St. Andrew's Church "A Field of Dreams" A Parish History 1920 - 1995

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A HisTORy

of

St. AncIrew's

ChuRch

"A Field of Dreams

n

by
RAyMONd T. CAffREy

A HISTORY OF THE PARISH OF SAINT ANDREW
Saint Andrew's Field of Dreams

The Roman Catholic church of Saint Andrew in Avenel, New Jersey was established by
incorporation under the auspices of Right Reverend Thomas J. Walsh, Bishop of Trenton, and
witnessed by Right Reverend John H. Fox, Vicar General of the Diocese, Reverend Richard J.
O'Farreli, pastor of Saint James Church in Woodbridge, Joseph Felten and Andrew Jandrisevitz,
trustees of the new parish, on 14 September and recorded on 27 September 1920, in accordance
with the New Jersey statute. "An Act to Incorporate Trustees of Religious Societies," written in
1875.

Andrew Jandrisevits, Joseph Felten, Harold Skay and Julius Jaeger, the earliest trustees of
the new parish, who represented residents of Avenel who were parishioners of Saint James Church
in Woodbridge and Saint Mary's Church in Rahway, inspired the movement to establish an
independent parish in Avenel. Andrew Jandrisevits' leadership was honored by his fellow trustees
who named the new church for his namesake. Saint Andrew, brother of Saint Peter.

Boundaries of the new parish were formally described in 1935 as the Rahway River to the
north, Blair Road to the east. Port Reading Railroad to the south and Saint George Avenue to the
west. Although Fr. O'Farreli opposed the creation of a Mission parish within the boundaries of
Saint James parish because he felt that 125 Catholic men and women, the first reported census of
Saint Andrew's, could not support a new facility for rather a long time, he complied with Bishop
Walsh's order. Sunday Mass was celebrated in the fourth grade classroom on the second floor of
Woodbridge School Number 4, later identified as Avenel School Number 4 and 5, on Avenel
Street, which was built in 1912. When the Woodbridge Board of Education, in 1923, built an
addition to the rear of the school which included an auditorium with a stage, the new hall served as
a church for Sunday Mass.

Harold Skay built a collapsible wooden altar, and a small dressing room fiimished with
two wooden chairs served as a sacristy and doubled as a confessional: face to face confession was
a liturgical necessity in the early days of the parish. Peter Jandrisevits and John Wranitz, who
apparently mastered their Latin, were the first altar boys.

The people of St. Andrew's met the challenge of creating a viable parish by dedicating
themselves to the task of building a church. The Rosary Society sponsored card parties in private
homes, at Avenel School, and at "Once Upon A Time," Bill Campbell's Clubhouse. The parish
regularly sponsored block parties on Burnett Street and in 1922 held a week long carnival that
occupied the large area between Avenel Street, Rahway Avenue, Burnett Street and Manhattan
Avenue.

On 3 October, according to a deed recorded on 10 October 1923, "Saint Andrew's
Catholic Church, Avenel, New Jersey" purchased from John B. and Mary D. C. Labat, the land on
Avenel Street that bordered properties of Benjamin B. Clark, J. B. Edgar, and the remainder of the
Labat property. The earliest available Parish report to the Diocese of Trenton, for the period from
30 September through 3 1 December 1923, advises the Bishop that the parish purchased one and
one half acres of land for the price of $1500.00 cash.

There were, at the time, 205 members of the parish, 60 men, 65 women and 80 children;
the Rosary Society reported 65 members; 80 children attended Catechism classes on Sunday and
were taught by 5 lay teachers. Rev. Richard J. O'Farrell submitted his annual report from 365
Amboy Ave., Woodbridge, the address of Saint James' rectory, and Harold E. Skay and Julius E.
Jaeger signed the document as Lay Trustees. Although Saint Andrew's was nearly twenty years
away from constmction of the first church, the parish owned the field on which the present church,
rectory and parking lot stand, and Andrew Jandrisevits did not allow the land to sit idle: he
recruited Julius Jaeger, Jim Jaeger, Walter Manaker, and others to form a parish team that played
baseball on the vacant lot.

The Twenties
Parish reports to the diocese for the years 1923, 1924 and 1925, written in pen and ink,
suggest that parishioners invested time and hard work to raise funds to build capital in anticipation
of constructing a church. In 1923, receipts for fiand raising projects were reported as $402, while
regular Sunday collections produced about half that amount; in 1924, regular collections for the
year increased dramatically to $664 and fund raising kept pace at $606; and in 1925 collections
were reported at $615 while fund raising fell to $455. In 1925, the average national income was
reported as $2,239; a new car cost $290; gasoline sold for 12 cents; bread cost 9 cents and milk 56
cents. Keds, a product of the United States Rubber Company, were not called sneakers and sold
for between $1.25 and $4.50.

Fr. O'Farrell presented his first tvpevvritten report to Trenton for the year 1926 when fund
raising efforts produced $794 compared to annual Sunday collections of $663. The parish did not
grow significantly between 1920 and 1926 when Fr. O'Farreii reported a total population of 60
men, 75 women and an astonishing, and probably erroneous, 200 children, 62 of whom attended
Catechism clcisses. In spite of the increased number of children, the record reports only one
wedding, 5 Baptisms, and 6 First Communicants.

Curiously, in the following year, 1927, the report was submitted in pen and ink and signed
by "Rev. C. B. Reagan, Administrator." During the year, the diocese or the parish instituted a
"monthly" collection to supplement Sunday collections and the parish realized an increase in
revenue: weekly collections amounted to $535 for the year while the monthly collection netted
$256; fund raising efforts realized $295, but special occasion collections, Christmas and Easter,
rose significantly to a total of $214.

Early in 1928, Bishop Walsh was reassigned to the Newark Diocese and Most Reverend
John. J. McMahon was appointed Bishop of Trenton and consecrated on 26 April. By the time he
submitted his 1928 report to the new Bishop, Fr. O'Farrell's typewriter was again in good repair.
The parish profile remained quite the same: there were 200 parishioners, 62 men, 58 women, and
80 children. Sunday Catechism classes were attended by 50 children, 30 boys and 20 girls; the
Rosary Society enjoyed a membership of 40; there were 15 First Communicants; 4 were Confirmed
at Saint James Church, and the parish boasted another marriage. Fr. O' Farrell's report valued the
parish land at $2,000. Tlie average national income reported for 1928 rose to $2,470, $250 over
tlie 1925 level, and indexed prices for housing, gasoline, milk and bread remained substantially the
same, though the price of a car rose from $290 to $525. The New York Yankees won the world
series; the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup; and the Stock Market reported record trading
levels.

In 1929 Babe Ruth hit his 500th home run; construction began on the Empire State
Building; and the Stock Market crashed on Tuesday, 29 October. The average national income fell
to $2,062, and ironically, "Happy Days Are Here Again," was among the most popular songs.
Although the size of the parish did not change through its first nine years, the 125 adult Catholics
of Saint Andrew's were dedicated to their parish and determined in their support: contributions and
fund raising efforts produced revenue consistent with previous years.

Fr. OTarrell's 1929 report to the diocese showed interest income from bank deposits of
$354, a sum larger than the monthly collections of $263. Special occasion collections remained at

the $200 level; regular Sunday collections were $504 for the year; and fund raising produced $208.
Although Fr. O'Farrell was right to predict that the parish would require rather a long time to
evolve, he was well served by the diligent and persistent support of Saint Andrew's parishioners:
Julius E. Jaeger and Harold E. Skay, lay trustees, who continued to sign Fr, O'Farrell's annual
reports, in 1929, approved a loan to Saint James Parish in the amount of $5,000.

Four couples were married in 1929; 22 children received First Communion, and 61
children, 34 boys and 27 girls, attended Sunday Catechism classes. News for 1929, however, was
not all good. There were a shocking 17 deaths during the year, and 4 of those were children; parish
records indicate that for the period between 1923 and 1928, there were only three deaths.

Depression Years

Saint Andrew's Holy Name Society was officially established on 1 December 1930 and
reported membership of 36, slightly more than half of the 60 men registered in the parish. The
Rosary Society reported membership of 25, a significant decline from earlier levels. The parish
register for 1930 lists 120 adults and 130 children, 98 of whom attended Sunday Catechism
classes. The decision to loan money to Saint James Parish suggests that the lay leaders conceded
that their numbers combined with uncertain economic conditions did not yet justify construction of
a church, and Fr. O' Farrcll's report to Bishop McMahon fomially identified Saint Andrew's
Parish as "Mission of Woodbridge-Saint James."

Winds of change blew through the 1930's. Rev. Richard O'Farrell, pastor of Saint James
in Woodbridgc since 1918 died in October 1932 and was succeeded by Rev. Francis X. Langan.
Bishop McMahon died in December 1932 and was succeeded by Bishop Moses E. Kiley. Saint
Andrew's population remained relatively constant, though it is difficult to ascertain how pastors of
Saint James or their designated administrators arrived at the numbers: reports for 193 1 and 1932
count 65 men and 62 women. In 1933 the numbers jump to 100 men and 100 women, perhaps a
rough estimate; and in 1934 there were reported 92 men, 83 women, and 1 12 children--not enough
people to build a church in difficult economic times. The reported national average income in 1934
fell to $ 1 ,600. Neither did change create a climate favorable to a new venture.

