebrate Fr. Stephen McCrate’s 50th Birthday.
2013
February 28—Pope Benedict XVI abdicates the papacy.
March 13—Jorge Maria Bergoglio is elected pope and chooses the name Francis.
2014September 14—Parishioners gather to celebrate Fr. Stephen’s 25th anniversary of ordination.
2015June 6—A Farewell Reception is held for Fr. Stephen McCrate, who after 19 years at St. Joseph’s was named pastor of St. Louis in Winnie and Our Lady of Light in Anahuac, as well as for Deacon Keith Fontenot.
August 23—Fr. Kevin Badeaux is installed as the new pastor of St. Joseph’s by Bishop Guillory.
2016
January 1—The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is refounded at St. Joseph’s. Nilda Ramirez is elected as the first president.
September 18—The Diocese of Beaumont celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a special Mass at Ford Park.
2017
August 25-29—Hurricane Harvey inundates St. Joseph’s and much of Jefferson County with over a foot of water.
2018
November—The convent building is torn down in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
2019
January 13—St. Joseph’s is the last parish in the Diocese of Beaumont to be rededicated by Bishop Guillory following Hurricane Harvey.
May 25—Bishop Joseph Galante, fourth bishop of Beaumont, dies and is buried in his native New Jersey.
July 1—Fr. Anthony McFarland is assigned as parochial vicar of St. Joseph’s following his ordination.
July 13-14—Welcome receptions are held for Fr. Anthony after the weekend Masses.
2020
June 9—Pope Francis accepts Bishop Guillory's resignation and appoints Msgr. David L. Toups as the Sixth Bishop of Beaumont.
August 21—Bishop Toups is ordained and installed at St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica in Beaumont.
2021
August 11—Msgr. Jim Vanderholt, pastor of St. Joseph’s parish for 11 years from 1985-1996, passes away.
2022
July 1—Fr. Kevin Badeaux is named pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Beaumont and Fr. Joseph Sigur is named the new pastor of St. Joseph’s.
