History of St. Gregory

1909 - Mission of St. Joseph, Weare
May 1936 -Rev. Edward J. O'Hara
Jun. 1940 -Rev. Aloysius A. Tomaszewski
Nov. 1940 -Rev. Charles W. Popell
Aug. 1943 -Rev. Jerome A. Szydlowski, Admin.
Feb. 1946 -Rev. Charles W. Popell
  1946-47 -Rev. Isidore Fosselman, OFM (Assistant)
   1950 -Rev. Casimir Vaisvilas (Assistant)
   08/1950-02/1952 -Rev. Joseph Domeika (Assistant)
Jun. 1956 -Rev. Stephen J. Kolenic
Sep. 1964 -Msgr. William E. Powers
Jun. 1965 -Rev. Joseph S. Godzisz
Jun. 1973 -Rev. Francis H. Branigan
Oct. 1980 -Rev. Thomas A. McKinney
Apr. 1988 -Rev. Louis J. Baudone
Aug. 1993 -Msgr. Walter F. Jude, Administrator
Jul. 1994 -Rev. Ronald F. Schneider
Jul. 2009 -Rev. M. Thomas Bolster
    Merged with Our Lady of Fatima
Jan. 2014 -Rev. M. Thomas Bolster
Jul. 2019 -Rev. Daniel P. Schumaker, Administrator
May 2022 -Rev. Daniel P. Schumaker

St. Gregory Parish was originally established in 1908 as a mission of St. Joseph in Weare.  Father Francis Emmerich of Weare recognized the need for a Catholic church in the small, growing village of Hart.  Five lots were donated to the church, and on September 9, 1908, Bishop Henry Joseph Richter blessed the cornerstone of St. Gregory's Church.  Exactly one year later, the bishop returned to dedicate the completed church.  The congregation numbered 30 families.

St. Gregory remained a mission of St. Joseph, Weare until 1936.  During this time Sunday mass was celebrated only twice a month in Hart.  Father Edward O'Hara was appointed the first resident pastor of St. Gregory and at that point the mission of St. Joseph, Weare became St. Gregory Parish.  St. Joseph, Elbridge was then assigned as a mission of St. Gregory, Hart.  A rectory and parish cemetery were quickly acquired and a school opened in 1950 staffed by the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters.  It closed in 1968.  In 1975 the building was converted into a parish center.  In 2019, shortly after his arrival, Father Schumaker announced plans are in the works to convert the East end of the former school building into the parish offices.