Li 1935, Rev. Lawrence A. Travers succeeded Rev. Francis X. Langan as pastor of Saint
James parish, and after one year, he was replaced by Rev. Charles G. McCorristin. While pastors
came and went, a young assistant, assigned to Saint James parish in early July 1933 proved to be a
stabilizing force. Rev. Charles A. Dusten belatedly found himself responsible for the Mission
parish and submitted Saint Andrew's report to the diocese for the year 1935 on 22 April 1936,

some three months after the normal deadline. He signed himself as "Assistant" to the pastor of
Saint James, and his signature was seconded by Lay Trustees, Frederick Foerch and John
DuBoyce.

Through 1935 there was but one Mass, an 8 AM on Sundays, and there was no weekday
Mass at Saint Andrew's. Baptism, Confirmation, weddings and funerals continued to be held at
Saint James in Woodbridge. Parishioners who chose to attend daily Mass went either to Saint
James or Saint Mark's in Rahway. Fr. Dusten's is the first annual report to count the number of
families in the parish: there were 115 in 1935; six people died; there were two weddings, 1 1 First
Communicants and 4 Baptisms. In his report for 1936, dated 29 January 1937, he signed himself
as "Administrator." The parish grew to 150 families; the Holy Name Society had 50 members; the
Rosary and Altar Society 75; and the report suggests the fomiation of a 150 member Boys' Club.

Fr. McCorristin, who would serve as pastor of Saint James from 1937 until 1966, relieved
his assistant of responsibility for Saint Andrew's and submitted his 1937 report without the benefit
of Trustees' signatures, and for 1938 his report bears the names of new Trustees, James J. Crowley
and John J. Godby. He counted 100 families, 100 men, 100 women and 200 children: his numbers
are suspiciously rounded, but it was in 1938 that he persuaded Bishop Kiley to invest the parish
with a church of its own.

Fr. McCorristin, it would appear, bore responsibility for the construction of Saint
Andrew's first Parish Church which was located "on church property next to the public library."
He secured a mortgage from the diocese of Trenton and returned the unpaid principle of the loan
St. Andrews made to St. James in 1929. The West New York firm of Frank J. Ricker and Louis
Axt, Architects, designed the church, a brick and hollow tile structure with slate roof, copper
gutters, and elegant wooden doors. The church, with seating for 350, cost "in the neighborhood of
$28,000." Tlie building was "approximately 90 x 40 feet" with a choir loft and bell tower, with a
room below for the sexton to ring the bell. Beneath the church was a hall with kitchen facilities
and a stage.

According to the article in the Independent Leader for 29 September 1939, the cornerstone,
a donation from the Woodbridge Monumental Works, was laid at 2 PM on Sunday, 1 October, by
Monsignor Peter J. Hart. Monsignor Edward C. Griffin addressed the assembly. The church was
blessed on 17 December 1939, and Rev. Thomas E. Carney, assistant to Saint James parish since
1938, was Fr. McCorristin's choice to man the new Mission church of Saint Andrew.

The New Parish

Change began to favor the evolving parish of Saint Andrew, on 1 January 1940, Bishop
Moses E. Kiley was consecrated Archbishop of Milwaukee, and on 22 May 1940, the Most
Reverend William A. Griflfin was consecrated Bishop of Trenton. In his report to the diocese for
1939, written in early 1940, Fr. McCorristin suggested that Saint Andrew's, still a Mission of Saint
James in Woodbridge, had the assets and size to support itself, and he reminded the Chancery that
Rahway State Prison Fami was within the boundaries of the Mission parish.

In the following year, 1941, Bishop Griffin established Saint Andrew's as an independent
parish and appointed, as its first pastor. Rev. Charles A. Dusten whose experience as
Administrator of the Mission combined with his enthusiasm promised to inspire the new venture
with the energy it needed to prosper. Fr. Dusten's annual reports bore the address, 138 Avenel
Street, now a parking area where once stood an interim rectory. An actual census of the parish in
1941 counted 216 families. Fr. Dusten held Forty Hours Devotions, a diocesan requirement, in
early January, and celebrated two Sunday Masses, 9: 15 AM and 10;45 AM, and one daily Mass at
7:30 AM. In his first year he married 6 couples, baptized 9 infants, trained 2 1 First
Communicants, and buried 3 parishioners. The Holy Name Society reported 50 members, the
Rosary and Altar society 75 and the Sodality 75 members.

When he served as Administrator of the parish, Fr. Dusten demonstrated his interest in the
young by fomiing a Boys' Club that apparently floundered in his absence. When he returned as
pastor, he continued to pursue opportunities for the young: in 1942 he reported formation of an
association called Boys of the Parish and Girls of the Parish with membership of 76 and 102
respectively. In 1943 he reported a Catholic Boy Scout troop with 20 members and a youth
association called Holy Childhood with 1 16 members, 56 boys and 60 girls, about a third of the
305 children counted in a year that saw the number of families registered in the parish rise from
266 in 1942 to 432 m 1943.

The increased size of the parish required Fr. Dusten to add a third Sunday Mass in 1944:
the revised schedule offered Masses at 7 AM , 9: 15 AM, and 10:45 AM. Daily Mass remained at
7:30 AM, and Benediction services were conducted at 7:30 PM on Thursdays and on First Friday.
Before the year got well under way, Fr. Dusten took ill. Oral tradition has it that he suffered from
a disease that caused him to gain weight. He would deliver his sermons while seated, and although
he was advised against walking round the church for the Stations of the Cross, he ignored the
restriction and collapsed on Wednesday of Holy Week, 5 April 1944, while praying the Stations.

His obituary says he died in St. Mar>'s hospital, Passaic, "after a six week illness." Fr. Dusten
was but thirty-eight years old.

Rev. John J. Eagan, who would remain as pastor until 1971, replaced Fr. Dusten in April

1944. By the end of the year, Fr. Eagan had baptized 40 infants, married 8 couples, buried 6
adults and 1 child, and welcomed 36 First Communicants, all children. In October and November
he conducted a parish census that counted a total of 1410 parishioners, 456 men, 468 women, 486
children and 463 families. In addition to existing parish organizations, he formed a Society for the
Propagation of the Faith with 90 members and a St. Vincent de Paul Society with 8. When he
wrote his annual report to the diocese, in the space that asked when Confirmation was last
administered, he made his small complaint: "Confirmation was never administered in this parish."

In compliance with the doctrine that advises, "If you want a task done right, do it yourself
or delegate it to a busy man or woman ," the Chancery, in 1945 added spiritual responsibility for
the "New Jersey Rahway Reformatory" to the Parish of Saint Andrew, and Fr. Eagan added an
8:30 AM Mass at the Prison to his three Sunday Masses at the church. The last Mass every
Sunday was a High Mass at which Mrs. Albert Bama played the organ and Mrs. Joseph Wukovets
sang. With the help of two Sisters of Mercy from Saint James, Fr. Eagan taught catechism classes
to grammar school children on Monday afternoons and to High School students on Monday
evenings. The Bishop honored the parish on 9 December 1945 when he administered the
sacrament of Confirmation for the first time in the new church: 64 were confirmed, 3 1 boys, 29
girls and 4 adult women, one of whom was a convert.

Fr. Eagan was busier than the proverbial one-armed-roofer. The parish, once slow to
emerge, suddenly burst forth, and with the help of a Seminarian, Tliomas Ryan, Fr. Eagan counted
heads in 1948. He found that his parish of 410 families in 1945 had grown to 520 families, and in
1949, he and Thomas Ryan counted 750 families. Baptisms increased from 1 1 in 1939, to 38 in

1945, 76 in 1947, 59 in 1948. and 72 in 1949: the baby-boom of the postwar years found Avenel.
The census reported 3,105 Catholics in Saint Andrew's Parish, and Fr. Eagan added Sunday
Masses: in 1949 there were five: 7 AM, 8 AM, 9 AM, 10 AM, 1 1 AM, and 8:30 AM at the
Rahway Prison Farm. The Holy Ghost Fathers of Philadelphia and the Vincentian Fathers of
Princeton visited on weekends to help with Confession and Sunday Masses.

On I January 1950 Bishop Griffin died. George W. Ahr, who was ordained on 29 July
1928, was appointed Bishop of Trenton on 28 January and consecrated on 20 March 1950. In the
same year, Fr. Eagan reported that his census of the parish, taken with the help of unnamed

Seminarians, revealed still further growth: there were 999 families, 3,842 Catholics, 1,162 men,
1,089 women, 1,591 children. During the year, Fr. Eagan enlisted the help of two lay teachers to
help two Sisters teach weekly catechism classes, and in the summer he instituted a Religious
Vacation School that required three Sisters, three lay teachers and one Seminarian. He baptized
87, and 83 received First Holy Communion. Bishop Ahr recognized that the spiritual and
administrative demands of the parish were beyond one man, and in 195 1 appointed Fr. Bernard J.
Carlin as Saint Andrew's first curate.

