Church of the
Annunciation, Crestwood1
- 470 Westchester Avenue
The founding of what is now the
Annunciation parish started with a Sears & Roebuck "kit
house"2
assembled on the grounds of St. Eleanora’s
Home3 (where
St. Vladimir’s Seminary now stands) on Scarsdale Road. This building
was dubbed St. Patrick’s Chapel by Father Edward J. Beary, Pastor of
Immaculate Conception Church in Tuckahoe, who led the first Mass at
the new chapel on Christmas Day, 1927. The chapel was, at that time,
a mission of the Immaculate Conception Church, and services were
provided on Sundays and Holy days by either Father Beary, Father
John Cunneen, or Father Robert Delaney of Immaculate Conception. The
building held 150 and was heated by hot air furnace which was fired
in the winter months only at Mass time. Parishioners took turns
arriving early to light the fire and remaining afterwards to ensure
the fire was out (- as the nearest water was two blocks away at the
Home of Thomas Matthews).4
In 1928, an item appeared in the
church bulletin of the Immaculate Conception Church of Tuckahoe by
Ralph Feriola titled "A word to the People of Crestwood", which read
"[The] people of Crestwood... should look forward to the day when
they will establish as a separate parish... in order to meet their
own immediate needs..." 5 - Clearly underscoring plans
that were already being made for a new church. In May of 1931 Father
Timothy Dugan6 was
appointed to Crestwood as its first Pastor. Father Dugan was, in
many ways was the center of the early history of Annunciation
Parish. "He was a person with a dream – a dream of people and his
spiritual duties to them." His dream was to deliver to deliver to
the community a church which he unabashedly described as "The
Cathedral of Crestwood."7 On May 10, 1931, Father Dugan, Joseph
Hayes and Ralph Feriola met with his Excellency Bishop Dunn and his
Eminence Cardinal Hayes, at his residence at 452 Madison Avenue and
incorporated "Church of the Annunciation, Crestwood". John Hayes and
Ralph Feriola were appointed lay trustees of the parish corporation.
The land where the present church stands, on the northwest corner of
Westchester Avenue and St. Eleanora’s Lane, was purchased by Father
Dugan8 in
1932.
Father Dugan lived initially with
John and Mary McCormack at 324 Hollywood Avenue (Mrs. McCormack was
later to become Father Dugan’s housekeeper). He subsequently rented
the Colette House on the NW corner of Westchester Avenue and Kennedy
Place. In 1933 he bought the house at 350 Hollywood Avenue which was
the Church Rectory until the present one was built in
1966.
Just six months after the initial
groundbreaking, the church (now the Lower Church in the present
structure) was completed by late fall of 19369 with a dedication ceremony held
on November 22, 1936. At this time Father A. Murtha was appointed
Assistant Pastor to Father Dugan. The Architect for the Lower Church
was Gustave E. Steinback. Father Dugan selected oak for the woodwork
and commissioned master woodcarver Frank Feigeler to do the
work.10
Father Dugan postponed the building
of the Upper Church that he wanted so much in order to build a
Parish School. In 1943 he purchased the Crowley house (the present
Convent – to be used as a school and Convent) and a year later
purchased the Mannix house next-door for additional space.11 Dominican Nuns
were brought in to teach. The first eighth grade graduation took
place in June 1948.12
In July, 1950, the ground was broken for the present
school. On March 3, 1951, a St, Patrick’s dance, the first party
held at the school, was held in the new auditorium. On March 23,
1952, in a very heavy rain, Francis Cardinal Spellman dedicated the
Annunciation School.13
The construction of the Upper Church
began in 1956. Father Dugan planned the alter, the statues, the
bells and the church. He hung a drawing of his projected
"Cathedral of Crestwood" for all to see as they filed in and
out for services. It took much lobbying on his part to get his plan,
for a church made of stone, approved by the diocese.14 The church bell
was installed August 18, 1956. It was Christened "Timothy" by Father
Dugan.15 The beautiful
cathedral which now stands was built, but not quite finished, when
Father Dugan died at the age of 70 on March 5, 1957. A formal
dedication of the completed church took place on May 11, 1958 by
Francis Cardinal Spellman.
---//---
1 Research and text:
Stephen Rubino. Research relied heavily upon "A History of the
Founding of Annunciation Parish Crestwood, New York (1931-1981)"
(hereafter abbreviated AHFAP), attributed to Monsignor Eugene V.
Clark
2 In 1937 it was given to
the John N. Dunbar American Legion Post, who later moved it to
another site
3 St. Eleanora’s was one of
the numerous charitable efforts by the Iselin family of New
Rochelle.
4 Cf. AHFAP P.1
5 "Immaculate Conception
parish is rounding out a building program that began seventy-five
years ago. It has been a faithful, spiritual mother, and the
community of Crestwood is one of its devoted children. But the time
is near at hand when Crestwood, like all children, who grow in years
and strength, can begin to pride for its own needs...the people of
Crestwood have definite problems of their own...they should look
forward to the day when they will establish as a separate parish and
when they must, of necessity, build in order to meet their own
immediate needs."
6 Father Dugan was born in
Manhattanville, October 31, 1886, and was one of eight children. He
attended Annunciation Parish School in Manhattan – taught by the
Christian Brothers of St. John Baptist de la Salle – attended St.
John Baptist de la Salle Academy, Manhattan College, and taught in
the NYC Public School System for three years before entering the
seminary. He was ordained a priest June 17, 1916. He was assigned as
a curate to St. Joseph’s Church, Spring Valley, during the summer
and then to annunciation Parish in Manhattan from September 1916 to
May 1931. While he was there, he served as Secretary to Bishop John
J. Dunn, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of New
York.
7 Cf. AHFAP
P.2
8 Thanks to
fundraising efforts from the Ladies Guild, formed under the
direction of Mrs. Joseph Hayes, the groups first
President.
9 Total cost of construction
was $57, 231
10 The "Stations of the
Cross", the triptych behind the alter, the statues that are now in
the lower church – including the masterful "St. John the Baptist" in
the lower church baptistery - are his.
11 Kindergarten was on one
side of the house, first grade on the other. Second and third grades
were in a room of the porch (which was later made into a chapel for
the convent). In 1944, in the Mannix house, there were four
classrooms: 7th and 8th grade downstairs and
5th and 6th upstairs. (AHFAP
P.6)
12 Members of the first
graduating class were: John Manning, William Pagen, Richard Burke,
Peter Garsi, Robert Geigner, James Hafiner Paul Reilly, Barbara Jean
Anderson, Mary Ellen Flynn, Rita DeVeau, Jane Kennedy, Carol
Maloney, Marianne Miller, Nancy Wallace, Maureen Wright and Julia
Budenz (daughter of Louis Budenz, former Editor of The Communist
Daily worker, who had returned to the Catholic Church) (AHFAP
P.6)
13 Cardinal Spellman hung
the crucifix in the entrance hall. There were speeches and the choir
sang. The big surprise of the dedication was that Father Dugan was
elevated to "Monsignor" by Pope Pius
XII.
14 Cardinal Spellman
permitted him to build the last stone edifice in the diocese. (AHFAP
P.9)
15 The bronze church bell
bears the following inscription: "St. Timothy, Church of the
Annunciation, Rt. Rev. Timothy J. Dugan, Pastor, Crestwood, N.Y.".
On the opposite side it reads: "To the Honor and Glory of God and in
Loving Memory of Ralph B. Feriola, Jr., donated by Mr. and Mrs.
Ralph B. Feriola, A.D. 1956". The Feriola’s donated the funds for
the bell in honor of their son who died at an early age.
