Marysville parishioners celebrate their sesquicentennial

A Passionist missionary and three Sisters of Notre Dame arrived in the Gold Rush town of Marysville in the 1850s on a mission to found a parish which would become the first Catholic church in the area.

Over 150 years later, St. Joseph Parish is celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary and a legacy of faith that continues to draw new generations today.

To commemorate the historic event, a bilingual Mass was celebrated by Bishop William K. Weigand in St. Joseph Church on Sept. 17.

More than 300 parishioners, former pastors and guests were present for the Mass, followed by a dinner and street dance which occurred in front of Marysville’s landmark church.

Father Robert Copsey, pastor, said the spire of the Gothic-style church visible for miles continues to inspire the parish’s 640 registered families today.

“This is a very warm, loving community,” said Father Copsey, who first served as parochial vicar at St. Joseph nearly 30 years ago.

“When I left after only one year, I felt as if I was leaving a family,” he said. “Now coming back again (two years ago) I feel so much at home.”

Parishioner Steve Souza, who coordinates a popular adult education class called “Cookies and Catholicism,” said that until he and his wife Pam moved to the area from the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990, Marysville was just a dot on the map.

“Then I came over the E Street Bridge and the first thing I noticed was the huge steeple towering over the city. When I found out it was the Catholic church, I was pretty well sold,” he said. “ I wanted to live in a community where the church is that important.”

Members of St. Joseph enjoy keeping alive the history of their parish, which was actually founded 153 years ago.

Sara Sullivan is the third generation of her family, who arrived in Marysville in the 1880s, to attend Mass at St. Joseph Church. Her grandfather, a carpenter, worked on the construction of the church steeple.

A 1941 graduate of Notre Dame School, then of Notre Dame High School four years later, Sullivan said it was the “good Notre Dame Sisters” who shaped her family’s Catholic faith. Her brother, the late Msgr. James Poole, served as a priest in the diocese, and her son is currently studying for the priesthood in the Diocese of Oakland.

“The sisters were first-rate teachers who grounded me in my faith, which has carried through to what I am doing today,” said Sullivan, currently coordinator of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults at the parish.

She credited the sisters also with taking charge of the beauty and sacred tradition of the liturgy.

“The sisters were just like the heart of the parish,” Sullivan said.

Florence Kugelman, 78, also a third generation member of St. Joseph Parish, was just three years old when she first entered the church. While she marveled at the exquisite frescos on the ceiling, it was the Sisters of Notre Dame who rescued her family when their farm and home were flooded in 1937.

“The nuns took us in until we could get back in our home,” she said. “This church has just been a total part of our lives.”

Bill Dodson, who published a history of St. Joseph Parish in conjunction with its 150th anniversary, can also testify about their courage.

He said when one of Marysville’s levees broke during a heavy storm in 1875, “one of the sisters nearly drowned, but the order steadfastly remained” for 116 years, until their departure in 1972.

Deacon David Perez might qualify as more of a newcomer to the parish, which he first visited in 1950 as a young man then living in neighboring Yuba City. But few parishioners are more involved in parish ministry.

In 1956, Deacon Perez and his wife Inez were drawn to St. Joseph, a church that reminded them of the churches where they had attended Mass in Mexico.

After moving to Marysville in 1966, Deacon Perez began to lead an effort to start Spanish-language Masses at St. Joseph. He began by handing out cards to 25 people who indicated they would attend Spanish Masses if they were offered.

“We started Spanish Masses and 150 people came to the first Mass. The next Sunday we had 200 and every Sunday it grew,” he said. “Finally, it was decided there was no need to count anymore.”

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