The New Church
By the mid-fifties, the parish had attained proportions that exceeded all e.xpectations. Fr.
O'Farrell, who predicted in 1920 that the area would one day develop and grow, would likely be
shocked by the vengeance with which his prophecy was fulfilled. In 1956 there were 1,298
families attending Masses in a church built to accommodate 350 people, and Fr. Eagan had to
build a larger church and expand the rectory at 248 Avenel Street.

As early as 17 Febaiary 1955, Fr. Eagan had in hand a new survey of parish land, and he
contracted with Ricker and Axt, the West New York architectural firm that designed the first
church, to design a large one: the new church would seat 859. On Thursday, 15 December 1955,
the Independent Leader reported:

Building pemiits were issued yesterday to Saint Andrew's Parish, Avenel,
for construction of a new church on Madison Avenue and an addition to the
present rectory.

The church will cost $245,000 and the addition to the rector>' $18,000.
Tlie church to be made of stone and brick and a tile roof will be built on
the lot near the present church which faces Avenel Street. It will have a 56 foot
front, 148 foot depth and will be 42 feet high.

The rectory addition will be two stories high and will also have a cinder
block garage. Work will begin immediately.
Fr. Eagan secured mortgages for the new church ($200,000 at 3.5%) and the addition to rectory
($50,000 at 3.5%) from the Emigrant Savings Bank in New York, and by September 1956, he
entertained bids to fiiniish the church with marble altars, a pulpit, pews, and stained glass
windows.

On Tliursday, 27 September 1956, the Independent Leader printed a photograph of the
nearly completed church with the caption:

Above is the new church being constructed for St. Andrew's Parish in Avenel,
adjacent to the old church. The new church faces Madison Avenue, instead of
Avenel Street. Rev. John Eagan . . . estimated that the new structure will be ready
for midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
Fr. Eagan's report to the diocese for 1956, written in early January 1957, indicates that the church
and rectory were under construction, and correspondence dated April 1957 suggests that the church
was a recalcitrant project, reluctant to be finished. The Bishop's formal blessing of the church
bears the date 12 May 1957, a Sunday, when he celebrated Mass and dedicated the church.
Bishop Ahr paid a second visit to the new church on 23 May 1957 when he confirmed 169, 159
children and 10 adults, 100 more than the parish's first Confirmation of 65 in 1945.

On 22 May 1957, Stephen J. and Stella C. Cohorsky of Avenel, donated to St. Andrew's
Parish an undeveloped tract of land on the comer of Pocohant Street and Madison Avenue. The
Indenture says that the lot, a combination of two smaller lots, was transferred to the Parish "for
and in consideration of One or more Dollars." The land sits idle as the Parish celebrates its 75th
anniversary'.

Bisliop Ahr must have viewed Saint Andrew's parish as either a boot camp for training
curates or a parish in which one might become too comfortable, for he marched Fr. Eagan's
assistants in and out with excessive regularity. Fr. Carlin was replaced in 1953 by Fr. Charles
LaCovera who left in 1954 to be replaced by Fr. Amedeo L. Morello. Fr. Morello saw the new
church completed and gave way on 1 September 1957 to Fr. Edward J. O'Connell who barely
unpacked his belongings before he was replaced on 1 June 1958 by Fr. Amiand Pedata who
managed to escape the revolving door until 1962.

Fr. Eagan's annual report to the diocese for 1959 was seconded by Lay Trustees, James J.
Crowley and Jolin G. Wranitz. Fr. Pedata's influential interest in the young adults of the parish
appeared in the designation of "the old church" as the "CYO Hall". The parish required seven
Sisters and three lay teachers to man the CCD and Religious Vacation School programs. Mr.
Charles Pryce was the sexton. Fr. Eagan, whose salary was basically paid by the State and
supplemented by the parish, described his attention to the Rahway State Prison Farm: he said Mass
on Sundays and Holy Days, heard confession, gave instruction and was available for conferences
with inmates.

The census of 1959, taken by Fr. Eagan, Fr. Pedata, unnamed Seminarians, and the men of
the parish who were members of the Legion of Mary, counted 1,101 families, 5,210 parishioners.

1,291 men, 1,339 women, and 2,580 children under the age of 17, The Holy Name Society ended
the 1950s with 201 members; the Altar and Rosary society with 220; the Legion of Mary 15; the
Sodality 64; and the Legion of the Sacred Heart 421. Twenty-four couples were married; 120
infants and 7 adults were baptized; 8 died; and Bishop Alir must have worn himself out on 17
October when he Confirmed 269: 126 boys, 128 girls and 15 adults, 100 more than he found in
1957. Saint Andrew's Church had grown from a fledgling Mission to a parish of significant
proportions.

Camelot

Giuseppe Roncalli, bom 25 November 1881, was just shy of his 78th birthday when, after
twelve ballots, he was chosen to succeed Pope Pius XII who died on 9 October 1958. Shortly after
he ascended the Papacy as John XXIll, he announced his inspiration to convene an ecumenical
council, the sort of thing Papal Rome liked to avoid on the principle that chaos rides the wake of a
Vatican Council. Pope Jolin XXlll conceived of his council as necessary "to bring the church up
to date" and to inftise it with the regenerative powers of the Holy Spirit. Vatican II was to be a
"New Pentecost."

In the summer of 1960, when the 43 year-old Senator from Massachusetts accepted the
Democratic Party's nomination to run for the office of President of the United States, Jolin
Fitzgerald Kennedy said the country stood on the "edge of a New Frontier." He was elected in
November and in his inaugural address of January 1961, he urged the country to meet the
challenges of the new decade with "the energy, the faith, the devotion [which] will light our country
and all who serve it—and the glow from that light can truly light the world."

Pope Jolin XXIII, a man in the last years of his life, and John Kennedy, a man in his prime,
the youngest ever elected president, viewed the new decade as a time for change and reconciliation;
both urged a renewal of energy; both used the metaphor of light; and both spoke with a youthftil
spirit that inspired the early years of the 1960s.

The first wave of children bom in the years after the Second World War, the baby-
boomers, were in high school, and the church scrambled to address their interests and spiritual
development. Fr. Pedata took responsibility for the young men and women of the parish and
persuaded Fr. Eagan that the old church would serve nicely as a CYO hall where he could see to
the spiritual development of the teenagers who were beyond the reach of catechism classes. He
recently wrote, "the little 'old' Church was a big target of my activity. With much help from good

10

parishioners, we converted it into a youth center; basketball gym upstairs, and a meeting, social
hall downstairs. Our Youth Group became enormous!"

Monsignor Pedata was equally enthusiastic about the altar boys: "We had a great altar boy
society. Tim Certain (the smallest of all of them) burned a Z for 'Zorro' in the ceiling. His father
took care of him and the ceiling!" The Sisters of Mercy from Saint James in Woodbridge
continued to teach CCD classes, and Fr. Pedata remembered one in particular: "Sr. Josephus was
tough! One day, thinking that I was an Altar boy, she literally threw me out of Church! A good
lady!"

In 1962, Fr, Eagan reported that the parish organizations included the Holy Name Society
(203 members). Saint Vincent de Paul Society (12 members). Rosary and Altar Society (220
members). Sodality (62 members), CCD (52 men and 54 women), and the League of the Sacred
Heart (203 men and 220 women): the Legion of Mary, a society of men who helped with the parish
census was conspicuous in its absence. Since the diocese, in the 1950s and 1960s required an
annual parish census, Fr. Eagan turned to the St. Vincent de Paul Society and with the help of
Seminarians stationed at the parish for a portion of the summer, they counted 1,214 families, 4,452
parishioners, 1,224 men, 1,246 women and 1,982 children. Bishop Ahr had not forgot the 269
Confimiandi he faced in 1959, and on 20 March 1962 sent the Most Reverend James Hogan,
Auxiliary Bishop of Trenton, to Confirm 215 candidates at Saint Andrew's in Avenel!

Fr. Eagan revised the Sunday Mass schedule in 1962: Masses were celebrated at 7 AM,
8:15 AM, 8:30 AM at the prison, 9:30 AM, 10:45 AM and at 12 noon, and Rosary and
Benediction devotions were held at 4 PM on Sundays.

On 1 September 1962, Fr. Pedata was replaced by Fr. Chester Genecki who, like Fr.
Pedata, took particular interest in the young of the parish. Fr. Genecki was director of the CYO
and Catholic Young Adult Club in Burlington County before he was assigned to assist Fr. Eagan at
Saint Andrew's. He took charge of parish activities at the Woodbridge State School, and during
his tenure at St. Andrew's, Fr. Genecki earned a master's degree in Special Education from Seton
Hall University..

The parish continued to grow through the 1960s: by 1963 there were 1,350, 250 families
more than there were in 1960; 122 infants and 10 adults were Baptized; 140 received First
Communion; 24 couples married; and 8 died. Fr. Eagan could no longer manage the administrative
burden of the parish by himself and on 16 March 1963, hired Mrs. Dorothy O'Neill to assist him in

11

the parish ofilce. Mr. Charles Prvcc left on 1 March and Mr. Wilham Leahy replaced him as
sexton on 4 May 1 963 .

