ST. JUDE CHAPEL

The Rev. J. P. Lonergan arrived in 1936. Father Lonergan is credited with introducing the idea of a mission in Olivier. The St. Joseph Society sold the community both its hall and its property for $1000. The hall was dismantled and brought to Olivier, where it was rebuilt.

 

The St. Joseph society was a benevolent Society, which provided care for its members in need of crisis relief and emergency assistance. Its main source of assistance was the purchase of medicine for members. The Saint Joseph society lasted until the early 1970s. Pledge cards were distributed in Olivier in support of the cost of establishing the mission.

 

The Sisters began to teach catechism in Olivier on June 17, 1944. First communion was received there for the first time in a temporary church. Miss Elizabeth Frey Raspberry of Iowa donated $20,000 in the memory of her son. It was through the benevolence of Mrs. Raspberry that the new mission chapel dedicated to Saint Jude became a reality.