August 19, 2025 // Bishop

Holy Family Parish Celebrates Double Anniversary

Kasia Balsbaugh

Holy Family Catholic Church in South Bend recently celebrated not just one but two milestones: the 80th anniversary of the parish and the 25th anniversary of the church building. On Saturday, August 9, hundreds of parishioners and others in the community attended Mass and dinner, from seniors who remembered having Mass in local public schools in the 1930s to young children whose families have attended the parish for generations.

During the anniversary Mass, not just longtime parishioners were in attendance. Father Drew Curry, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Auburn and a son of Holy Family Parish, assisted Bishop Rhoades during the special anniversary Mass. Also present and assisting was the parish’s beloved former pastor, Monsignor Bernard Galic, who led the parish for 24 years.

“Today is not just a jubilee celebration but a joyous parish family reunion,” said Father Luke Okoye, the parish’s current pastor.

Following Mass, Bishop Rhoades gave special blessings to those parishioners born in 1945 – the same year the parish was founded. He also blessed the first couple to be married inside the current church building. Craig and Mindy Bean were married on July 1, 2000, about a month before the official church dedication. They remember being unable to step up to the altar because the sanctuary was still finishing construction. The Beans have been involved in parish life at Holy Family ever since, with all three of their children receiving sacraments at the parish.

The story of Holy Family Parish began in the 1930s when several families on the west side of South Bend, most of them Polish, began gathering for Mass in local public schools. The group was established as a mission parish in 1941 and initially called “Holy Trinity.” When established as an official parish in 1945, the name was changed to “Holy Family” to avoid confusion with nearby churches also named “Holy Trinity.” The parishioners, numbering about 40 families at that time, bought a former military barracks to use as their church and moved it to a few acres they had bought on Mayflower Road. In 1954, a parish school staffed by the Felician sisters was established in the building as well. As the parish and school grew, the church moved to the basement of the building, with auxiliary Mass space in the school cafeteria. It wasn’t until 1997 that planning began in earnest for a new church building, dedicated on the feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 2000.

Jim Niespodziany has been a parishioner since 1973 and has served Holy Family Catholic Church in capacities such as business manager, usher, and parish council member. He called the church a “very friendly parish.”

Niespodziany remembers the process of deciding to build the new church. An initial fundraising campaign intended to add on to the current school, which was still the combined school and church building. However, somebody suggested they might be more successful fundraising for a new, separate church building. Niespodziany remembers extensive parishioner involvement throughout the process, from planning committees to designing and building the church.

One of the parishioners who helped physically build the new church was Mary Szymczak, who has been at the parish for 58 years. Szymczak, a stained-glass artist, cut the stained-glass pieces for the windows in the church building. A couple other parishioners did window design, and Szymczak had several more parishioners help with fitting and glazing the windows. The project was a big one – “It was 9 months of living in my basement,” Szymczak said with a laugh. Her husband, Dave, who attended Holy Family School as a child, also contributed his handiwork to the church interior, as he built the altar, ambo, and credence table (which holds the offertory gifts).

The anniversary event, complete with a catered dinner, raffles, and displays of historic photos of the parish history and buildings, was hosted in the school gym. According to Szymczak, the turnout to the evening exceeded her wildest expectations, with approximately 400 tickets sold and a waitlist because of space constraints. As she pointed out, there was barely an empty seat in the room.

“Is it not a blessing to us that this year that we celebrate the jubilee of our church building and the 80-year anniversary of our parish is also the Jubilee Year of Hope as declared by Pope Francis?” Father Luke Okoye asked parishioners. “In a special way, brothers and sisters, we as a parish family are creatures of hope, not just here on earth, but hereafter.”

In his homily, Bishop Rhoades reminded the congregation that “a church building is not simply a gathering place. It is a place for divine worship. Here God dwells.”

Bishop Rhoades also explained that the word “parish” comes from the Greek word “paroikos,” meaning “colony of foreigners.” “That’s what we are because, as St. Paul teaches, our citizenship is in heaven,” Bishop Rhoades said.

He added, “May the Holy Family watch over us from heaven and help us not to forget that here on earth we are only passing through!”