I am 50 years old this year, but I’m not the only one. Our Diocese is also 50 years old this year, having been established on January 13, 1962. I did my Master’s Thesis on the life and times of our very first bishop, Joseph Sadoc Alemany (1850-1884). The part of our planet that was to become the Diocese of Stockton first became “Catholic” when Junipero Serra traipsed north to establish his missions. In those days, we were part of “New Spain,” and later, became part of Mexico, and then for one month, the “Bear Flag Republic of California.” Finally, in 1848, we became part of the great United States of America. The first diocese covered all of our fair state. Over the years, that large diocese was carved up into the 12 smaller dioceses, of which we are one of the smallest.
Our Diocese is 50 years old, and our parish is 45 years old, having been established in 1967 on a bare and windswept plot of land on Old Oakdale Road, not much better than a dirt track on the eastern edge of town. Walnut orchards stretched from our parish towards the Sierras on what is now Orchard Supply Hardware and Orchard School. One of the first things I did upon arriving at St. Joseph’s in 1999 was to attend the ribbon-cutting of the new Orchard Supply Hardware, along with Mayor Dick Lang.
In five years, our parish itself will mark 50 years of history. Although I will not be here in 2017, I would like to see a history of the parish written for that occasion. I would certainly come back for the party! We have five years to gather all the historical records of our parish and write that book. I need a Parish Historian — someone who can gather all the old pictures and newspaper articles that chronicles our history. If you have a taste for history and would like to work on this book, please give me a call!
Our Diocese is 50 years old, and our parish is 45 years old, having been established in 1967 on a bare and windswept plot of land on Old Oakdale Road, not much better than a dirt track on the eastern edge of town. Walnut orchards stretched from our parish towards the Sierras on what is now Orchard Supply Hardware and Orchard School. One of the first things I did upon arriving at St. Joseph’s in 1999 was to attend the ribbon-cutting of the new Orchard Supply Hardware, along with Mayor Dick Lang.
In five years, our parish itself will mark 50 years of history. Although I will not be here in 2017, I would like to see a history of the parish written for that occasion. I would certainly come back for the party! We have five years to gather all the historical records of our parish and write that book. I need a Parish Historian — someone who can gather all the old pictures and newspaper articles that chronicles our history. If you have a taste for history and would like to work on this book, please give me a call!
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