In the Early Days...
In 1836 Father Emanuel Thienpont, the first priest to visit Hardin County and one of the earliest
missionaries of Ohio, visited the Kenton area and it is presumed that he also came to tend for the Catholic
families in Ada. In 1858, Father Sullivan of Tiffin, Ohio held the first recorded Catholic services in Ada. A
Father Murphy, also of the Cleveland Diocese, came on occasion. Around 1862 the Superior of the Society
of the Most Precious Blood at Minster, Ohio sent priests to Ada at regular intervals.
In June 1866, Reverend Nicholas R. Young was appointed the first resident pastor of the church in Kenton
and he took charge of Ada, holding services on the second floor of E.E. Baumann's Grocery Store on the
northwest corner of Buckeye and Johnson Streets. Reverend Joseph M. Quatman succeeded Father Young
in 1869 and in June 1870 Reverend Nicholas J. V. Fas came to the area.
Church membership grew and the work increased to a degree that Father Fas could not care for the Ada
church properly and Reverend Alexander R. Sidley of Lima was called on to serve the parish, which he did
for three years. Fire destroyed the first place of worship and services were then held in the homes of the
parish members. In 1872 a room was leased on the second floor of the I.O.O.F. Building (Block) and the
members worshipped there for several years.
The earliest Catholic families in Ada were A.C. Baker, Michael Flynn, John Morrow in 1856; Daniel Breen
1858; Thomas and Bartholemew Bastabel 1861; Daniel Hanley 1863; Bartholemew O'Leary 1864 and Jacob
Forbing 1869. Other early members were the Felkers, the Durbins, the Hogans, and the Klices. The current
location of the church and the hall are on two lots of land purchased from John Johnson, son of Ada's
founder Samuel M. Johnson. The initial deed to the land was dated August 10, 1874 and was put in the
name of Rev. John B. Purcell, Bishop of the Diocese of Cincinnati. Jacob Forbing (date unknown) had
previously donated a lot at the southwest corner of Ballard and Johnson Streets on which to erect a church
building. This lot was sold in 1874 (with Forbing's consent) and two lots on the corner of Simon and Hoosier
(now known as Highland) Streets were purchased, as this was considered a better location.
Church Building Construction...
The foundation for the church was started on September 10, 1874 and the 30' x 50' building was completed,
with altar, pews and bell and dedicated on December 8, 1874 by Reverend A. M. Quatman, Reverend
Anthony S. Siebenfoercher and Reverend Homan. The church, with all furnishings, property, bell, etc. cost
$3,227.50. Although appointed pastor of Kenton's church on December 28, 1871 by the Bishop of Cincinnati,
records indicate that Reverend Siebenfoercher did not become Ada’s active pastor until June 1874.
Dedicated on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the church was named Our Lady of Lourdes in honor of
its patron, Mary Immaculate. The parish began as a mission from Our Lady of Lourdes church in Marysville.
In 1880 it was made a mission from Immaculate Conception, Kenton; changed in 1881 to St. Patrick's of
Bellefontaine; 1n 1883 and 1884 changed back to Kenton and in 1886, when LaRue obtained a resident
pastor, Ada became a mission to their St. Joseph's Church and it remained so until 1946 when Ada was again
made a charge of Kenton. The year before, in 1945 Ada became a part of the Diocese of Columbus. On July
12, 1948 Our Lady of Lourdes became an independent parish with the formal installation of Fr. Richard Hoch
as the first resident pastor.
Recent Our Lady of Lourdes History:
In 1952 the Diocese of Columbus held the Western Deanery Meeting, now known as a Vicariate, at Ada
High School. Then as now, the purpose of these meetings was to facilitate the collaboration of the parishes
in the cities found in the district which at the time were Ada, Delaware, Kenton, LaRue, Marion, Newark,
New Lexington and Portsmouth. In 1954 the church was enlarged with the addition of the sacristy on the
north end of the building.
In 1965, under then pastor Reverend Francis X. Schweitzer, parish council was formed, the first in the
Columbus Diocese. Father Schweitzer was known as the "priest of the migrant workers" because of his
efforts to help migrant families with clothing drives, financial aid and medical care - especially for the
children. Fr. Schweitzer developed the parish Newman Club and was also active as the advisor/chaplain
for Ohio Northern University students of the Catholic Fraternity - Phi Kappa Theta at their "House on
Irish Hill" at 825 S. Main Street in Ada.
Father Schweitzer's successor, Father Leo Benedetti initiated an active remodeling campaign in 1967 with
the installation of new pews and carpeting, a new altar facing the congregation and new coat of paint for
the entire interior of the church building. Because of expanded needs of the church building, Father
Benedetti considered several options for the future of the parish. One option was the building of a new
church and a hall on West Lima Avenue. The other option that was considered and eventually was
pursued, was the adding of a new connecting hall to the existing church structure with the rectory closer
to the church. The parish rectory had been located at 508 North Main Street since being purchased in
August 1948.
In 1969, Father Samuel Durbin came to Our Lady of Lourdes and sold the Main Street rectory and
purchased the current rectory at 222 E. Highland Avenue. In addition to his duties at Our Lady of
Lourdes, Fr. Durbin was a National Guard Chaplain and a recognized gardener. When Father Durbin was
transferred back to Columbus in 1971, Msgr. Joseph McGlynn became the parish pastor. Father Richard
Endres became the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1973.
