MUNSTER – A celebration of 80 years of St. Thomas More parish brought to light a number of historical distinctions: countless souls ministered, thousands of alumni, four pastors, several principals, dozens of lay and religious teachers and catechists, and numerous building and renovation campaigns. It also provided the opportunity to celebrate the community’s current 2,500 families and 500 enrolled students.
Honorific words summed up the spirit and legacy of the Catholic parish as a common refrain of praise echoed the qualities of beneficence, integrity, faith and scholarship.
At Mass on Nov. 16, and later, just blocks away in a ballroom filled to capacity at the Center for Performing & Visual Arts, families, friends, students and alumni marked eight decades of memories.
Father Mike Yadron, St. Thomas More pastor, expressed a sense of wonder as he asked the congregation to ponder the many years of Christ-centered worship, fellowship, and service.
“We are celebrating the love, the care, the compassion that we have been able to share with others for 80 years. We are celebrating the blessings of God, who gave us the wherewithal to help so many people,” Father Yadron said. “We celebrate the good work that we have been doing in Munster.”
During brunch at the hall, St. Thomas More principal Samantha Francis, Ed.D., wiped away a tear as she affectionately called to mind people of good character that she encountered as a student.
“Today we honor our past and celebrate our present,” said the STM Class of 1984 member. “We give thanks to the families who entrusted us with their children, for the teachers and staff who gave their lives in service and for the parishioners who believed in this mission from the very beginning.”
A diamond or 75th anniversary is often observed by parish families, but in 2020, safety protocols surrounding the pandemic had STM leaders instead envisioning a celebration five years down the line. “We’re celebrating our ‘80 is the new 75,’” Father Yadron said with a smile.
In the interim, in-person attendance at Mass neared pre-shutdown levels as the school experienced a steady increase in enrollment and earned a National Blue Ribbon Award in 2024.
Stories of “St. Tom’s” – a title of affection for their grade and junior high school – filled the ballroom air as those connected with it, spoke at the former “Home of the Warriors,” changed after the millennium to “Home of the Eagles.”
Brunch attendees began to dine as vintage photos were projected to include scenes with the Sisters of Saint Benedict, who served the newly founded school starting in 1949, and the demure smile of Monsignor Robert Weis, who pastored the church for 40 years.
A young Father Weis, then-assistant pastor to Father Leo Hildebrandt at St. Mary in Griffith, was tasked to form a parish for the Catholics of Munster, “the town on the Ridge,” by Bishop John F. Noll in the 1940s. The bishop was prelate of Fort Wayne, a diocese which then stretched from the Ohio border to the Gary and Hammond region.
According to the historical chronology presented at the gathering, Father Weis was committed to naming the nascent church after St. Thomas More, the Renaissance English Catholic statesman, author and martyr, who was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935.
Munster was already a suburban destination for those looking to locate to a quiet bedroom community. A large number of Dutch Protestants and a spattering of various denominations characterized the religious composition in the town’s early years.
Within a couple of decades of its founding in 1945, St. Thomas More became the largest church in Munster, and home to those of numerous nationalities. Such growth necessitated expansion of worship and education space beyond the original temporary wooden church structure built on a plot of land southeast of Ridge Road and Calumet Avenue.
The year 1948 saw the completion of a two-story brick building which housed a school in the upper level while the church occupied the lower level. A gymnasium, a cafeteria, classrooms and offices were added by the late 1950s.
Brunch guests such as St. Tom’s alumna Judy Hamer and longtime volunteer Marilyn Pajor recalled vistas of the parish’s first decades.
Dozens of women regularly prayed before liturgies as part of a large Altar and Rosary Society, they said. Others participated in Bible study groups.
In the school, a full crew of lunch ladies, including the “cornerstone of the food program” Vi Anzur, ensured that students remained fueled throughout the day. Parents volunteered as Catholic Youth Organization coaches in various sports.
A large component of STM activities has been outward facing as parishioners connected to civic duty and sought to reach the needy throughout the Region. Pajor reflected on taking the initiative to help set in motion Manna for Hammond, the soup kitchen ministry at St. Joseph Church.
“I was the one who interviewed all of the different local churches who wanted to know if we could use their help,” said Pajor, a Chicago native who moved to Munster in 1965.
Pajor savored the anniversary gathering. “This is one of the sweetest, most beautiful moments that has happened in a long time,” she said.
The cornerstone was laid in 1969 for a modern octagonal church and bell tower. Since the 1970 dedication by Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, the 1,200-seat edifice has filled on countless occasions for Sunday Masses, presentations and liturgies from baptisms to funerals.
Noreen Bickel, director of parish mission, quoted the late Bishop Carl F. Mengeling, who served as pastor from 1985 until being named Bishop of Lansing, Mich., by Pope John Paul II in 1995.
“At our parish’s 50th anniversary, Monsignor Mengeling wrote that St. Thomas More parish ‘stood at the crossroads of a cherished past, and in a hopeful future.’ He reminded us that our mission remains the same in every generation: ‘To live the Catholic vision, to proclaim truth, goodness and love and to be the light of Christ in a world that desperately needs it.’”
Bishop Mengeling directed expansion of the school building and launched the parish festival, which ran annually for 30 years. Parishioners recalled then-Monsignor Mengeling’s devotion, intelligence and sense of humor, applied daily as encouraged members of the “flagship parish of the diocese” to be “happy Catholics.”
Bickel praised the “presence, stability and pastoral care” of Father Yadron, who she said “shaped an entire generation of St. Tom’s families.” Continuing to steer the ship since 2004, he received a standing ovation for his spiritual and personal contributions as pastor of STM.
Testifying to the goodness of his longtime experience as a member of the church, 30-year parishioner PJ Caraher said that of all the classroom learning and gymnasium activities, the “glue” that held it all together was that the church was always right down the hall.
“Having my children see how it is all connected – their family life, their Church, and their community – that’s what made that special for me,” explained the father of St. Thomas More School alumnus and second-year diocesan priest Father Steven Caraher. “I can say there’s one word that can summarize my reflections of St. Thomas More. And that one word is integrity.”
Among the younger set of anniversary celebration guests, seventh-grader Enzo Farinas, whose father Mark Farinas attended and graduated from St. Thomas More, spoke with great appreciation of the parish’s founders.
His energetic and optimistic sentiment echoed the spirit of one of Sir Thomas More’s many historical quotes: “I think that if any good thing shall go forward, something must be adventured.”
“I think this is nice … I didn’t really know much about St. Tom’s history until now,” Enzo Farinas said. “I think the (founders) are awesome, how they (started by) buying a tiny yard and built a whole church from that.”
Caption: Father Mike Yadron (center), pastor of St. Thomas More, raises a host during the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass in the Munster Church on Nov. 16. Parish leaders opted to gather for an 80th anniversary celebration of the church’s founding with the recent Mass and brunch, waiting five years after pandemic protocols would have affected a diamond anniversary event. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
