History

Our Lady of Sorrows became a parish in the fall of 1927 as a small frame church seating 125 people. As the parish gradually grew, many parents began to express a desire for a parochial school. As far as the parish was concerned, this was financially impossible.

 

Fortunately, the problem was solved through the generosity of the Smith family. An eight-acre plot of land on Grand River, near Orchard Lake Road, was donated by Mrs. C. F. Smith, and a three-room school was built by her son, Henry Smith.

 

When it opened in 1935, there were one hundred and forty children in the grade school and by September, 1941, the number had increased to two hundred and twenty-five youngsters.

 

Three Dominican Sisters came from Adrian in January, 1938, to staff the school under the very capable guidance of Sister Rose Xavier. During 1940, and again in 1941, it was necessary to enlarge our school facilities. 

 

 

On October 26, 1943, Archbishop Mooney sent Father Thomas P. Beahan to be the fourth pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows. 

By 1944, the school was operating beyond capacity, having three hundred and four children in rooms barely able to hold two hundred and fifty students. The parish continued to grow, and not all the children could be accommodated in the school. 

 

In May 1945, the Farmington School Board purchased sixteen acres of property owned by the Archdiocese and the remaining twelve acres was transferred to Our Lady of Sorrows. This extended our parish property to 10 Mile Road and the decision was made to make this the permanent parish site.

 

The master site plan was developed by architect Charles D. Hannan and approved by the Archdiocesan Building Commission in August, 1947. Very shortly, construction began on the first unit of the school and the gymnasium.

 

The completion of the new grade school building delayed the opening of school until October 4, 1948. The school had four hundred students. 

The new school and gymnasium church were featured in newspapers and trade publications as outstanding examples of architectural perfection. There were eight roomy classrooms with their own fire exits, permitting evacuation in thirty seconds; maximum natural daylighting and cross ventilation. It had a radiant floor heating system, locker rooms for boys and girls, a finely appointed kitchen, and a gymnasium-church seating seven hundred and fifty parishioners with an unobstructed view. 

Shortly after school opened, the parish was honored by a visit from Edward Cardinal Mooney, Samuel Cardinal Stritch of Chicago, and Bishop Roman Atkielski of Milwaukee. They were interested in seeing the new-type school construction -- a novelty in this part of the country at that time. Cardinal Stritch was very pleased to see some Tennessee stone decorating the school entrance, as it represented his home state.

In June 1952, the second unit of the grade school was placed under construction. Both units were completed for the beginning of the 1953 school year. By the end of the year, expenses incurred in the building of the school were very nearly all paid. This remarkable financial success was due to the generous weekly offerings of the people, and to the many fundraising events held by various parish organizations.

 

There was to be no resting on past laurels. Many of the parents were pressuring the pastor to start a high school. Shortly, a fundraising drive was under way for that project. In September 1954, a start was made on the high school, with a ninth grade being added and another grade each succeeding year. The ninth and tenth grade children attended classes in the old school building on Grand River while the high school was being constructed.

 

In 1957, forty-four seniors graduated in the first class from Our Lady of Sorrows High School. Over 1,400 would graduate in it’s history.

 

By 1960, the high school was developing and becoming quite active and successful in many fields. Its students were soon recognized for their ability in forensics. The first students were inducted into the National Honor Society. Athletics formed an important part in our high school activities and various teams soon made their presence known in the Catholic League.

 

In 1967, the schools were flourishing both in numbers and in activities. This was especially true of the high school students, who were winning awards in speech tournaments, writing contests, and science fairs. 

In the November elections of 1970, a very important issue was “The Parochaid Bill.” Those groups who maintained private schools, principally Lutheran and Catholic, had great hopes that some assistance be given them or, at least, some tax relief afforded. However, this bill was emphatically voted down. The defeat of the Parochaid Bill was a terrific blow to our educational process, for the cost of education was skyrocketing. This resulted in the Archdiocese placing definite restrictions on the amount to be spent on a parish school. Where there was a grade school, a limit of forty percent of the parish revenue could be used for a school subsidy. Where there was also a high school, an extra fifteen percent could be used for a school subsidy. Of course, to operate a high school on an extra fifteen percent was totally impossible. 

In spite of many attempts by devoted parents to find sufficient sources of revenue, no solution was deemed acceptable; the decision was made by the Parish Council and the School Board to close the high school in June, 1971. 

This was a very keen disappointment not only for the school children and their families, but also for all those people who had, for many years, willingly sacrificed to maintain the schools. However, those sacrifices were not in vain, for during the time of its existence, over fourteen hundred students had the advantage of being able to attend a Catholic high school. 

 

The Parish School Board and the Parish Council then took under consideration retaining the ninth grade, and turning the high school facilities into a junior high. This would make it possible to increase the enrollment of all grades and to accept additional students from neighboring parishes. The plan worked out very well. In September of 1971, school opened with a full house in both the grade and junior high schools. 

 

In August of 1990, Msgr. Walter Hurley became the seventh pastor of our parish. Msgr. Hurley created a capital development campaign to renovate and rebuild the various parish buildings. The old gym was torn down, and a new building, the Family Center, was put up in September 1999. It included a chapel, new gym, meeting rooms, pre-school and kindergarten rooms. The school was also updated and a connector was added between the two sections of the school, allowing the building to function as one. A free-standing sculpture of Jesus playing with children was added in front of the school.

Our Lady of Sorrows continues the legacy of the Adrian Dominican Sisters who began educating students in the original school in the ways of faith, knowledge, and community. Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School works to continue and complement the work of the family, the parish, and the surrounding social environment - all of which contribute to the total education of the child.