The Parish Ghetto & The Pine Forest
By Jack W. Toovey
I was born in 1932, and my parents moved from Vancouver to Websters Corners that spring. It remained our family home until 1980. My first memory of the “old” St. Patrick’s Church on 8th Avenue was my mother going to First Fridays and taking dry wood for the stove.
The original 1926 sanctuary: A cozy building with white and gold altars from France.
It was a beautiful church for the early 30s with a small congregation, despite the fact that the parish extended from the Stave River to the Pitt River. At the time I was growing up, the Catholic congregation was in some ways a “ghetto” in the community. Community and civic leaders were invariably Protestant; Bill Brown of Brown Brothers Nursery was the first Catholic I remember who became a municipal councilor.
As a youngster biking to Haney regularly, I remember there were only four Catholic families on Dewdney Trunk Road—the Curtins, Weirs, Leginuses, and Spindors. I began serving as an altar boy in Junior High, mentored by Dick Klein. Others included Marcel Spindor, Gordon Dunbar, and Victor Gibson.
Father Finnegan wanted to start a boys’ choir but culled Marcel Spindor and myself out early, suggesting we be altar servers instead. My mother had other plans; she wanted me to be an organist. Once a month on a Sunday afternoon, I went to St. Mary’s Residential School for lessons from the Sisters of St. Anne.
My father, though not Catholic, enjoyed taking me to Mission because he could watch the renowned soccer matches. He so admired the universality of the church that, at his request, he was later buried from St. Patrick’s. I played the reed pump organ until I went to University in 1951.
“The last year before we moved to 121st Avenue, Holy Mass was celebrated on the top floor of the unfinished school—bare studs on the walls and shiplap on the floor. I remember an abundance of bushy scrub pine brought in from Pitt Meadows. I smothered the sanctuary with these trees by simply nailing them to the floor joists! The ‘church’ looked wonderful.”
The Altar Society, later the CWL, took up a great deal of my Mother’s contribution to the parish. The annual fundraisers were the fall bazaar and the March 17th Tea at the IOOF Hall. In those days, netting fifty dollars was a good day, with tea and sandwiches sold for twenty-five cents.
The Sound of History
Cast in 1926, the St. Patrick’s Bell is a permanent memorial to the donors of the foundation. Their names, etched for eternity, were originally placed beneath the altar stone, and their legacy continues to ring out across Maple Ridge every Sunday morning.
The Pioneers
The Barton Family
Three generations starting in the 1930s. Mrs. Barton Sr. was foundational to the Altar Society and later the CWL.
The Klein Family
Mrs. Klein served as a long-time president of the CWL, working alongside Mary Toovey as secretary.
The Hawley Family
Staunch original pioneers. Mrs. Hawley was the daughter of Thomas Haney; they lived in the historic “Haney House.”
The Spindor Family
Devoted to Mother Church for three generations, providing a great example of devotion to the small Catholic community.
Fr. John Steele
A Legacy in “Stainless Steel”
During my teen years, Father Steele was a great influence. He had a good library and always had answers about church history and doctrine. A native of London, Ontario, he earned the nickname “Stainless Steel” during his distinguished service in WWII.
He changed the parish forever. Realizing the 8th Avenue church could not expand, he negotiated the sale of the lots and purchased the property where the school and church sit today. He lived in the school building, physically worked on its construction, and even drove the school bus.
The new campus: Father Steele’s permanent memorial to the community.
Founding Shepherds
Fr. O’Carroll: Arrived young from Ireland and lived in the back of the church under primitive conditions. Mary Toovey famously had to teach him how to boil water for tea.
Fr. McIvoy: Started the initial fund-raising for a rectory in the early 30s, which was later built by a contractor named Mostrenko.
Fr. Classen: Remembered as an intellectual and sensitive artist. He built a beautiful stable for the crib set one Christmas and was responsible for expanding the sanctuary.
Fr. Finnegan: A former school teacher who personally made new cassocks for the altar boys. He had a police dog named Prince who was known for eating fresh oats at the Buckerfields Feed Store.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED MARCH 17, 2002
Dedicated to the memory of John Dover Toovey and Mary Catherine Toovey