Established on July 1st, 2020, Our Lady of the Lakes Parish was created by the merger of the former Transfiguration and St. Victor Parishes. Rev. James P. Holland, administrator of Transfiguration and St. Victor Parishes, was appointed as the first pastor of Our Lady of the Lakes Parish.
Transfiguration Parish included the eastern portion of West Deer Township from the Butler County line southward to that portion of Indiana Township known as Rural Ridge where it forms a common boundary with Our Lady of Victory Church, Harwick, at Rich Hill Road. On the west its neighbor is St. Victor's, Bairdford, and the common boundary is Saxonburg Blvd. and East Union Road. Geographically the Parish is in the shape of an irregularly shaped rectangle approximately 9 miles long and three miles wide.
Founded on Faith . . .
In 1913, the people of Russellton and Curtisville petitioned the Pastor of St. Mary's Church, New Kensington, PA, for a priest to care for their spiritual needs. Father Francis Poszukanis came regularly in that year to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Sundays.
On November 8, 1913, Father Poszukanis wrote to Bishop Canevin and requested that the mission in Russellton be named in honor of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Until the following year, the area was considered a Mission of St. Mary's.
On April 13, 1914, a Parish meeting was held to discuss plans for the building of a church. In August of 1914 a Church Committee was formed, and Bishop Canevin was petitioned for permission to build a church. Until this time, Mass had been celebrated in a house in Russellton No. 1, at a hall in Superior, and at a hall which stood on the corner of McKrell Road and Crest Street.
The first First Communion Class was prepared at the house in Russellton No. 1, in 1915. By 1916 the church was completed and the Parish also received its first resident Pastor, the Reverend Ladislaus Sliwinski, who also began construction of a rectory. The church received two more additions prior to 1964, by which time the parish had grown to 605 families from the handful of earnest souls who fifty years earlier sought to provide a place of worship for themselves, and training in religion for their children.
Half a Century Later . . .
Sunday, May 3, 1964 was a day of triple celebration in Transfiguration Parish. On that day, a Solemn Mass was celebrated at 5:30 PM by the Most Reverend John J. Wright, Bishop of Pittsburgh, marking the Golden Jubilee of the parish. Prior to the Mass, Bishop Wright administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to the children of Transfiguration Parish. Following the Mass Bishop Wright blessed the new Transfiguration Parish School at 100 McKrell Road, and the cornerstone for the new school building was laid. Dinner was served in the social hall of the new building following the Mass and school dedication.
The new parish school featured eight classrooms, social hall, gymnasium, kitchen, meeting rooms, medical room and offices, all designed to serve the parish and its youth by providing both educational facilities and recreational opportunities. The school remained in operation until it was closed by the Diocese of Pittsburgh in June of 2008 due to declining enrollment.
Rising From the Ashes . . .
On Thursday, June 15, 2006, only ten days after Fr. Robert Habe retired and Fr. John Vojtek began his assignment as pastor, the church that had served as the spiritual heart of the community for 90 years was destroyed by fire. As the morning Mass was coming to an end, Fr. Vojtek and the parishioners were alerted and were able to escape without injury. Thick columns of black smoke rose in the sky and were visible for several miles, as word of the fire quickly spread through the community. Neighbors and parishioners gathered around the church to share memories and pray as firefighters from ten companies fought in vain to save the structure.
Finding themselves suddenly without a church building, the parishioners of Transfiguration Parish pulled together. The gymnasium of the parish school was quickly converted into a makeshift worship space. Various church furnishings such as an altar, tabernacle, lectern, vestments and sacred vessels were offered by neighboring parishes. Chairs were donated to complement the existing supply of folding chairs. A few items such as the tabernacle, Baptismal font, vestments and sacred vessels had been salvaged from the fire, but would need extensive cleaning and refinishing before they were ready to be used again. Movable screens were installed, allowing the Sanctuary to be closed off from the rest of the gymnasium when school was in session. At least one parishioner affectionately nicknamed the area the "cafe-chape-gym-atorium", attesting to the multi-purpose room's function as school cafeteria, parish worship space (chapel), gymnasium and school auditorium.
Before long, plans were under way to rebuild the church on the original Poma Street location. Furnishings were obtained from other parishes that had either been renovated or had seen their church buildings closed. Architects were hired, and preliminary plans were drawn. However, demographic studies of the area convinced new Bishop David Zubik that it would be unwise to construct a new church building at that time. Despite vigorous protests from the parishioners, the plans to build a new church were scrapped.
A New Beginning . . .
At this point, attention shifted to the parish school building. Faced with declining enrollment, the decision was made by the Diocese of Pittsburgh to close the parish school. Bishop Zubik gave Fr. Vojtek permission to convert the school gymnasium into a permanent worship space. The classroom areas and offices on the upper floor of the school building would be used for the parish CCD program.
