OLV School History
Please note: Most of this version of
the School History is taken from the
Parish History of OLV.
Our Lady of Victory Church was
organized on September 10, 1906 as a mission of St. Edward
parish. Rev. Martin M. Lennartz CS (Viatorian) cared for the
small Catholic community, and celebrated Mass in a hall on
Milwaukee Avenue, on the southeast corner of Lawrence
Avenue. On August 18, 1906, a "Lawn Social" for the benefit
of the new Catholic church in Jefferson Park" was held on
the lawn of the J.S Dietchert home. At that time, there were
wooden sidewalks, wooden block streets, and streetcars which
operated to Lawrence and Milwaukee Avenues only in the
summertime. The Milwaukee streetcar going South went to
Armitage. The people then transferred to a cable car which
took them to the loop by means of the Washington Street
tunnel. The cable cars were identical to those used in San
Francisco today.
Horse drawn carriages and surreys
with the fringe on top could be seen on the streets. Every
now and then a horse would run away and frighten the
pedestrians. Occasionally, the hook and ladder fire engine,
drawn by horses, would go clanging their bells down the old
plank road.
It was an area of wide open
prairies, stretching westward from Laramie Avenue. Wild
strawberries and violets covered the fields. Some of the old
timers remember the creek that ran along Windsor Avenue
where many a youngster went swimming. Alongside this creek
was a railroad spur, a supply line to the State Hospital at Narrangansett.
Some parishioners speak of the cornfield on the site of
the Wilson Park play field, of the apple trees on the East
side of Milwaukee Avenue between Montrose and Agatite, and
of Silverman's pond near 4900 Sunnyside Avenue. Others
recall the red painted Dickenson Inn at the bend on
Milwaukee Avenue near Warner (Lincoln slept there, so the
story goes), the horse and chicken barn on the church
grounds, and the three foot high black iron rail circling
the parish grounds.
In 1907 a cottage at 4741 North Linder Avenue was acquired
for use as a church. During the Eucharistic celebration in
this frame structure, the men occupied one side of the room
and the women the other. In 1907 the congregation numbered
about 25 families.
The parish boundaries extended from Mayfair (Cicero
Avenue) on the East to the Des Plaines river on the West,
and from Belmont Avenue on the South to Higgins Avenue.
Elizabeth Massmann was instrumental in organizing the
Catholics of the district, and she solicited donations for
the new church from shopkeepers along Milwaukee and
Lawrence. Her fondness for a Catholic Church in Ohio named
Our Lady of Victory, promoted her to request that the new
parish be named "Our Lady of Victory."
The earliest pastors who served the young
community of OLV were Rev. Martin M. Lennartz, CSV, from 1906-1908,
and Rev. Edward M. Mullaly, 1908-1909.
On Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1909, Rev. Francis
Cichozki, former assistant at the German parish of St.
Joseph in Wilmette, began his tenure of 41 years as pastor
of Our Lady of Victory.
In March 1910, 20 lots at the present parish site were
purchased, and construction began on a combination
church-school building. The cornerstone was laid on May 22,
1910. This three story structure, located at 4444 Laramie,
was dedicated on May 28, 1911, by Archbishop James E.
Quigley.
The New World commented that:
"The development of Our Lady of Victory parish has been
phenomenal. Only a few years ago the place where the church
is now situated, as well as the surrounding territory, was
nothing but farm land and pasture. Today beautiful
residences and modern flat buildings are in evidence
everywhere ... many of the Catholic families of the inner
city, who are anxious to get away from the smoke and
congestion and who wish to give their children a beautiful
home, near a parochial school and church are locating in the
new parish. The Milwaukee Avenue car line cuts diagonally
through the entire section in which Our Lady of Victory
parish is located. The church property is at 52nd [Laramie]
and Sunnyside Avenues, only one block West of Milwaukee
Avenue."
The School Sisters of St. Francis from Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, opened the parish school in the fall of 1911; and
The New World reported that nearly 200 children were
enrolled.
Father Frank bought an old farm house which stood on
Milwaukee Avenue near Agatite. It was moved across Milwaukee
Avenue at night because the trolley wires had to be cut. The
building became the Rectory and is presently known as the
"Club House."
n 1919, the O.L.V. school was
enlarged by the addition of three bungalows which were
erected on Sunnyside Avenue. A 1925 Catholic directory
listed Our Lady of Victory as a "German and English" parish.
In that year, 706 children were enrolled in the school.
Plans for a new convent and church were drawn up by the
architectural firm of E. Brielmaier & Sons, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. The firm also designed the rectory, which was
built at 5212 W. Agatite Avenue. On April 27, 1927, ground
was broken for the new structures on Agatite Avenue. The
Sister's convent at 5240 W. Agatite Avenue was completed on
Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1927. Mass was celebrated in
the substructure of the church on Palm Sunday, April 1,
1928. On May 12, 1929, Cardinal Mundelein dedicated this
portion of the church.
In 1934, Father Frank Cichozki celebrated the 25th
anniversary of his appointment as pastor. During the 1940s,
he directed the modernization of the parish plant. The
modernization, which included the south wing of the school
building,was completed in 1949, at 4434 N. Laramie Avenue,
at a cost of $300,000.
At the time of Father Cichozki's death on March 5, 1950,
Our Lady of Victory parish numbered 2,500 families with
approximately 1,100 children enrolled in the school.
Rev. Daniel J. Stokes, a former assistant at this parish,
served as pastor of O.L.V. until 1953. He was
succeeded by Rev. Henry Fitzgerald for the next five years.
On November 21, 1958, at the age of 60, Rt. Rev. Msgr.
Raymond J. Zock, former assistant at St. Casimir Church, was
named pastor. The parish debt totalled $800,000.
To better serve the 1,300 students who attended the
parish school, the pastor directed the construction of a
junior high school building on Laramie Avenue and Sunnyside
Avenue. The structure, with its six classrooms, gym, faculty
lounge, and science laboratory, was dedicated on December
15, 1964, by Albert Cardinal Meyer. The existing school
buildings were renovated to harmonize with the new addition,
and the total cost of these projects was $400,000. These
improvements increased the financial burden of the parish;
but, through the generosity of the parishioners and the
excellent leadership of Msgr. Zock, the parish debt was
liquidated by 1969.
As late as the 1970s, Our Lady of Victory parish served
more than 2,600 Catholic families who lived in the area
bounded by Lawrence Avenue on the North, Irving Park Road on
the South, Central Avenue on the West, and Cicero Avenue on
the East. Annual enrollment in the parish school regularly
numbered more than 800 children.
Among the fine priests who have served as
pastors at OLV and guided the spirutual development of OLV children
are Rev. Francis Nolan (1973-1978), Rev. John Kuzinskas (1979-1986),
Rev. Daniel McCarthy (1986-1998), and Rev. Philip Cyscon
(1999-2004).
The current pastor of OLV since 2004 is Rev.
Christopher Doering.
The Parish property continues to occupy 3 acres,
consisting of the church, the rectory, the convent, the
school building with 24 classrooms, the club house building,
and a parking area. The parish membership remains over 1,100
families.
Currently the OLV school enrollment is typically around 200 students,
grades Pre-K through 8.
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