St. Paschal Parish celebrates centennial

When Joe McIntyre was a student at St. Paschal Catholic School in Spokane Valley in the early 1960s, he couldn’t imagine he’d return in 2016 as part of a team that is remodeling the school.

“In some ways it’s weird taking out the bathrooms and the office,” McIntyre said, while taking a short break on Monday. “But I’m so happy the building is being used again.”

St. Paschal Parish celebrates its centennial this weekend, and as part of the two-day community celebration, visitors can get a peek at some of the classrooms that are being remodeled by West Valley School District. The church has entered a lease agreement with the school district, which is paying for the remodel and will use the classrooms for early childhood education.

St. Paschal School closed eight years ago because it lacked students. Gone were the days of families like McIntyre’s, which sent six brothers and one sister to the neighborhood Catholic school and church.

Elaine George, who volunteers for the centennial celebration committee, went to school at St. Paschal in the mid-1950s.

“It always felt like it was one big family,” George said. “For me and my family this was our social circle. When you went somewhere, you went with friends from church.”

She said some alumni may be surprised by the remodeling work, but she is excited to see the building come back to life.

“It was a little odd when they took out the office,” George said. “That’s where the paddle was. You didn’t want to get sent to the office.”

Though the congregation is smaller now at 150 families, it’s pulling out all the stops for the party this weekend: tours of the school, a silent auction, games, sports and music.

“It is a celebration for friends and alumni, parishioners and people who may become parishioners,” said Cindy Koker, chair of the centennial celebration and reunion committee. “We are looking forward to seeing everyone.”

St. Paschal is a sister parish to St. John Vianney, and the two share a priest. At a century old, it’s one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the area, said George, who’s done a lot of parish history research.

The school opened in 1940. It was the first Catholic school in Spokane Valley, and it is estimated it served more than 2,000 students.

The original church was in Parkwater, just north of Trent Avenue and Havana Street. The church on Park Road was built in 1954.

Charlotte Mangan, who’s also on the celebration committee, said the Rev. Charlie Skok may be at the celebration on Saturday.

“He is retired but still preaches sometimes. He’s so beloved,” Mangan said.

The centennial celebration group is rushing to get the last things done for the weekend, and so are the construction workers. McIntyre, who’s the lead carpenter for West Valley School District, said he’ll be at the celebration with some of his family.

As for the remodeling project, he said it’s on track. Since the building is transitioning to public school use, crucifixes in classrooms and hallways have been taken down and put in storage.

“That was the one thing I couldn’t get myself to do,” McIntyre said, laughing. “They couldn’t get me up there to take the crucifixes down.”