Parish History
Our parish community had its origin in 1963, at the very beginning of Green Valley. At that time the Maxon Construction company of Chicago, the first builder, was constructing the “Villas East” and “Villas West”. Mrs. Maxon, the wife of the developer, was Catholic and helped form the original Catholic community. This original small group was served as a mission by St. John's Parish in Tucson, and later by St. Monica's. Father Peter Klinkhammer, a priest of the Diocese of Milwaukee, who was then serving the Tucson Diocese, offered Mass on Sundays for several years in the auditorium of the East Social Center on Abrego Drive.
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First Church Built in 1970 |
| Father Klinkhammer, seeing that the group had already grown to a congregation of about 150, advocated a fund drive to build the first church. This was completed on the present grounds in 1970, and the church was formally dedicated as Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church on November 8, 1970. The first Pastor was Monsignor John F. Burns from the Diocese of Tucson. Due to illness, he was succeeded in 1971 by Father Paul M. Laroque, who served as Pastor for the next 13 years. The Rectory was built in 1972, and the Holy Family Center in 1976. As Green Valley expanded, the congregation grew to 1,100 families by 1983. In 1984, Monsignor James P. Stapleton became the third Pastor after Fr. Laroque became ill. As Green Valley continued to expand, the Parish soon outgrew its seating capacity. By 1988, it had become necessary to celebrate some Masses in both the Church and the Holy Family Center at the same time, to accommodate the crowd.
A Stroke of Good Fortune A new fund drive, in 1988, succeeded in raising over half a million dollars to build the present Church. The Parish then had a special stroke of good fortune! All Saints Church in Tucson, was being converted to a different use by the Diocese, and the beautiful stained glass windows were obtained for our Parish. The architect, Charles Albonese, designed the present Our Lady of the Valley Church to incorporate the windows, one of its most beautiful features. In addition, the architect's overall plan unified the entire complex– the new Church and Bell Tower, with the Rectory and Holy Family Center buildings, using the new colonnade to enclose the patio and integrate the existing buildings. The entire project was completed in 1990 at a cost of $2.2 million dollars. Following the death of Monsignor Stapleton, Fr. Joseph A. Lombardo became the fourth Pastor of Our Lady of the Valley in 1995. Under his leadership and through the generosity of parishioners, the Parish retired its outstanding debt of $750,000 in less than one year. Also, Fr. Lombardo entered into negotiations with the county and Kevin Kiernan, a private developer, enabling the Parish to gain title to the 2.7 acre parcel to the west of the Church. As of January 1, 2006, the parish was officially incoporated as a Arizona non profit corporation as " Our Lady of the Valley Roman Catholic Parish - Green Valley". In August 2006, Father Lombardo was reassigned within the Diocese and Father Francisco Maldonado was assigned as our fifth Pastor." |