St. Rose of Lima: A Brief History of our Parish

St. Rose of Lima Parish was founded in 1922, with the late Father William Power as its first pastor. In 1926, Father John Dignam was appointed pastor. It was he who built the St. Rose of Lima School and Auditorium in the year 1930. After rapid growth and with the addition of the school, a bigger and better church was constructed in 1937 and additional property was purchased in 1946 on the corner of 60th Street and Clarkson Ave. However, this soon became too small and with the generous donations of the parishioners and fundraisers plans for a new St. Rose of Lima Church began. In 1941 Father John Dignam passed away and was succeeded by Pastor, Father Maurice J. Ryan.

Under the direction of pastor Rev. Ryan, the business of planning the new permanent church of St. Rose of Lima Parish at Maywood was brought to conclusion late in the summer of 1952, and this beautiful new building was finally completed on December 8, 1953. Monsignor Ryan passed away in 1971. He was succeeded by Msgr. John Cummings who was here for five years and then succeeded by Rev. Msgr. George Duran in 1976. In 2002, Rev. David Velazquez was named pastor and his successor was Rev. Dario Miranda from July 2011 thru July 2023. In July 2023 we received our new and actual Parish Administrator Fr. Oscar Daniel Martínez Gutierrez