From reports of old Catholic settlers in Kane County, as recorded by R. Waite Joslyn and Frank W. Joslyn in a 1908 Kane County History, Father Maurice de St. Palais was the first priest to visit the Kane County area and say Mass in Elgin – and probably St. Charles – in 1837.
Before St. Patrick Parish was established in 1851, missionary priests offered Mass in pioneer homes. Father John Guiguen and Father Dupontavice were among the priests who would come on horseback and by wagon from Chicago and Joliet to visit the Catholics in the Fox River Valley once every four months to say Mass and administer the sacraments.
In the 1840s, Catholics in the St. Charles area usually attended Mass near what is now Gilberts. Later, they were attended by Father William Feely, appointed pastor of St. Mary Parish in Elgin in 1848. It was Father Feely who began the construction of the St. Charles church. However, he completed only the exterior of the church. The records are not clear as to who actually completed the interior of the church.
On July 9, 1851, Chicago Bishop James O. Van de Velde visited St. Charles to dedicate the newly finished St. Patrick Church.
Bishop Van de Velde divided St. Patrick Parish from St. Mary Parish in Elgin in 1853. It was at this time that Father Patrick O’Dwyer (1853-1860) was appointed from Chicago as the first resident pastor of St. Patrick. The baptismal registers from St. Patrick Parish give proof that Father O’Dwyer was serving the people of St. Patrick as far back as December 5, 1852.
At this time St. Patrick Parish included Elburn, West Chicago, and Geneva as missions. People from the Batavia area also came to St. Patrick to fulfill their religious obligations until Father O’Dwyer purchased property in Batavia and Holy Cross Parish became a mission church of St. Patrick sometime between 1855 and 1860. People from Elburn continued to attend St. Patrick until St. Gall was officially established in 1872. The people of Geneva continued to attend either the church in St. Charles or the Holy Cross Church in Batavia until Bishop Peter J. Muldoon, the first Bishop of Rockford, established St. Peter Parish in Geneva in 1912.
In 1870, a Dominican priest, Father Michael Prendergast, O.P. (1870-1875), took up his duties as pastor. During his time, he saw a hopeful future in Batavia and purchased the site of a future parish. He left St. Charles and resided in Batavia. From the early record of this time period, St. Patrick was treated as a mission of the Batavia church. It is believed that Father Prendergast's successors resided in Batavia while caring for the parishioners of St. Patrick.
In June of 1883, Father Ambrose J. Goulet (1883-1886) made St. Patrick an independent parish again and began his residency as pastor.
While he was pastor, Father Timothy Ryan (1905-1909) made many improvements in the church property and redecorated the church's interior.
In May of 1909, Father Robert J. Carse (1909-1950) began his 41-year pastorate of St. Patrick Parish. Father Carse began the construction of the downtown church in 1911. On June 16, 1912, Bishop Peter J. Muldoon dedicated the completed church.
St. Patrick School was built in 1929, mainly with the donations of Mrs. George H. Rempe as a memorial to her late husband. The school was staffed by the Adrian Dominican Sisters.
During Father Thomas L. Walsh’s pastorate (1950-1956), the church, rectory, and convent were completely redecorated.
On St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1959, Father Walter J. Ryan (1957-1969) broke ground for an addition to the school, and on March 17, 1960, Bishop Loras T. Lane dedicated the addition.
In 1970, the school, rectory, and convent were renovated and in 1975 the church was remodeled.
In 1977, St. Patrick Parish was divided into two parishes. St. John Neumann Parish was established on the east side of St. Charles.
Thirty acres of land were purchased on Crane Road in 1987 to accommodate a new church for St. Patrick Parish. On December 8, 1991, Bishop Arthur J. O’Neill dedicated the new St. Patrick Mission Church. The 36,000-square-foot, 6-story church reflects the growth of Catholic families in the St. Charles area. The new church seats 1,200 people and has an attached 15,000-square-foot multi-purpose room. In January 1993, the multi-purpose room was renamed the Father Thomas J. Dempsey Hall in the pastor’s honor.
On January 1, 2001, Father Joseph B. Linster celebrated Mass and kicked off the parish's sesquicentennial called “Celebrate 150!”
For more than 40 years, the parish held the Shamrock Shuffle to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
In 2006 the parish began a capital project, “Building to do God’s Work”, to erect a new rectory, parish office, and school campus on the Crane Road property. In May of 2009, the work for the rectory and offices was completed. That same summer, work on the school began.
Msgr. Linster did an outstanding job leading the parish for almost 20 years. He retired from St. Patrick Parish in November of 2013. Msgr. Steve Knox officially became the new pastor of St. Pat’s on July 1, 2014 and served here until June 2019.
Msgr. Daniel Deutsch became our newest pastor in June 2019.
For more information on the history of St. Patrick Parish, please visit the link below. It links to a digital copy of the book, History of Saint Patrick Parish, written by Father Robert R. Miller and published in 1975. Father Miller was an Associate Pastor at that time.