Our Lady of Humility Church: Historical Timeline

Beach Park & Zion Benton Area, Illinois

This timeline consolidates major dates, people, and milestones from parish history. 

Founding & Parish Establishment (1949–1958)

• June 16, 1949 — Meeting at the B.B. Pharmacy Dugout to review plans for a local mission parish.

• July 13, 1950 — Volunteers canvass with a petition to Cardinal Samuel Stritch requesting a parish be established.

• October 15, 1950 — First Mass held at Zion Theater (2671 Sheridan Road, Zion) as a mission of St. Anastasia (Waukegan).

• 1952 — Archdiocese purchases 11 acres on the south side of Wadsworth Road (unincorporated Lake County); house completed and used for parish office, chapel, and rectory; later serves as convent for the Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, kindergarten, and then the Holy Child Center.

• 1954 — Cardinal Stritch establishes Our Lady of Humility (OLH) as a parish (no longer a mission); Fr. John Hayes appointed pastor; Hayes Room named in his honor.

• 1954–1978 — Fr. John Hayes serves as pastor; Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus begin teaching Catechism classes (Holy Child Center named after their order).

• September 15, 1955 — Church construction begins.

• January 22, 1956 — Church cornerstone laid (Fr. Garrity & Fr. Hayes).

• June 1956 — Church construction completed.

• November 18, 1956 — Dedication Day with Cardinal Stritch presiding.

• June 16, 1957 — Campaign launched to finance OLH School.

• September 8, 1958 — Our Lady of Humility School opens.

Early Parish Life & Facilities (1972–1983)

• 1972 — Bingo begins to help fund the school.

• 1978–1983 — Fr. Edward Reading serves as pastor.

• 1980 — Construction starts on the Parish Administration Center west of the church (parish office, community room, chapel, food pantry, and rectory).

• 1981 — Parish Administration Center completed.

• 1982 — Renew Tree (Crimson Maple sapling) planted in front of the Holy Child Center (uprooted in a storm on June 16, 2024).

Renovation, Ministry & Milestones (1984–1999)

• 1984–1997 — Fr. Joe Curtis serves as pastor.

• 1986 — First renovation: roof repairs; altar platform reconstructed with off‑center steps (east); Eucharistic Chapel added (west); Baptistry moved; stained glass of the Baptism of Jesus relocated from an outside to an inside wall; confessionals removed for better view of north-end stained glass; confessions moved to the Confessional Room (two‑week project).

• 1988 — Stained glass window ‘Jesus with His People’ installed in the southwest corner.

• April 30, 1988 — Max Jinkens and Phil Horne ordained deacons.

• April 25, 1992 — Mike Mercure ordained deacon.

• September 18, 1994 — OLH 40th Anniversary; Marian Garden around Mary statue dedicated by Fr. Joe.

• June 9, 1995 — First vocation to the priesthood from OLH: Fr. Stephen Mitten ordained a Jesuit priest.

• October 1, 1995 — Groundbreaking for Parish Center addition (lobby, kitchen, Teen Center, school office space, and classrooms; multi‑purpose space designed to serve as a gym for the school, teen ministry, and religious education).

• September 8, 1996 — Parish Center addition dedicated by Bishop Kicanas.

• May 1, 1999 — Jim Askew ordained deacon.

• 1997–2009 — Fr. David Mulvihill serves as pastor.

New Millennium: Outreach & Enhancements (2001–2015)

• May 20, 2001 — Bob Ochsner ordained deacon.

• June 3–9, 2001 — ‘Our Lady of the New Millennium’ statue visits OLH parking lot for a week.

• January 4, 2004 — OLH 50th Anniversary and second renovation (‘Reverse the Church’): pews, altar platform, altar, and tile floor removed; Masses held in the Parish Center during the project; altar made handicap‑accessible; nave orientation reversed so new wood pews face north; new stone tile floor; reredos panel built; choir centered on the south end; round stained glass commissioned (modeled on painting in the Casa Santa Maria Chapel, old Pontifical North American College, Rome) popularly nicknamed ‘Our Lady of Humility’.

• April 11, 2004 — Easter Sunday Mass celebrated in the newly renovated church.

• 2005 — ‘A Quiet Moment’ statue of the Holy Family installed on west side of the church (sculptor: Thomas P. Schmalz).
• December 2006 — OLH purchases the ‘West Lot’ at 10681 W. Wadsworth Road; unsafe house later demolished; unattached garage retained.

• 2009–2015 — Fr. Tom Hoffman serves as pastor.

• October 2009–August 2011 — Mission: Nattita supports Fr. Charles Ssennyondo’s childhood parish (St. Andrew) in Nattita, Uganda; new St. Andrew Church dedicated August 14, 2011.

• 2014 — Construction of three new classrooms on the school’s east end.

• 2014 — OLH 60th Anniversary: Knights of Columbus donate outdoor Stations of the Cross, bridge, and brick paver path with Rosary Walk on the West Lot (dedicated July 13, 2014 by Bishop Rassas).

• 2015 — Liturgical Garden designed and planted by Beth Dermody and Sandi Shea around the Mary statue on the north lawn (Bishop’s Cap, Crusaders, Lenten Roses, Night Before Christmas, Bethlehem Sage, Cardinal’s Flowers, Resurrection Lilies); dedicated by Fr. Tom in May 2015.

• 2015–2022 — Fr. Paul Stemn serves as pastor.

Recent Years & St. Brigid Parish (2016–2026)

• June 4, 2016 — Greg Krame ordained deacon.

• June 2016 — Pavers installed in a half circle to the Mary statue and Liturgical Garden (Jason Becker Landscaping).

• July 1, 2016 — Deacon Marcelino Hernandez reassigned from Most Blessed Trinity (Waukegan) to Our Lady of Humility.

• 2020 — COVID‑19 pandemic: OLH pivots to online Masses and later parking‑lot Masses with audio via FM radio in cars.

• May 2020 — Outdoor altar deck built south of the Parish Center for parking‑lot Masses (led by Curtis Mitzelfelt and Knights).

• 2021 — Knights of Columbus build the Fatima Grotto.

• August 15, 2021 — Grotto dedicated on the West Lot by Bishop Grob at Summerfest Mass and Picnic.

• July 1, 2022 — OLH and St. Patrick merge; new parish initially known as Our Lady of Humility and St. Patrick Parish; later named St. Brigid (each church retains its original name). OLH School becomes Archdiocese of Chicago school; St. Patrick becomes the parish‑supported school of St. Brigid Parish.

• 2022–present — Fr. Wojciech Oleksy serves as pastor of St. Brigid Parish.

• August 8, 2023 — Outdoor altar deck moved from south of the Parish Center to the West Lot (Curtis and Andrew Mitzelfelt with Knights).

• August 13, 2023 — First St. Brigid Parish Mass & Picnic held on the West Lot at OLH.

• June 16, 2024 — Father’s Day windstorm knocks out power and snaps the Renew Maple and another tree; replaced with a sapling.

• May 10, 2025 — Dennis Holley ordained deacon.

• September 2025 — First St. Brigid Pilgrimage to Ireland.

• June 3, 2026 — Our Lady of Humility School closes.