Work on renovating the gymnasium began in 2008 with the installation of a new roof. Following the conclusion of the school year in June, renovations began in earnest. New air conditioning and sound systems were installed. A new cathedral ceiling was constructed. A raised Sanctuary area, a newly-constructed altar and cabinetry to house the refurbished tabernacle from the old church were installed. The walls were stuccoed, and carpeting and pews were installed. By All Saints Day on November 1, 2008, not quite five months after the interior renovations had begun, Transfiguration Parish had a new church.
Many additional improvements have taken place since then. An etched-glass panel depicting the Last Supper was installed to the right of the altar on Christmas Eve, 2008. The parking lot has been enlarged and resurfaced. Stained-glass windows have been installed in the windows along the classroom hallway that overlooked the worship space. And plans are being made to renovate the exterior of the building to make it more churchlike in appearance.
As Transfiguration Parish approaches its Centennial Jubilee in 2014, its members can take pride in their accomplishments and those of their predecessors. Many parish organizations such as the Knights of Columbus, the Ladies of Charity, and the Rosary Society, just to name a few, provide both physical and spiritual services to the community. The CCD program, blessed with a new full-time "home" in the former parish school, has gained strength thanks to a core group of dedicated volunteer catechists.
Founded on Faith and tested by fire, Transfiguration Parish is living proof that "nothing is impossible with God".
FIRST PASTOR: FATHER FRANCIS POSZUKANIS
FIRST CHURCH COMMITTEE - 1914: P. J. DWYER, WM. LELIS, F. PAWLOSKI, B. KUZNICKI, F. J. GORDON, FELIX WATYCHOWICZ
FIRST PERMANENT CHURCH: 1915 started - 1916 completed
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION CLASS: 1915
FIRST BAPTISM: JOHN GORDON (August 20, 1914)
FIRST MARRIAGE: JAMES GORDON and CATHERINE DOHERTY (August 9, 1916)
FIRST CONFIRMATION: by BISHOP CANEVIN (July 18, 1920)
FIRST PAROCHIAL SCHOOL: 1964
FIRST PRIEST FROM THE PARISH: REV. ROBERT SPONDIKE, M.S.C. (Missionary in the Territory of New Guinea)
Beginning in the fall of 1919, catechists were sent from the diocese to Bairdford to conduct religious education classes for the children of the area. On the second Sunday of each month Father D.A. Lawless came to celebrate Mass; both the religious education classes and the Mass were held at the Bairdford school building. The teachers rode the bus from downtown Pittsburgh to Geiser’s farm and walked along the railroad tracks or the unpaved road from Saxonburg Boulevard to Bairdford School.
By 1922 the Catholic community was no longer permitted to use the school for CCD classes or services, and for a time other locations were used. From June through September of 1922, Masses were celebrated in a tent that was raised on the second Sunday of each month. By that time, Father Victor Majka had been appointed to oversee what had become known as the Bairdford Mission. Father Majka made arrangements to once again use the school building for Masses and CCD classes, and at the same time began collecting money to build a Mission Chapel for the congregation.
On October 7, 1923, the Saint Victor Mission Chapel (named for Father Victor Majka) was dedicated and a Solemn High Mass was celebrated by Fathers Majka, Kozar and Lawless. At this time there were 75 families in the parish and an enrollment of 101 children in the CCD classes.
With the construction of the Saint Victor Mission Chapel in 1923 on the hill overlooking Bairdford, St. Victor's became a Mission of Saint Killian Parish in Mars, which was established in 1924. The parish was served by pastors of Saint Killian’s until November of 1947, at which time Father E. Charles Patterson was named the first resident pastor of St. Victor’s Parish.
After Father Patterson's appointment as pastor, the first section of the present parish property was purchased. Ground was broken for the present rectory on May 1, 1949. There is a photo in the vestibule of the church that commemorates the dedication of the rectory. Many of the men who contributed their time and effort to the construction of the rectory are included in that picture.
In 1951 more property was purchased and permission was given to Father Dan McMullough, the new pastor of Saint Victor’s, to begin construction of a basement church. On September 15, 1952 the last Mass was celebrated at the Mission Chapel and the following weekend Bishop John Dearden blessed the basement church and Mass was celebrated there for the first time.
In 1959 Father James Kelly was appointed pastor, and additional property was purchased for the construction of an activities building. Groundbreaking took place in June 1961 and on January 3, 1963 Bishop John Wright officiated at the dedication of the new building which soon became a center for parish programs and activities.
Father Paul Conroy succeeded Father Kelly as pastor in 1966, and plans were made for the present parish church. Bishop Vincent Leonard dedicated the new church on December 12, 1971.
Over the years the parish has grown from a community of farmers and miners into a thriving suburban community. Demographic statistics from West Deer Township indicated slow but steady growth, with many new families moving into the area. Father Jerome Filip served as pastor from 1972 until 1988, during which time new neighborhoods and residential areas were planned and built. Fathers Larry Stebler, Bill Hausen, Bart Sorensen, Bob Coyne and Charlie Speicher served as pastors throughout the 1990s and into the 21st century.