St. Andrew Catholic Church, Detroit
Address: 7060 McGraw, Detroit, MI
Phone: (313) 361-1717
Current Parish Status: Closed August 31, 2008
School in Operation: No
First Year Parish Founded: 1920
Year Current Church was Built: 1956
First Pastor: Rev. Fr. Maximillian Gannas
Pastor in 1985: Rev. Fr. Thomas Puzio
Pastor at parish closing: Fr. Julian Chmura
Mass Schedule in 1985: Saturday 4:30pm (English); Sunday 8:00am (English), 10:00am (Polish), 12:00am (English)
No. of Families in Parish in 1985: 1,000
No. of Families in Parish at closing in 2008: 130
Percentage of Polish Descent in 1985: 70%
Considered as a Polish Ethnic Parish: Yes
Polish Religious Traditions Preserved: Yes
Location: West side
St. Andrew was a west-side Polish parish, once one of the largest with 2,500 families. It had both an elementary school and a high school.
The elementary school closed in 1987. The high school closed in 1985.
In 1985 the elementary school had 210 students and was run by the Felician Sisters.
The closing Mass was on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008, at 2 p.m.
The parish's geographical territory was added to that of Our Lady Queen of Angels Parish.
As the buildings on the St. Andrew Parish campus were no longer needed, beginning in 1992 they were put to use by Boysville, a social service program sponsored by the Order of the Holy Cross (affiliated with Notre Dame University). Now known as Holy Cross Children's Services, the organization added the church and rectory to the former convent, school and gymnasium buildings it already operated.
Bibliography
"The Polish Roman Catholic Churches of Metropolitan Detroit" by PERC. c. 1985. Used with permission from Michael Krolewski, editor.
"Closing Mass for St. Andrew, Detroit", Aug. 31 by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic. Published August 1, 2008
