Our Lady Queen of Martyrs celebrates 50 years

The 50th anniversary of the parish concluded with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Dewane on Oct. 10.

BOB REDDY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC VENICE BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 10.23.09

BOB REDDY | FC
Bishop Frank J. Dewane and Father Joseph Connoly, TOR, are joined by Jean Gwaltney, one of the original parishioners of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish in Sarasota following the closing Mass celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the parish on Oct. 10. Gwaltney,90, served as the organist for 32 years and now runs the bingo.

SARASOTA | For 50 years Jean Gwaltney has been attending Mass at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish in southern Manatee County. She remembers when the first parish was established in 1959 and reflects fondly at how it has grown from humble beginnings.

“It was exciting building a new parish,” said Gwaltney, who is 90 and runs the parish bingo game. “It was a lot of work, but it was a labor of love.”

She served as the parish organist for 32 years and has remained active throughout. She remembers the first Mass on Oct. 11, 1959, at the Holiday Inn North shortly after Archbishop Joseph P. Hurley of St. Augustine established the new parish. The official record notes there were 258 people there, but Gwaltney said there were fewer than that.

“It was OK, because we quickly grew and had to move the Mass to accommodate our growth,” she said. Today the parish is flourishing with more than 2,100 families and is in its second church building.

The 50th anniversary of the parish concluded with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Dewane on Oct. 10 and concelebrated by Third Order Franciscan Fathers Joseph Connolly, pastor, and John Mark Klaus, parochial vicar.

Bishop Dewane noted that a parish is much more than its physical structures, but its people and what they have given to the community. He also noted that Pope Benedict XVI said a parish serves as a beacon which radiates the light of faith and responds to the meaning of our hearts.

Father Connolly, who has been pastor since 1996, said the parish has touched many lives throughout the years and was “blessed to be a place which recognizes the Real Presence.”

Following the closing Mass, a dinner reception was held at the Palm Aire Country Club.

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