The History of St. Agnes Parish

          The history of St. Agnes Church begins in Irwin, Pennsylvania, with the founding of the Church of the Immaculate Conception.  In 1867, Catholic families of the area purchased land from John and Mary Irwin to build a church.  In the Post World War II era, more and more families left the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh and moved to the “country.”  The church became overcrowded and it was necessary to divide the parish.

St. Agnes Parish had its beginning on July 2, 1957, when the Most Reverend Hugh L. Lamb, the first Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg, established this new parish with Rev. Frederick Sauer appointed as Pastor.  The parish numbered 564 families and the first Mass, celebrated on July 14, 1957, at the Jacktown Hotel’s Blue Room, was attended by 190 people.  On December 2, 1958, Rev. Raymond McLean succeeded Rev. Sauer as Pastor and began planning for permanent parish facilities.

The Most Reverend William G. Connare broke ground for a new school and temporary church on November 11, 1960.  In less than one year, on September 18, 1961, the primary wing of the school opened to 350 first, second and third grade students and on December 23, 1961, Bishop Connare celebrated the first Mass in the old church, which later became the parish gym.  By 1965 it was apparent that twelve class- rooms were not sufficient to accommodate all of our parish’s schoolchildren, so an additional wing of six classrooms was added.  At this same time the convent was constructed to provide housing for thirteen Vincentian Sisters of Charity who had assumed the teaching responsibilities of the parish.  The first class of 8th grade students graduated in June 1967 and the first group to have completed grades 1 through 8 at St. Agnes School graduated in 1969.

Rev. Renato F. Gianni, who became Pastor in 1963, eliminated the parish debt and in 1973 built a rectory for the resident priests.  Membership had grown from the original 564 families in 1957, to 1,034 in 1962, to almost 2,064 families by the mid-1970’s.  The church had been designed to accommodate only about 800 parishioners at any one time.  It was apparent that the church facility was too small.  On June 13, 1978, Bishop Connare formed the new parish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which would be comprised of 450 families from St. Agnes and 200 families from Immaculate Conception.

The people of St. Agnes, at the request of Bishop Connare, broke ground for a new church and office complex on July 20, 1980, under the direction of Rev. Robert F. Brannon who had become Pastor in June 1976.  The building in which we now worship was dedicated on July 5, 1981, twenty-four years after the formation of St. Agnes Parish.  Rev. Thomas J. Bertolina succeeded Rev. Brannon on June 21, 1991. 

In the early 1990’s, Queen of Angels Regional Catholic School was formed when St. Agnes School merged operations with Immaculate Conception School.  This regional school served approximately 500 students from St. Agnes, Immaculate Conception St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Barbara.  With the merger, the former convent was renovated to house the Early Childhood Center. 

Following Rev. Bertolina’s unexpected death on December 2, 1996, Rev. Roger Statnick and Rev. Raymond Riffle were designated as temporary parish administrators.  On July 1, 1997, Bishop Anthony G. Bosco assigned Rev. Thaddeus J. Kaczmarek as Pastor and Rev. Thomas S. Trupkovich as Parochial Vicar for the more than 2,300 families of St. Agnes Parish.  Rev. Kaczmarek has eliminated the church mortgage debt and established an endowment fund for future needs.

In February 1999 structural problems from pyrite in the fill under the school resulted in the building being closed and slated for demolition.  Queen of Angels students were divided between the previously closed schools at Immaculate Conception in Irwin and Sacred Heart in Jeannette.  Not only did the students lose a school, but St. Agnes parishioners also lost the use of a hall, kitchen, classrooms and gym.  The  convent building was vacated when the Early Childhood Center relocated to the Immaculate Conception location and has since been renovated to replace some of the lost classrooms and meeting rooms.

The upper elementary wing of the school, which had been added in 1965, was not demolished, as it was still structurally sound.  The parish worked to remodel this existing structure into a 100-seat hall, kitchen and classrooms.  The newly remodeled building has been named “Resurrection Hall”.  It is used each August for our annual bazaar and throughout the year by many organizations for socials and dinners.  Resurrection Hall allows us to showcase the cooking talents of our parishioners with the return of the Lenten Fish Fry, the Spaghetti Dinners and other special events.

In November of 2004, St. Agnes, Immaculate Conception, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parishes purchased the closed Norwin East Middle School Building in order to house the Queen of Angels School.  On Friday, September 9, 2005, the Bishop Anthony G. Bosco Center was dedicated by Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt.  This facility provides a place for many parish, regional and school activities and is a fitting home for our Catholic School.

In faith, hope and charity, we look forward to the coming years and the prospect of one day celebrating our 100th anniversary!