Yreka parishioners research history,
enjoy sesquicentennial celebration

Just four years after the discovery of gold in 1851 in a nearby ravine, Yreka’s St. Joseph Church opened its doors to serve a Catholic community that soon filled its pews to overflowing.

Now 150 years later, St. Joseph Parish has been taking an appreciative look back at its past in conjunction with its sesquicentennial celebration held Aug. 7.

The event began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop William K. Weigand, who was joined by current pastor, Father Maurice O’Brien, and former pastor, Father Troy Powers, as concelebrants.

Following the Mass attended by about 300 people, an anniversary luncheon was held at the Miner’s Inn Convention Center in Yreka.

In preparation for the historic event, Father O’Brien called a meeting several months ago and found he had ample volunteers from the parish’s 350 families to form several committees.

“Our people work very well together, taking responsibility of their parish,” said Father O’Brien, who was impressed with the array of items created as fund-raisers, from t-shirts and commemorative plates and mugs to a highly successful parish cookbook.

“The people have gone and done everything all on their own,” he said. “There seems to be a good sense of pride about their parish.”

Parishioner Dan Girdner, chairman of the 150th anniversary research committee, has been searching through piles of pictures, news articles and artifacts to create a historical display representative of the Siskiyou County Catholic church’s remarkable past.

The Girdners were married in St. Joseph Church 45 years ago and their five children received the sacraments there. June Girdner, who was born in neighboring Dunsmuir, has a fairly impressive family history in the community herself.

Her great-grandfather arrived in the area in 1860 with other Portuguese immigrants from the Azore Islands searching for gold. The Catholic church many Portuguese families attended was Immaculate Conception Church in Hawkinsville, a mission of St. Joseph Parish.

Girdner appreciates the legacy left behind by her grandparents and parents who stayed to raise their families inYreka.

“St. Joseph has always been a great part of our lives and still is today,” she said. “It symbolizes many lifetimes.”

Gloria Mosier, a member of the historical research committee, said she was struck by the sacrifices made by the early priests providing pastoral care for the rural parish church, its mission and the mining camps during the late 1800s.

“It’s rugged country here,” Mosier said. “It’s pretty fascinating the way the priests traveled to the camps and to people’s homes.”

She was also impressed by the Sisters of Mercy who opened and staffed St. Joseph Academy, a convent school, in 1871.

“It’s amazing to think about what their trials might have been,” Mosier said. “There were seven sisters who kept the school going and it was quite a sophisticated curriculum they offered.”

Pastoral council member Jeff Bray was born in Yreka and received the sacraments of his faith at St. Joseph Church.

“We always had an assistant pastor fresh out of an Irish seminary,” said Bray, who remembers being impressed with the young Irish priests whose enthusiasm for the faith and for soccer brought many youth to the church. “There’s always been a tremendous history here.”

Father O’Brien said the strong spirit that served the people of Yreka as they mined for gold and later worked its lumber mills is required as they face other challenges today.

“It’s kind of a hard time, not as much employment. The whole county has been hit hard by that,” he said.

Responding to the needs of the community, St. Joseph parishioners are active in a hot lunch program that serves over 80 people weekly and interfaith community outreach programs. The St. Joseph Guild funds high school scholarships for college bound students.

One of St. Joseph’s best assets, said parishioner Cherie Evanhoe, is that it’s “a community of people who care about one another.”

“We didn’t know a soul when we arrived, but there is a sense of welcoming in our community that is matched in our church,” said Evanhoe, who moved to Yreka in 1969. “People visit one another when someone is ill and are interested in one another on a day-to-day basis.”

Many, like Mosier, have also found the gift of the faith community today is firmly rooted in its past.

“You can’t help but be grateful for the dedication of the priests and sisters that walked with the faith community through the years,” she said. “This parish has been blessed.”

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