The nearly naive, youthful enthusiasm of the first years of the 1960s was stunned and
challenged in June 1963. Pope John XXIII convened the second Vatican Council in the fall of

1962 and died on 3 June 1963, and later that year on 22 November, John Kennedy was shot and
died. The courageous vision and the challenge to make necessary change that both men offered the
world remained, but their leadership, energy, and light were gone. The hope and joy, the promise
of Camelot, lasted but "One brief shining moment."

The Sober Sixties

Giovanni Battista Montini, Pope Paul VI, was elected to replace John XXIll on 21 June
1963. His papacy would bear the heavy burden of continuing the work of the second Vatican
Council and he would live to implement its decrees. In the fall of 1963, Paul VI presided over the
second of four sessions of the Council, and the Catholic community lived as if in suspension,
uncertain of the direction in which the new Pope would lead the council and the church.

Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office in the early morning hours of 23 November

1963 to become the 36th President of the United States, and the country lived as if in suspension,
uncertain of the path he would take into the New Frontier which had defined itself in questions of
civil rights legislation and the extent to which the country should be involved in the civil war in
Viet Nam.

During 1964, Saint Andrew's Parish took spiritual responsibility for what was called the
Woodbridge Hospital for Severely Retarded Children. Fr. Eagan defined the parish role as "On
Call," and he retained responsibility for the prison which paid his entire salar\' for the year. The
parish continued to grow and the 1964 census found 1,405 families. Bishop Ahr visited on 14
April 1964 to Confirm another 263, 253 children and 10 adults: he recognized that the size of the
parish required Confirmation at intervals of two instead of three years.

Questions about the direction the country would take in Viet Nam were answered early in
1965 when President Jolinson escalated military activity: by the end of the year there were 180,000
troops on active duty in Viet Nam. Paul VI convened the final session of the Vatican Council in
fall and closed the council on 8 December 1965. Although the Council had completed its work, the
shape and impact of its decrees were largely unclear and issues like changes in liturgy and a
transition from traditional Latin to the language of each country would require the development of
formal guides and new texts.

12

The immediate impact of Vatican II on the church in the mid-sixties, however, was clear:
implementing change would require parishes to invest even more time and resources in education
for all Catholics. Throughout his years as Pastor of Saint Andrew's Fr. Eagan, once a math
teacher, demonstrated the high value he placed upon education. Forums and programs to meet the
educational needs of the parish were largely in place as a function of Fr. Eagan's vision of the
parish responsibility to educate. Through 1965 the weekly and summer CCD programs were
staffed by the Sisters of Mercy from Saint James in Woodbridge. In 1966, though, only 3 Sisters
of Mercy were available to Saint Andrew's, and Fr. Eagan enlisted the help of the Sisters of the
Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary whose Motherhouse was located at 1200 Via Cascia, La Storta
di Roma, Italy with an American Motherhouse in Fairhaven, Massachusetts.

Mother General Bridget Mary assigned Mother Marie Leobin. SSCC and two Sisters to
St. Andrew's with the understanding that the Parish would provide a convent. In late July, Fr.
Eagan informed Bishop Ahr that the Mother General reftised to accept even interim arrangements
with the Sisters of Mercy at Saint James: she insisted upon a "cottage in Avenel for a temporary
Convent until the Convent is built. She is willing to be without a Chapel and to double up in the
bedrooms if necessary." In the same letter, Fr. Eagan proposed to buy a house at 42 Madison
Avenue, and the Bishop agreed. The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts arrived in Avenel on 3 1 August
1966, in the nick of time to begin fall CCD classes. The presence of the Sisters of the Sacred
Hearts in the parish required that Fr. Eagan secure spiritual services for them from outside the
parish: Fr. Francis Daley served as Ordinary Confessor; Very Reverend Maurice GriflTin was their
Extraordinary Confessor; Fr. John Gerity held monthly spiritual conferences; and Fr. Eagan began
to contemplate construction of a convent.

By 1966 the parish stabilized at 1,470 families with 2,722 children. There were 30
marriages, 103 Baptisms, 131 First Communicants, and Bishop Ahr visited to Confirm 244 on 4
June. Fr. Genecki recruited lay teachers from the parish and instituted a Saturday morning
program of religious instruction for residents of the Woodbridge State School. Although the size
of the school-aged population of the parish did not change, the number of available religious did: 3
Sisters of the Sacred Heart replaced 7 Sisters of Mercy, and the parish was required to provide
religious instruction to the Prison and the State School: if the Church Fathers who attended Vatican
II had not decided to invite the laity to take a more active role in the business of the church, the
demands of the parish would have decided for them.

13

On 25 March 1967 Fr Eagan signed an agreement with Albert Garlatti of Highland Park
who would serve as General Contractor for the new Convent which would be built on the site of the
old church. Fr. Eagan expected the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts to have a permanent presence in
the parish and personalized the convent by choosing for the front door a stained glass window with
a design of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

The convent was originally planned as the first phase of a building program that would
include a new school and a rectory to replace the house at 248 Avcnel Street. Thomas A. Vail &
Company of Somerset drew plans for a building to accommodate 10 Sisters.

The first floor will contain chapel, refectory, kitchen, common room, porch and
two offices. The second floor will have 10 cells, a combination sick or guest
room, superior's office and cell . . . Heating and Plumbing work will be done by
McGowan and McLean of Middletovvn, and Klein Electrical Contractors of Perth
Amboy will do electrical work.
The diocese had begun to inquire, as part of the annual parish profile, what number of parishioners
were students, and in 1967, Fr. Eagan reported 935 in public and 90 in Catholic grammar schools;
3 10 in public, and 26 in Catholic high schools. The numbers warranted consideration of a parish
school and the new convent was apparently designed to house rather a large group of Sisters who
would eventually teach in the proposed school.

In June 1967, Pope Paul VI, who wrestled with the difficult task of implementing changes
proposed by Vatican II, issued Sacerdotalis Caelibatus. which affirmed the Church's traditional
value of religious celibacy. His encyclical "evoked much harsh criticism," and he later

likened the large numbers of priests leaving the ministry to 'a crown of thorns. ' He
also was disturbed by the growing numbers of religious men and women asking
for release from vows or who were abandoning out of hand their religious vows.
In the following year. Pope Paul VI issued Humanae Vitae, which argued for traditional doctrinal,
opposition to artificial methods of birth control.

In many sectors this encyclical provoked adverse reactions that may be described
as the most violent attacks on the authority of papal teaching in modem times.
The first news from Vatican II was no news. Paul VI insisted that the "Catholic Church in the
20th centurv should be a faithfiil witness to the tradition of the past, except when tradition was
obviously anachronistic." His posture favored changes in liturgy and in the role of the laity, but he
straggled with questions raised by the Council to be certain that he identified the baby before he

14

tossed the bath water. Many among religious and laity alike who looked forward to a lifting of
traditional restrictions, found themselves in conflict with the church and a Pope whose
interpretation of the Council's purpose seemed to contradict the spirit in which John XXIII
convened Vatican II.

The spirit of unrest and conflict that attended the church was also apparent in the country's
attitude toward the progressive escalation of the war in Viet Nam, where, in 1967, Lyndon Johnson
deployed 390,000 American military personnel:

sentiment against U.S. involvement in the war mounted steadily from 1967 on and
expressed itself in peace marches, demonstrations, and acts of civil disobedience.
Growing numbers of politicians and ordinary citizens began to question whether
the U. S. war effort could succeed, or even whether it was morally justifiable in a
conflict that some interpreted as a Vietnamese civil war.
The late 1960s were difficult, troublesome times. The New Frontier proclaimed by John Kennedy
and, in his way, by John XXIll was a conftising, contradictory territory, and its paths were neither
clear nor straight. The fiiture was unpredictable: Fr. Eagan could not know in 1967 that the parish
would not build a school, that his convent would become a Parish House and then a rectory.
Neither would he have predicted that Bingo, first introduced under the sponsorship of the Holy
Name Society in September 1967, would endure through the years as the leading parish fund
raiser!

John C. Reiss, DD, ordained 3 1 May 1947, succeeded Auxiliary Bishop of Trenton, James
J. Hogan on 21 October, and was Consecrated on 12 December 1967. On 16 October 1968 he
paid his first Canonical visit to St. Andrew's to administer Confirmation to 222 children and 15
adults, and to assess the progress of the new convent.

Mother Mar\' Leobin was attended by three Sisters of the Sacred Hearts in 1968, and in
July, three more visited for the month to help with Religious Vacation School. Fr. Michael
McNulty replaced Fr Daley as the Sisters' Ordinary Confessor; Fr. William Roos replaced Msgr.
Griffin as their Extraordinary Confessor; and Fr. John Gerit>', in his third year of service,
continued to provide monthly spiritual conferences. In the following year. Rev. Gabriel M. Coless,
a Benedictine Father and college professor, who specialized in the histrory of liturgy, began to
serve as a weekend assistant. His paternal and cheerful spirit created a sense of stability for the
next twenty -three years.

