History of the Neighborhood

OK, I have a few corrections to make. first, my Mom didn't go to St. Bernard's until 9th grade, and then for only one year. My Mom also says that while her explanation of the effects of Vatican II on the neighborhood is correct, it is only one piece of the puzzle.

I borrowed my parent's book entitled "The Makings of St. David's" (1959) which gives some history of the neighborhood. It all started with a farm Mrs. David Trombley donated in 1919. The parish was named St. David (as in St. David of Wales) in honor of her late husband. At that time, there were only two houses on the dirt road Outer Blvd. (now Outer Drive). Until 1918 Gratiot was a toll plank road, at the rate of 4 cents per horse.

I am not sure when all the houses in the neighborhood were built. I remember we used to play a game when we were kids. We'd walk around a block and try to find the earliest date imprinted on sidewalk squares. It seems like I would remember the dates, having walked over the sidewalks so many times. I vaguely remember 1910 being the oldest that I ever saw in our neighborhood, but I can't be sure now. I do remember a bunch of 1918's. But within a block there were many dates. I wonder if they'd only pour the sidewalk in front of a new house as it was being built, rather than make a sidewalk for a whole block at once?

Goodale Elementary (the public school serving the neighborhood, which was torn down within the last year or two) was built in 1926. St. David's school (picture above, April 2006) opened in 1924 (well, the first half of the school, the right side). A picture showing the broundbreaking for the new church and school dated December 6, 1923 also shows my grandparent's house in the background, 11768 Kilbourne. The addition to the school (left part) was completed in the summer 1925. The convent opened in 1926. In 1927 there were 522 students enrolled in the grade school, and had 38 high schoolers. In 1926, De La Salle high school opened up (for boys) and the St. David's high school reverted to women-only. The cornerstone for the new church building was laid October 12, 1947, with the first mass December 19, 1948. In 1946 there were over 2,900 families in the parish with 1,700 children of school age. About 570 were not attending a catholic school, so St. Ignatius was built then. The rectory was finished in March, 1949. In 1955 there were 2,400 families. The new high school opened in September 1959, with an enrollment of about 400.

I wonder what the parish boundaries were back in those days? It would be interesting to count the houses within those boundaries and calculate the density of neighborhood families who belonged to St. David's.

But it is clear from reading this book (dated 1959) that the parish was very vibrant, with many committee and groups within the parish. Even my grandpa Bieke, who wasn't much of a church-goer before moving to Wilshire Street, became active in the church, leading the Youth Group for many years.

Looking through the book one can see the evidence of our family:
There is a photo of Monsignor Stitt with several children, including my Aunt Roseanne (she is about 9 or 10 in the photo).
There is a photo of Monsignor Stitt breaking ground for the new high school, May 8, 1958, with my Uncle Inky one of the students in the background.
A photo of the first grade class of 1959, with my Uncle George in it.
A mention of my Unlce Tom, on a list of parishoners who became Christian Brothers.
My Grandpa Goeddeke on what appears to be a telephone tree (number 15, at LA 7-1752).
My Grandpa Goeddeke again listed as the Institutional Representative for the Boy Scout Troop 42.
My Grandpa Goeddeke listed as the first Cubmaster of Cub Scout Pack 42 (of which I was a member!) with 10 dens in 1947. (I think my Dad later became the Cubmaster or maybe Committee Chairman or something like that, and my Mom was my Den Mother for one year too.)
My great-great grandfather's nephew, Joseph A. Bieke, is listed as director of the rosary making club.
My grandpa Vince Goeddeke as President of the Booster Club. (He was still doing this when I attended St. David's - he drove the bus on the end-of-school-year field trips to Belle Isle, Stony Creek, etc.)
My Uncle George listed as a "Senior Server" altar boy.
My grandpa Goeddeke is in a group photo of ushers, and is also shown in another photo of 5 ushers counting the money from the collection of a mass.
My Aunt Mary in a photo of a nun showing three students how to open a stove door in a home economics class in the high school.
My grandpa and grandma Bieke listed as patrons, as was Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Bieke from the above description.
My grandma and grandpa Goeddeke listed as patrons, as was Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Goeddeke (my Dad's uncle and aunt).

There were 5 priests in 1959, with 6 Sunday masses. In 1981 there were 2 priests in 3 sunday masses (including the saturday evening mass).

White flight is nothing new to the neighborhood. The children of the first couple that was married at St. David's, in 1922, now (in 1959?) live in Flint and Walled Lake. The family of the first baptism (1922) moved to Midland in 1937.

I just wonder, if St. David's was such a great parish and in such a great neighborhood (which every person I've ever talked to says it was), why didn't Monsignor Stitt tell everyone in a sermon not to leave, but to stand your ground and don't move? If he did, why didn't everyone listen?