The History of St. Genevieve
It was Msgr. John Newfield who assumed the helm of our new parish when the Archdiocese decreed into existence in 1959. On June 15, Fr. Newfield came to Thibodaux and met with several of the parishioners of the newly created St. Genevieve Parish, asking that we immediately take steps to locate a building which could be used as a temporary church, and in which Mass could be offered no later than July 5th. Pending his official arrival on June 28, a self-organized group of laymen met to consider the availability of any building in the area, since Fr. had specified that the temporary church must be within the geographical limits of our new parish.
At the committee meeting, one of the men present remarked that he had heard that a warehouse owned by Lafourche Lumber Co. used for storage of parish voting machines would soon be vacated. It was then decided that although the owners were not Catholics, they would be approached with a view of renting the warehouse for our temporary church. The next day, a committee approached the managers of the Lumber Co. Yet before an appeal could be made, the use of the building was offered as a temporary church until the permanent one could be built – rent free. The voting machines would be moved on July 1, and we could begin occupancy the following day. Our committee was convinced that this was divine intervention. With this miraculous solution of our problem, we determined to meet Fr. Newfield’s deadline and were ready for him to celebrate the first Mass in St. Genevieve Parish on Sunday, July 5, 1959, in a fully furnished, air-conditioned warehouse with altar, communion rail, stations of the cross, double confessional, alter linens and cards and four hundred seats.
Apparently, word of the Herculean effort of the new parishioners had broken, and the two Masses on that day were “standing room only”. It was immediately apparent to the new pastor that he would need to say three Masses each Sunday. This went into effect the following Sunday, with daily Masses at 6:30AM beginning July 6.
In September of 1960 we started registering for our school and opened it’s doors in September of 1961. In 1962, the church was finished and dedicated. Both facilities have been constantly enlarged, maintained and upgraded over the years. We have been very blessed indeed.
Fr. Newfield was with us for seven years, during which time the Parish, the new church and new school jelled into a Christian community. He was followed by Fr. Winus Roeten as Pastor who lead us through the confusing time of Vatican II and the Parish Council which functioned from Fr. Roeten’s seven years through Fr. Robert Melancon’s twelve years as Pastor converted to a Pastoral Council during the regime of Fr. Francis Legendre, the successor to Fr. Melancon. Fr. Legendre was with us for ten years. When he was transferred, Fr. Joseph Pilola headed the Parish to be followed by Fr. Wilmer Todd who retired in 2008. Fr. PJ Madden was placed at St. Genevieve for one year before returning home to Ireland. Fr. Dean Danos served as Pastor to the Parish for 7 years and was reassigned to St. Eloi Parish in Theriot, LA in July 2016.
Fr. Eric Leyble, JCL is presently serving as the Pastor of St. Genevieve and Fr. Alex Okiror as our Parochial Vicar.