15

Constmction of the convent was completed before 9 January 1969 when Fr. Eagan
received word from the Vice Chancellor of the Diocese, Edward U. Kmiec, that Bishop Ahr
granted permission for him to bless the new convent and "to reserve the Blessed Sacrament in the
Convent Chapel." The Sisters of the Sacred Hearts were installed in their new home and in an
article published by The News Tribune on Saturday, 22 February, Fr. Eagan explained that Sister
Gail Ann, Sister Jane Marie, and Sister Muriel Louise were responsible for religious education of
elementary school children and assisted Mr. Thomas O'Neill director of the secondary school
program which was held on Sundays in the Avenel School.

Fr. Eagan also boasted that the 'Way of Love' pre-school program, begun in September
1968, was "a 'first' in the Trenton Diocese." Under the direction of Mrs. Raymond Larson and Mrs
Lawrence Wisniewski, the program, conducted during the 9:30 AM Mass on Sundays, instructed
180 children of pre-school age. If Vatican II would require education, the process was underway
at Saint Andrew's parish.

In 1969 the Diocese ordered a census that required parishioners to register at the parish
office. Between 1965 and 1969 the parish grew by only 50 families, but 1504 was the largest
number of families in parish historv': 37 couples were married; 95 infants and 5 adults were
Baptized; 130 received First Communion; and 28 died.

Fr. Eagan was relieved of some of the pressure of the State Prison when a Rev. Hugh
McGovem was appointed pemianent chaplain and took responsibility for Sunday Masses and
CCD instruction. The parish continued to provide CCD instruction to the Woodbridge State
School under the direction of Fr. Genecki, and Mother Joan Rita replaced Mother Mary Leobin as
local Superior of the community of five Sisters. Fr. Donald M. Endebrock replaced Fr. McNulty
as Ordinary Confessor to the Sisters, and Frs. Roos and Gerity continued to serve the convent.

Change

The mid-nineteenth century Liturgical movement that inspired changes ordered by Vatican
II urged the Church to restore liturgy to its early Christian tradition and to revise liturgy to make it
relevant to contemporary Christian life. The movement fomiulated its views in the light of new-
Christian archaeology, increased circulation of early Christian literature and liturgical texts, and
Biblical study from which emerged a record of early Christian practices. Pope Pius XII endorsed
the movement in 1947 when he stressed the importance of liturgy and the need to include the laity
in his encyclical Mediator Dei, and he instituted liturgical reform with Holy Week services in 1951

16

and 1955. Vatican II continued the process; by 1969 the documents necessary for reform began to
appear: a new lectionary and calendar, and, in 1970, the Definitive Roman Missal.

Before the 1970s got well under way, Fr. Eagan's health began to fail and in July 1971, Fr.
Chester C. Genecki, whose 9 year tenure as assistant set a record for longevity, took responsibility
for the parish as Administrator. Andrew Introne succeeded William Leahy as sexton in March
1969, and Mother Jean Rita, who led her contingent of Sisters back to Fairhaven at the end of July,
leaving behind a question of whether they would return, was replaced in August 1970 by Sister M.
Rose who served as Superior for the 3 Sisters who reappeared at the end of the month.

In his first report to the Diocese, Fr. Genecki recognized a number of parish organizations
whose existence and membership was not previously reported: Knights of Columbus Council
#5088 (200 members). Knights of the Altar, a national association of altar boys with headquarters
at Notre Dame, Indiana (45 members), 3rd Order of Mt. Camiel (15 members), a Senior CYO (40
members) and a Junior CYO (300 members). Membership in the Holy Name Society fell to 38;
the Altar and Rosary Society gave way to a Ladies' Society with 125 members; and the St. Vincent
dePauI Society still had its 8 members. Bishop Ahr visited on 14 May 1971 to administer
Confinnation to 243 children and 1 1 adults.

Early signs of Vatican II reforms appeared in a revised Mass schedule that included a 7
PM Mass on Saturday evening. Sunday Masses were offered at 7:45 AM 9:30 AM, 10:45 AM
and 12 noon, and Fr. Genecki added a folk Mass every six weeks: during the Mass he would
explain his actions and their significance in an effort to help the children and their parents
understand and appreciate the new liturgy. He also added a monthly Mass to his activities at the
Woodbridge State School. There was one daily Mass at 7: 15 AM, and one evening Mass on
Monday at 7:30 that was accompanied by Novena devotions. Sister M. Rose, superior of the
convent community of 6, though only three appear on the payroll for 1971, was identified as Sister
M. Rose Perry, and those three Sisters who were paid by the parish returned to the Motherhouse in
Fairhaven Massachusetts for the months of July and August.

The task of rearranging the church to accommodate radical, liturgical change fell to Fr.
Genecki. When stone-masons disassembled the rather large pulpit installed when the church was
built in 1956, they built a smaller one, and used the remainder of the marble to create a sanctuary
platform for the altar. They turned the original altar toward the people, cut the marble levels on
which the original altar stood to provide a platform for the celebrants' chairs, and used the
remainder of the marble to complete the sanctuary platform. When they removed the altar rail.

17

they left a short stretcli of the original rail in front of the side altar on which sat the original
tabernacle until Fr. O'Neill replaced it with a smaller version. Removing the Baptismal font from
the rear of the church to left side of sanctuary was less complicated a matter.

The task of explaining and cultivating an appreciation of the new liturgy also fell to Fr.
Genecki. If Vatican II roused the ire of the religious and the faithful by failing to alter Church
teaching on issues like celibacy and birth control, it's effect was private, personal, and had no
apparent impact beyond the gradual exodus of religious that created personnel and morale
problems, but when the Council ordered a nearly complete revision of the liturgy, abandoned the
familiar, if obscure Latin, and turned the Mass round, many of the faithful struggled with the
change in what they held to be an immutable spiritual reality. Among his papers is one homily in
which Fr. Genecki acknowledged unrest in the parish over the new look of the church and the new
liturgy: "Some people persist in saying that it was all a mistake, that they should have left the
Church the way it was even if it was old fashioned," and he asked the community to distinguish
between the incidental and the essential:

As one author put it, we have witnessed the death of permanence . . most of us
look for something that has not changed. For many of us that means our faith, our
religion. One thing we always used to hear about the Catholic Church was that it
could not change. Well if you have that idea in your head, you keep it there. It is
true, in spite of what you hear and read. And yet in the Church we too have seen a
lot of changes in recent times, in the Mass for example . . .Today we offer the very
same sacrifice [of the Mass] in English. The language of the Mass is incidental.
It is what happens at Mass that is essential, and that has remained the same down
through the centuries . . .We should all ask for the vision to see that amid all the
uncertainties and anxieties brought on by a too rapidly changing world we still
have something that is truly stable and reliable . . . and that something is our
Catholic faith.
Fr. Genecki tried to understand the unrest he addressed and urged the parish to see beyond the face
of change and find in new garb their familiar faith.

In 1973, Sr. Jane Donnelly replaced Sr. M. Rose Perrs' as Superior of the 4 sisters who
lived in the Convent. The parish no longer offered a contingent of clergy to attend the Sisters'
spiritual arrangements. One daily Mass was offered at 8 AM in the convent, and the Sisters were
free to choose their own Confessors. The Sisters left Avenel for Fairhaven during the months of

18

July and August, a practice begun in 1970, and returned in September. A Fr. Marr replaced Fr.
McGovem as Chaplain at the Prison, and on 25 October, the Bishop administered Confirmation to
a throng of 285!

Within a month of the Bishop's visit the parish and diocese was shocked by the death of Fr.
Genecki. He took ill on Sunday at the rectory and entered John F. Kennedy Hospital in Edison for
tests on Monday morning, 12 November 1973, where he died suddenly shortly past noon. He was
52 years old. Fr. Genecki's body lay in state in the church he altered to accommodate a liturgical
renewal he embraced and taught to the people of St. Andrew's. The parish visited on Thursday
afternoon to take their leave and they celebrated Fr. Genecki's life with Mass at 7:30 PM. On
Friday, 16 November, Bishop Ahr, who returned from Washington, D. C. where he attended the
United States bishops amnial meeting, was principal celebrant, and Fr. Edward A. Bumbera,
pastor of St. Dominic's in Brick Town, was homilist at a Mass of Resurrection: the New Liturgy
for Christian Burial.

More Change

In December 1973, the Bishop assigned Fr. Gerald C. Callahan as temporary assistant to
Fr. Eagan who remained as titular pastor of St. Andrew's. Fr. Callahan completed the 1973 annual
report and kept a hand on the wheel until March 1974, when Bishop Alir appointed Fr. James J.
McGovem to serve as Administrator. The parish grew to 1,620 families in that year: the last
diocesan census was taken in 1969, and the numbers for 1974 reflected change since 1969.
Membership in parish organizations became a source of concern: the ladies society boasted 140
members and the Knights of Columbus continued strong with 260 members, but the Holy Name
Society dropped off to 40 members: the St Vincent de Paul Society had 5 members; but most
troublesome was the membership of the CYO whose membership had declined to 12!