Under the direction of Pastor Richard Endres, the two story connecting hall on the east side of the church
became a reality and was dedicated by Bishop Herrmann on December 8, 1974 during the parish's
Centennial celebration. Fr. Endres is also fondly remembered for his leadership and vision in supervising
the celebration of the parish's Centennial in 1974. Fr. Endres passed away on July 6, 1977 and was
succeeded after a time by Father Arthur Wiles. On July 6, 1978, the church hall was rededicated in honor of
Pastor Endres and is known as Endres Hall to this day.
During the ten years that Father Wiles was at OLL, Jack Stahl was ordained as a Deacon and Father
Stephan Moloney became the first Ada resident to become an ordained priest in 1982. Father Wiles was
known for his interest in scuba diving, his labrador named Matthew and his famous bean soup featured
each year at the parish bazaar every November.
Father Wiles initiated the inclusion of girls as Mass servers. His weekly Saturday evening service became
known as the "ONU student Mass" with one of the highlights being the student choir's singing of "Peace I
leave with You, My Friend." The Saturday evening Mass became so popular that for a time in 1980,
President DeBow Freed of Ohio Northern University began following students to the church each week to
see where they were all going.
In 1987, Father Thomas Kessler became Our Lady of Lourdes Parish's ninth resident pastor. During 1990
and 1991, Father Kessler initiated many needed improvements for the church. Father Kessler supervised the
installation of a new heating and air conditioning system, a complete replastering job for the church's
interior, new front doors and new steps in front and back and the construction of the parish parking lot
immediately south of the church.
Father Ted Thomas came to Our Lady of Lourdes in 1992 and immediately became known for his wit and
humor. Father Ted always ended each Mass with a joke that made a point for parishioners to consider as
they left the church each week. As did both Father Wiles and Father Kessler before him, Father Ted became
well known to ONU students through his teaching on campus. Fr. Ted taught courses in Western
Civilization and as with his weekly sermon, Fr. Ted was able to bring his points alive with his descriptive
abilities, his wit and humor.
Father Daniel Millisor came to Ada in July 1996 and has continued the tradition of serving the Catholic
community of the Ada area and Ohio Northern University. In early 1997, Father Millisor coordinated a
parish dinner to commemorate the feast day of the parish's patron on February 11. Bishop Griffin of the
Diocese of Columbus attended the dinner and wished the parish well in its one hundred and twenty-third
year of existence. Father Millisor brought the parish to the information superhighway with the
introduction of the parish webpage on February 28, 1997. Fr. Dan established the parish's 125th
Anniversary Committee and provided strong support to the committee in its planning and implementation
stages throughout 1998 and 1999.
The year-long festivities began in January 1999, ending with a celebratory Mass on December 8, 1999,
hosting Bishop Griffin and other parish guests. The Holy Year 2000 was celebrated as a Jubilee Year. In
early 2002 Father Dan announced to the parish that Bishop Griffin had reappointed him to serve another
six year term as pastor ending in 2008. However, in December 2005 Fr. Dan announced that the Bishop
has reassigned him to another parish near Columbus beginning in March 2006. Therefore, he became the
second longest serving resident pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish along with Fr. Wiles who also
served 10 years.
Father David J. Young was named Our Lady of Lourdes 12th resident Pastor in March, 2006. He had been
the assistant pastor at St. Agatha Parish in Upper Arlington. Click here for his bio...
| Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Ada, Ohio |
| Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Lourdes, France |
| Priests from Kenton, Bellefontaine and LaRue serving the Catholic Community in Ada (1874-1948) Fr. Anthony Siebenfoercher 1874-1881, 1883-1905 Fr. Joseph M. Quatman 1874 Fr. Honoratus Bourion, Bellefonfaine and Fr. Alfred D. Dexter 1881-82 A Mission of St. Patrick's in Bellefontaine 1882-83 Fr. Andrew Ebert and William Miguel 1883 Fr. John B. Dickhaus, Kenton 1884 Fr. Joseph Stoeppelman, LaRue 1886 Fr. William Conway, LaRue 1888 Fr. Michael Loney, LaRue 1890 Fr. Thomas Walsh, Bellefontaine and Fr. William Kelley, Fr. F. X. Lasance 1890-94 Fr. Joseph Denning, LaRue and Fr. J. Molloy, Fr. Venneman 1894-95 Fr. Edward "little Father" Ryan 1898 Fr. Edward Cotter (Catechism instruction on Saturdays) 1900-05 Fr. James "big Father" Ryan 1905-13 Fr. Edward Craeger 1913-19 Fr. John J. Brinker 1919-23 Fr. Louis Abt 1923 Fr. John J. Kelley 1923-33 Fr. Henry B. Westerhaus 1933-42 Fr. Cletus Reiger 1942 Fr. Frederick Laudick, Vicar Eoconomus 1943 Fr. William Meyer 1943-46 Fr. H. J. Shumacher and Fr. Edward Healey, Kenton 1946-48 Resident Pastors of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (1948-present) Fr. Richard Hoch 1948-54 (First resident pastor 1948) Fr. Andrew Nugent 1954-55 Fr. Francis X. Schweitzer 1955-67 Fr. Leo Benedetti 1967-69 Fr. Samuel Durbin 1969-71 Msgr. Joseph E. McGlynn 1971-73 Fr. Richard Endres 1973-77 Fr. Arthur Wiles 1977-87 Fr. Thomas Kessler 1987-92 Fr. Ted Thomas 1992-96 Fr. Daniel Millisor 1996-2006 Fr. David J. Young 2006-Present History and research kindly provided by Mr. David Savino. |
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