(Ed's Note:  Charles and Maggie Rash (1885 Chicago arrival) and Josef and Mary Paha (1890 Chicago arrival) were early parishioners of Saint George.  From about 1890 through 1912 or so, both families lived in very close vicinity to the church and school.  On the map below, their residences were on the shortened block of Fifth Avenue just south of 39th Street.  A second point of interest is the vacant square area just north of 39th Street at Fifth.  Not really vacant, this is the site of South Side Park, home of the Chicago White Sox, who became an American League franchise in 1901, a story which will be covered in a later chapter.  As time progressed, they moved northward for better housing and they also changed parishes to Saint Augustine.  This is an excerpt from the Archdiocese of Chicago Parishes Book)

The national parish of Saint George was established in 1884 to serve German Catholics who lived just north and east of the Union Stock Yards on Chicago's South Side.  Until 1889, 39th Street remained the southern boundary of the city of Chicago.

Rev. George D. Heldmann began the work of organizing this German parish. Following his ordination on June 26, 1881, he had served as an assistant at the German parish of Saint Francis of Assisi on 12th Street (now Roosevelt Road.). In 1888, Father Heldmann was named pastor of Saint Paul Church at 22nd and Hoyne Avenue.

Rev. John Dettmer, an assistant at Saint Francis of Assisi Church, was named second pastor. Under his leadership, property was purchased for the parish complex and four homes on this land were razed.

On June 6, 1891, the Stockyards Sun, a neighborhood newspaper, reported that:

A new parochial residence is being constructed for the pastor of Saint George’s German Catholic Church at Thirty-ninth Street (3915) and Wentworth Avenue. This parish needs a new church badly.

On April 30, 1893, Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan dedicated Saint George Church, which had been constructed on the west side of Wentworth Avenue, just south of 39th Street according to the plans of architect Adolphus Druiding. In its account of the ceremony, The New World noted that:

The building is constructed of brick with stone trimmings, and the front is ornamented with numerous gables and a tower on each side, giving to the exterior of the structure not only an imposing but an artistic appearance.  The dimensions of the building are 71 x 146 feet, and the transept projects nine feet on each side of the main body of the church.

By 1900, 260 students were enrolled under the direction of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. A new school was constructed in 1901 at 3917 South Wells (Fifth Ave) Street.

In January 1909, Father Dettmer was named pastor of Saint Anthony of Padua Church, which was then located at 24th Place and Canal Street. His successor was Rev. Bernard F. Springmeier, who had been pastor of Holy Trinity parish on the west side of Chicago.

In 1910, a new convent was completed at 3908 S. Wentworth Avenue for the Benedictine Sisters who staffed the parish school.

By the end of World War I, Saint George parish had ceased to be exclusively German. On June 5, 1918, Archbishop George W. Mundelein designated the parish as a mission center to which Catholics of all nationalities could belong.

In 1925, 551 children were enrolled in the parish school under the direction of 10 Sisters of Saint Benedict.

In May 1931, Father Springmeier was named a Papal Chamberlain with the title Very Reverend Monsignor. Under his leadership, plans were made for the golden jubilee of the founding of Saint George parish, which was celebrated on Apr. 29, 1934.

Following Msgr. Springmaier’s death on Feb. 13, 1936 at the age of 65, Rev. Dominic A. Diederich, former pastor of Saint Mary Church on 137th Street since 1930, was appointed pastor of Saint George Church.

Named pastor of Saint Maurice Church in 1942, Father Diederich was succeeded by Rev. George B. Lescher, a former professor at Quigley Preparatory Seminary. In June 1945, Father Lescher was appointed pastor of 55. Peter and Paul Church in South Chicago and his successor at Saint George parish was Rev. Augustine A. Freeman, a former assistant at Our Lady of Victory Church.

In 1947, Wentworth Homes, a public housing project of 422 low rise apartments, was constructed at Pershing Road (39th Street) and Wentworth Avenue on the site of the old American Giants baseball park. A number of Negro residents in the new housing project sent their children to Saint George school and became active members of the parish.

On Jan. 21, 1950, Father Freeman was named pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Melrose Park, Ill. Rev. William J. Allen, his successor, had been an assistant at the Melrose Park parish for nearly seven years. Father Allen served as pastor of Saint George Church for only 11 months. He died on Dec. 30, 1950 at the age of 42.

In February 1951, Rev. Peter L. Fuessel, a former assistant at Saint Sabina Church, was named pastor. He was familiar with the neighborhood, having attended nearby Saint Cecilia school as a youth.

In the l950s, houses east of Wentworth Avenue. were acquired to make way for the Dan Ryan expressway, which opened on Dec. 15, 1962. Both the parish complexes of Saint George and Saint Cecilia were spared demolition.

At the time Father Fuessel was named pastor of Saint Henry Church in May 1961, the neighborhood of which Saint George parish was an integral part had undergone much racial change.

Rev. Edmund K. Skoner, a former member of the Archdiocesan Mission Band, served as pastor from 1961 until March 4, 1966, when he was named pastor of Immaculate Conception Church on North Park Avenue.

The last priest assigned as pastor of Saint George Church was Rev. Joseph A. Kelly (now pastor of Saint Veronica Church). He came to the parish from Orland Park. Ill., where he had been serving as an assistant at Saint Michael parish.

The enrollment of Saint George school, which had never been very large, peaked in 1965 at 362 students. Four years later, only 248 children were enrolled.

In 1969, Archdiocesan officials decided to consolidate the national parish of Saint George with the territorial parish of Saint Cecilia. At the time the last Mass was celebrated in Saint George Church, demolition of the parish buildings had already begun.

It was with much joy that former members of Saint George parish learned on June 30, 1979 that Rev. James P. Lyke, OFM, had been appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of Cleveland by Pope John Paul II. A graduate of Saint George grammar school, Father Lyke had attended Saint Philip high school on the west side for one year before transferring to Saint Joseph Seminary in Oak Brook, Ill. Ordained on June 24, 1966 at Teutopolis, Ill., Father Lyke later served in Cleveland, Ohio and Memphis, Tennessee. The youngest bishop in the nation, Bishop Lyke is the fifth black bishop now serving in the United States. He was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop in imposing ceremonies at Saint John Cathedral in Cleveland on August 1, 1979.