Wlien Sr. Jane Domielly led four Sisters of the Sacred Heart to Fairhaven for the summer
months of July and August, she returned with only three who were joined in January 1975 by a
fourth. And when the Sisters left for the months of July and August 1975, they returned with a new
Superior, Sr. JoAnn McKenzie, and their numbers had dwindled to three. By 1976 Fr. McGovem
recognized that the convent was too elaborate and too large a facility to house no more than three
or four Sisters, and asked the diocese to approve the purchase a house nearby to accommodate the
Sisters. Bishop Ahr agreed and on 30 August 1976 the parish acquired a house at 245 Avenel
Street that would ser\'e as a convent. The Convent was renamed the "Parish House" and altered to
make class rooms for the CCD program.

19

During his pastorship, Fr. McGovem refurbished the pews one section at a time and
installed carpeting in the church. Around that time, during the later months of 1975, he sought
permission to install an elevator in the church to make it accessible to the handicapped. He had the
Bishop's permission by 29 January 1976 and on 16 July 1976, contracted with Albert Garlatti
Construction Co. of Highland Park, the firm who built the Convent, to make necessary changes
and install an elevator at a cost of $82,882. PauU Engineering of Cherry Hill, New Jersey,
architects, designed the alterations to the church, which included removal of one pew on either side
of the church near the center to create an aisle for wheel chairs. The elevator was one of the first in
the Trenton Diocese.

On 1 July 1976, Pr. Eagan, whose health continued to be worrisome, retired from his post
as pastor of St. Andrew's after 32 years. He had given over a majority of his pastoral duties in the
early 1970s when Fr. Genecki and then Fr. McGovem ran the parish as Administrators. Bishop
Ahr appointed Fr. McGovem to succeed Fr. Eagan as pastor in August 1976 and in November he
assigned Fr. Michael Hackett to assist him.

The Parish Profile for 1977, Fr. McGovem's first as pastor, gave the Convent address,
244 Avenel Street, as the mailing address for the parish: the rectory was still at 248 Avenel Street.
The convent was located at 245 Avenel Street, and three Sisters, each from a different order, lived
there: Sr. Jane Donnelly, last of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts, was described as Director of
Pastoral Care; Sr. JoAiin Reynolds, a Sister of Charity from Convent Station, N. J., was the
Director of Religious Education; and Sr. Elaine Corey, a Sister of Saint Dorothy from Taunton,
Massachusetts, was Coordinator of Elementary Religious Education. Fr. James Marr remained as
Chaplain of Rahway State Prison and the recently developed New Jersey Adult Diagnostic Center.
John G. Wranitz and Charles Podraza continued to serve as parish tmstees. Joyce Zakierski, the
organist hired in November 1974, gave way to Sharon Gomian in October, and the report
identified an adult choir with 1 1 members and a teen choir with 8 members. There were 24
Lectors, 27 ushers, 38 altar boys, 35 Pastoral Aides, 8 Pastoral visitors and 24 Eucharistic
Ministers

In 1977 Fr. McGovem reported 1,570 families living in the parish, and he arrived at that
number by adding 95 newly registered and subtracting 101 families who moved away The
Diocesan report asked for a discussion of the "most pressing problems" the parish faced, and the
staff developed a list of difficulties that began with change in the church: "Church renewal has not
reached majority" led to decrease in attendance at Mass. Social difficulties of the 1970s, especially

20

an increased divorce rate, contributed to the problem of "Breakdown of family life," which was
reflected in "Alienation of youth," and a general sense that "Indifference and apathy" prevailed.
The religious staff, Fr. McGovem, Fr. Hackett, Srs. Re>'nolds, Donnelly and Corey signed the
report and committed themselves to finding "vehicles to reach marginal and indifferent
parishioners" to learn their "attitudes and thinking," and they proposed to develop a "total Youth
Ministry."

In 1978 Sr Jane Donnelly, the last of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts left the parish. Sr.
JoAnn Reynolds and Sr. Elaine Corey remained to face the challenge of rousing the parish to
spiritual renewal. Confirmation, now conferred every 2 1/2 years, was administered on 9
November 1978 to 166 Confimiandi, a number that reflected a failure of interest in a parish whose
membership continued to increase. Better news appeared in the membership of a newly formed
Teenage Club that attracted 60; there were 15 members of a Children's Choir, and 1 1 sang in a
Teen Choir. The adult religious education program began to show signs of life: 1 14 were involved
in preparation for First Communion; 223 in preparation for Confirmation; 18 attended lectures and
discussions and 42 were engaged in teacher training programs.

During 1978 Fr. Raymond J. Cosgrove, S. J. took up residence at St. Andrew's as an
assistant. Fr. Cosgrove, a Jesuit, was at the end of a career of student counseling that included
assignments at St. Peter's High School in Jersey City, St. Joseph's University, and St. Joseph's Prep
School in Philadelphia. Fr. Cosgrove remained active through the year but took ill in the summer
of 1979 when at the age of 78, he died on Sunday morning , 29 July, at J. F. Kennedy Medical
Center. Fr. Cosgrove's body lay in state in St. Andrew's Church on Tuesday evening when the
parish offered a Christian Wake Service at 8:30 PM, and on Wednesday when a Mass of Christian
Burial was concelebrated by Fr. McGovem, Fr. Hackett, and numerous Jesuits who traveled from
distances to be in attendance. Fr. McGovem shared letters of thanks from the Jesuit Fathers who
were at first surprised that Fr. Cosgrove would be buried from a parish church rather than from a
Jesuit Chapel. Fr. William Watters, S.J., Assistant Provincial wrote from the Provincial's
Residence in Baltimore Maryland:

What a special grace last evening was for me and for my fellow Jesuits of the
Mar)'land and New York Provinces. In joining you and your gracious Catholic,
Christian community at St. Andrew's Church for the celebration of the Mass of
Christian Burial, we Jesuits all experienced the wonderful blessing both of Father
Cosgrove's own life and of the St. Andrew's Parish Community ... It became

21

apparent to all of us how (Fr. Cosgrove] experienced the living Presence of the
Spirit of Jesus in the warm and human community at St. Andrew's.
If St. Andrew's parish seemed to retire into apathy and indifference in the mid-seventies, the
indomitable spirit of Christian love that marked the struggling Mission parish and the parish that
flourished through the 1950s and 1960s reasserted itself and rose up to bid a warm farewell to Fr.
Ra>inond Cosgrove: the familiar spirit of St. Andrew's had not died but survived in abeyance.

A New Start

Depletion of the ranks of the religious created serious personnel problems: there were not
enough clergy or religious to properly staff parishes throughout the diocese, and the parishes
continued to grow. St. Andrew's in 1980 claimed 1,975 families. Bishop George W. Ahr retired in
1980 and on 4 March, Auxiliary Bishop John C. Reiss was appointed to succeed him. In 1979 Sr.
JoAnn Reynolds and Sr. Elaine Corey were joined by Sr. Elaine Donovan, a School Sister of Notre
Dame from Wilton Connecticut. All three Sisters left in 1980 and were replaced by Sister Doris
McKeman, O.P. and Sister Frances Eustace, C.S.J. Fr. Hackett was succeed in 1980 by Fr. David
Lawlor,

On 19 November 1981 The Diocese of Trenton was divided and the Diocese of Metuchen
was created. Saint Francis church in Metuchen was designated as the new Cathedral, and the
Convent at St. Cecelia's in Iselin was chosen to serve as the new Chancery Office. The Most
Reverend Theodore E. McCarrick was appointed Bishop of Metuchen on 19 November 1981 and
installed on 3 1 January 1982. Bishop McCarrick was first appointed Auxiliary Bishop of New
York on 24 May 1977, and ordained a Bishop on 29 June 1977.

Fr. Edward O'Neill was selected to replace Fr. McGovem as pastor of St. Andrew's and
Fr. Thomas Steckel replaced Fr. David Lawlor as Associate Pastor. Mr. James P. Kissane and
Mr. Anthony Graham replaced John Wranitz and Charies Podraza as trustees of the parish and, on
8 March 1982, witnessed the amendment to the documents of incorporation that officially shifted
parish affiliation from the Diocese of Trenton to the Diocese of Metuchen.

In 1982, St. Andrew's first full year under the auspices of the Diocese of Metuchen, Steve
Ciak served as Sexton, and Fr. O'Neill hired Rosemary Brzychcy to play the organ. Fr. Thomas
Steckel replaced Fr. Lawlor as Associate Pastor, and since there were no Sisters available to staff
CCD programs, Fr. O'Neill rented the parish property at 245 Avenel Street to a private couple
while he waited to see what might be done about recruiting Sisters for the ftiture.

22

Fr. Steckel initiated a Prayer and Praise Group with a meeting on 14 January 1982 that
was attended by 30 to 35 parishioners. During their first six weeks the Prayer Group met with
representatives of the Body of Christ Prayer Group from St. Francis Cathedral who taught the
essentials of the program. The group, originally led by Rose Marie and Lenny Paliscewski, met
every Wednesday evening and while he remained at St. Andrew's, Fr. Steckel served as moderator
and offered Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction once a month.

During his pastorship, Fr. O'Neill made the transition from the rector\' at 248 Avenel
Street to the present rectory at 244 Avenel Street. He also removed the Baptismal Font from the
front of the church to the center where Fr. McGovem created an aisle. Since the new church, built
in the mid-fifties, lacked the bell tower of the original parish church, Fr. O'Neill sought permission
of the Bishop to correct that deficit. On 22 October 1983, the 1. T. Verdin Company of Cincinnati,
Ohio acknowledged Fr. O'Neill's order for a Paramount 4000 Trac-a-matic Carillon-electronic
church bells! Verdin Company promised to have the bells in Avenel in time for the Christmas
season. The church bells were a significant investment: the carillon itself cost $7,185 and required
installation by an electrician and a roofer who would attach the speaker support frame to the
church roof to the rear of the building and install devices to prevent rain water from damaging the
speaker.

Tlie Diocese of Metuchen replaced the Trenton diocesan "Parish Profile" with an "Annual
Pastoral Report." In his report for 1983, Fr. O'Neill listed Rev. Charles Costello as his Associate
Pastor, Rev. Mr. Michael Copertino as a Permanent Deacon. Deacon Copertino, a member of the
parish since 1955. taught CCD for 17 years and after Vatican II, was among the first lectors and
Eucharistic Ministers of the parish. He completed a three year course of studies and was ordained
a Deacon on 16 May 198 1 and stationed at St. Andrew's. He continued to work with the CCD
program as the Director of Religious Education, restructured and led St. Andrew's pre-cana
program, taught weekly Bible classes and worked with adult converts in the RCIA program.
Deacon Copertino assisted at Mass and administered sacraments of Baptism and Matrimony.
When the Prayer and Praise Group, of which he was a member, found themselves without a
clerical moderator, he offered Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction once each
month. Deacon Copertino served St. Andrew's Parish until 1985 when, in April, he succumbed to
cancer. The Permanent Deacon was one answer to post-Vatican II difficulties with personnel
shortages.

23

When asked to reply to the question, "Would you be in favor of a 'DIOCESAN-WIDE'
CENSUS in 1984?" Fr. O'Neill would not write, "NO," but replied that he had recently completed
a census and learned that calculations of the number of families in the parish made in lieu of an
actual count were severely over-stated. The actual census counted 1,680 instead of 1,895 Catholic
families in the parish and estimated that only 950 families actively supported the church.

The Parish resumed responsibility for Mass, instruction and counseling at the Rahway
State Prison, the Avenel Diagnostic Center, and Fr. Genecki's Saturday morning program at what
was now called the Woodbridge Development Center continued. Fr. O'Neill changed the Mass
Schedule: Masses were celebrated at 5;30 PM on Saturday, 7:45 AM. 9 AM, 10:30 AM, 12 noon,
and 5 PM on Sunday; daily Masses were scheduled for 8 AM and 12 noon. The Bishop visited on
14 May 1983 to administer Confimiation to 58 candidates; 55 children were Baptized; 48 died; 35
couples were married and 3 sought amiulments. Tlie Parish workload was excessive, even with the
aid of a Permanent Deacon, and Fr. O'Neill made a diplomatic plea for help: he described the
difficulties incarcerated Catholics endured at Rahway State Prison and urged the Bishop to appoint
a regular Chaplain.

Through the early 1980s, St. Andrew's Associate Pastors once again experienced the
revolving door: Fr. David Lavvlor was assigned to the parish in 1980 and was transferred by 1981
when Fr. Thomas Steckel arrived to leave in 1982. Fr. Charles Costello survived from 1982 till
1984, but Fr. Thomas Alappat lasted one year, from 1984 to 1985; Fr. Sevastian M. R. Pillai
came and went in 1985. Fr. Thomas A. Piechocinski, Ed.D. relieved Fr. O'Neill as pastor on 25
October 1985, and a few days later, on 31 October 1985, welcomed Fr. Raphael Moyalan, CM. I.,
an extern priest who served the parish in lieu of an assigned Associate Pastor. Rev. Mr. James
Hagerman replaced Deacon Copertino in 1985, and Joseph Karabin served as Director of Religious
Education. In 1984, Anthony Graham resigned and Carmine P. Muccilli joined James P. Kissane
as Lay Trustees, and Fr. O'Neill reported the existence of a Parish Financial Council chaired by
Benjamin Dispoto whose tenure extended through 1988.

In June of 1986, Fr. Moyalan continued to serve the Parish and the Bishop appointed Rev.
Joseph Karjewski as Associate Pastor. Deacon Hagerman continued in his role as Permanent
Deacon. Joseph Comacchia served as Director of Religious Education. James P. Kissane
resigned, and Jean-Paul Piiict joined Camiine Muccilli as Lay Trustees: they would serve the
parish until 1991.

24

In 1986, Deacon Hagerman developed the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, the RCIA
program. He developed a handbook of lessons and Scripture reading, and encouraged a team
approach to education of adults who prepared for Baptism, When Deacon Jim Hewitt replaced
Deacon Hagerman, he served as director of the program, which continues under the direction of
Patricia McKim.

The parish grew by about 50 families to 1,664 in 1986, and Fr. Piechocinski urged the
Diocese to send help. Through the course of the new year he planned to reorganize the Youth
Group, enlarge the choir, and extend the Parish Mission, a vehicle that proved to succeed in
repatriating alienated or indifferent parishioners. In order to accomplish his goals, Fr. Piechocinski
wrote that it was imperative to find "two associates to implement Parish Programs. Fr. Raphael
Moyalan, the extern priest, is leaving the Parish to return to India on June 14, 1987." He also
recommended that Fr. Krajewski be reassigned "to an ethnic Parish whereby the necessity of
English is not imperative."

In Februar\' 1986, Fr. Piechocinski requested and received Diocesan permission to
purchase a new organ for the church. He advised the Bishop that the parish would raise money for
the organ by issuing a "Subscription Memorial Series, and explained that fund raising by Memorial
Subscription was a tradition at St, Andrew's Parish. Fr. Piechocinski initiated a drive to raise
ftmds in March 1986, and by 1 June 1986 reported that he had $34,385 of the $35,400 he needed
to buy and install a new Allen Digital Computer Organ. On 2 July 1986, the Allen Organ
Company acknowledged his order, and once again, St. Andrew's demonstrated the determined spirit
of support that characterized the small group of men and women who founded the parish.

On 30 May 1986, Bishop Theodore E. McCarrick was appointed Archbishop of Newark,
and the Most Reverend Edward T. Hughes, D.D., who was consecrated a Bishop on 21 July 1976
and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, was appointed on 1 1 December 1986 and
Installed as Bishop of Metuchcn on 5 February 1987. Bishop Hughes heard Fr. Piechocinski's call
for help and on 1 June 1987 appointed Rev. Mr. Edward Czarcinski as Permanent Deacon of St.
Andrew's Church. Within the month, he appointed Fr. Roger Labonte and Fr. Blaise Baran as
Associate Pastors.

In his report for 1987, Fr. Piechocinski estimated that there were now 1,629 families in the
parish, a total of 4,013 Catholics, The weekend schedule offered Mass at 5:30 PM on Saturday
and 7:45 AM, 9 AM, 10:30 AM, and 12 noon on Sunday. Eighty-four children were Baptized; 37
couples were married; 3 Annulments were granted; 53 died; 58 received First Communion; and

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only 41, 39 children and 2 adults, wore Confirmed. Fr. Piechocinski counted 352 public school
students in the CCD program, and all were in elementary school.

In 1989, his last as pastor, Fr. Piechocinski, addressed difficulties with the boiler in the
church. He requested permission to replace the existing boiler. On 24 May 1989, the Diocese
approved his plan to remove asbestos, and replace the boiler, a chore that cost the parish $32,166.
Fr. Piechocinski took the a direct approach to the problem and the parish raised money with a
special collection.

Fr. Robert G. Lynam replaced Fr. Piechocinski as Administrator on 9 January 1990, and
submitted the 1989 report to the diocese. Fr. Lynam recognized that his appointment to St.
Andrew's was temporary, and subject to evaluation after a period of six months. Since he was
uncertain of his future, Fr. L>nam's plans for the parish were necessarily undeveloped. Fr. Edward
Czarcinski, the Associate Pastor who replaced Frs. Labonte and Baran in June 1988, was joined in
December 1988, by Fr. Virgilio Chagas, an extern resident. Rev. Mr. James Hewitt was appointed
Pemianent Deacon on 17 June 1989. Mr. Frank Pelzman replaced Mr. Benjamin Dispoto as Chair
of the Parish Financial Council. The population of the parish was reported as 1,757 families in
1989, though a door-to-door census had not been taken since 1983. The number of children who
received the sacrament of Baptism in 1989 rose to 94, but there were only 38 First Communicants
and 33 Confirmandi. The report identifies 365 public elementary school students in the CCD
program, not a large number when compared with the number of families in the parish. Thirty
eight couples were married: 4 marriages were annulled; 39 died; and I adult was baptized and 6
were confirmed.

St. Andrew's Parish had demonstrated over the years the high value they placed on their
Church and on their Catholic Faith, but the people of St. Andrew's also showed that they could be
unresponsive if a parish administration failed to appreciate the values of a traditional, proud, and
deeply religious people. Calls for help from a string of pastors from Fr. McGovem on did not
precisely fall on deaf ears, but even creative management of limited resources could not solve the
personnel and morale problems that faced the Diocese and particularly St. Andrew's Parish in
Avenel.

Renewal

When Rev. Msgr. Inimanuel W. Vernon, Diocesan Secretar>' for Canonical Affairs, was
charged with the complex difficulty of restoring priests and sisters to the depleted ranks of the
Diocese of Metuchcn, he turned to Religious Congregations and Orders for help. In 1987 Msgr.

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Vemon wondered of Fr. Peter Goyuk OMV, American Delegate of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary,
if his Congregation might htce to estabhsh a presence in the Diocese by providing a Chaplain for
the Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of MarN' in Washington, New Jersey. Shortly after Fr. Peter
agreed to staff the Shrine, Msgr. Vemon wondered if the Oblates would not like to expand their
ministry in the Diocese to include a parish. Fr. Peter applied to the Rector Major in Rome, and
received permission for the Oblates of the Virgin Mar%' to accept a parish assignment in the
Diocese of Metuchen, and in early August 1990, Fr. Da\id Kosmoski, OMV was appointed Pastor
of St. Andrew's Church in Avenel.

The Oblates of the Virgin Marv are a Congregation of Religious founded in 1826 by Fr.
Bruno Lanteri, a Northern Italian Priest whose early spiritual formation was influenced by his
relationship with Fr. Nicolaus Diessbach, an e.\ Jesuit who "showed him the power of the Spiritual
E.xercises of St. Ignatius of Lo>ola." Fr. Bruno modeled his Apostolic Ministr\- on the spiritual
exercises of St. Ignatius. He organized retreats and parish missions, taught the lait>- to do the
same, and attended to the ill and the disenfranchised: his ministr>' extended to the homebound ill
and to those in prison. Fr. Bruno's spiritual message emphasized personal and congregational
pra\er and meditation, and active, practical participation in the lives of those Christians whom he
touched. Fr. Bruno taught his apostolic approach to the members of his Congregation. Although
they are a Congregation who live in communit>- and take vows of Poverty, Chastitv' and Obedience,
they do not distinguish themselves in their clerical attire: Fr. Bruno wore the simple cassock of the
time and instructed his follower to do the same. Pope John XXIII identified Fr. Bruno Lanteri as
the precursor of Catholic action among the laity, an example of the renewal of an active laity he
envisioned when he was inspired to convene the Second Vatican Council.

Fr. Da\ id Kosmoski, OMV and his assistants brought to St. Andrew's Parish the spirit of
Fr. Bruno Lantcri's Apostolate. Fr. David was accompanied in August 1990 b\' Fr. James Nibler,
OMV, and they were joined in early December by Fr. Peter Grover, OMV. When the Diocese
wondered if Fr. David might like to expand the Oblate ministry to include the diocesan retreat
house in Perth Amboy, he agreed and in June 1991, Fr. David Nicgorski, OMV joined the Oblate
communitx at St. Ajidrew's as Program Director of Emmaus House If St. Andrew's Parish cried
out for priests, the Oblates answered.

Fr. David was installed as pastor on 30 September 1990. and the Oblates set to work "to
animate the parish." Programs for lapsed Catholics, support groups for the bereaved, the divorced
and separated, and especially a ministrs' for the young were top priorities. Fr. Peter Grover was

27

designated the Director of Religious Education and developed a CARE (Certification of
Accreditation for Religious Education) program for lay CCD instructors. Fr. David restored the
Vacation Bible School for children and developed a weekly Bible Study program for adults. He
created a childrens" choir under the direction of Mr. Steve Marchewicz. Fr. Peter organized a
youth group and inspired the teenagers of the parish to attend Mass regularly, participate in and
learn to give retreats to other youth in the parish and around the diocese. As Fr. David cheerfully
wrote, "these teens are developing a real spiritual life (plus having fiin)!" Fr. Peter also brought
back variety shows, remininsccnt of the Minstrels of the 1950s that raised flinds for the new
church. If the Parish of St. Andrew was a handful for the limited staff of the 1980s, Fr. David's
Oblates were a handfiil for the Parish.

Shortly after Fr. David assumed responsibility for the parish, Cannine P. Muccilli who
served for 7 years and Jean-Paul Pillet who served for eight, retired as Lay Trustees and were
replaced by William T Higgins and Irene P. Smakula.

By 1992, Fr. David hired Christine Urban as Director of Music who joined Dolores
Gellici, secretary of Religious Education, and Dorothy O'Neill, to comprise the lay parish staff..
With permission from the Diocese he installed a smoke detector system in the church and boiler
room, installed a new sound system in the church and church hall, and disposed of the vacant house
at 245 Avenel Street, the old convent. In 1993 he repaved the parking lot. He installed air
conditioning in the church in 1994, and demolished the antiquated rectory at 248 Avenel Street. He
was forced to replace the boiler in the church and installed a water purification system to prevent
the sort of damage that ruined the 5 year-old boiler. In 1995, with help from the Altar Rosary
Society, Fr. David cleared the area near the rectory and built "Mary's Garden," a flower garden
with fish pond and benches which serves the parish and community in its prayerful, serene
atmosphere. Bishop Hughes blessed the garden when he visited St. Andrew's for the 75th
Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, 16 September 1995.

Fr. David is heir to Fr. Eagan's early spiritual responsibility for Rahway State Prison, and
expanded his ministry to the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center where he regularly says Mass
and provides spiritual direction and confession. Fr. Peter and a group of 8 catechists who
continued the ministry of Fr. Genecki at what is now the Woodbridge Developmental Center:

In addition to his responsibilities as Director of the Emmaus House, Fr. David Nicgorski
was appointed Director of the Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese. He obtained Certification in
Spiritual Direction and uses the retreat house to host parish retreats When Rev. Jim Walther, a

28

transitional deacon, was assigned to St. Andrew's Parish in June of 1993, he joined Fr. David
Nicgorski at the retreat house and focused upon the Youth Ministry: many candidates for
Confirmation from the parish and from other parishes throughout the diocese attended pre-
Confimiation retreats under his direction.

At the beginning of 1995, after 3 1 years of dedicated service to St. Andrew's Church, Mrs.
Dorothy O'Neill retired. She was the first and only secretary in parish history until Mrs. Maryrose
Buonomo took over the reins of the office.

In September 1994, Rev. Gregory Cleveland, a transitional deacon, joined the community
of Oblates, and on 10 June 1995, Feast of the Holy Trinity, Bishop Edward T. Hughes
administered Holy Orders to Fr. Gregory Cleveland and Fr. James Walther, at a Mass
concelebrated by Fr. Timothy Gallagher, OMV, provincial, Fr. David Kosmoski, OMV, Fr. Peter
Grover, OMV, Fr. David Nicgorski, OMV, and numerous other Oblates and diocesan priests.
Msgr. Michael Alliegro, vicar for pastoral life, served as master of ceremonies. In the spirit of Fr.
Bruno Lanteri, Fr. Greg and Fr. Jim welcomed the people of St. Andrew's parish to attend and
share in the joy of ordination.

Shortly after Frs. Jim and Greg were ordained, on 16 August 1995, Fr. Peter Grover, after
nearly 5 years at St. Andrew's, was transferred to Boston where he was appointed Director of the
St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine and assistant director of Our Lady of Grace Seminary. Fr. Jim
Walther replaced Fr. Peter as Director of Religious Education and also assumed responsibility for
the parish Youth Group.

In a short five years the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, under Fr. David Kosmoski's direction,
uncovered the warm, human Christian Community at St. Andrew's that the Jesuits found when they
visited to bid farewell to Fr. Raymond Cosgrove. Their efforts on behalf of the spiritual vitality of
the parish have repatriated many of St. Andrew's parishioners and restored the spirit of the small
group of Catholics who, in 1920, envisioned just such a Parish as prospered in the 1950s and early
1960s, a parish like the one at Saint Andrew's that on 20 September 1995 celebrates its 75th
Anniversary.

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Acknowledgment

The History Committe, spearheaded by the tireless efforts of

Father David Kosmoski, Patricia McKim, Dorothy O'Neill and Ray Caffrey

wish to thank the following for the information provided in putting

together the first concise history of our parish:

Barbara Abbruscato

Millie Albrecht

Josie Gelesky

Barbara Golinski

Mary Harris

Carol Hogrebe

Jim Kissane

Mary Lou Kunigonis

Frances Larsen

Bernadette Livingston

Joyce Lynch

Sr. M. Michaelita, CSSF

Mike and Agnes Myszka

Fr. Armand Pedata

Kay Podraza

Bob Ragan

Dennis Rinaldi

Karl and Mary Swetits

Helen Toth

Betty Wukovets

This history is dedicated to all who continue to dedicate their lives in
loving service to our parish.

© 1995 Fr. David Kosmoski, OMV
& Raymond T. Caffrey

These pages are for your additions to the history..