Logan Parish's History Began With the Mountain Men

Friday, Mar. 10, 2017

In light of the fact that the Diocese of Salt Lake City is relatively young, dating only to 1891, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to see some of our parishes making milestone anniversaries and becoming venerable institutions. It was my privilege to participate personally in the centennial of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and the 50th anniversary of St. Joseph the Worker Parish. Now we have two more important anniversaries coming up: St. Thomas Aquinas Parish’s 75h in April and Sacred Heart’s centennial in July. Helping prepare for those will keep me busy over the next couple of months.

St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, in Hyde Park, has roots stretching back to the 19th century. There were Catholics in Cache Valley as far back as the 1820s as fur trappers worked the area. In fact, the name of the area comes from the fact that trappers would cache their pelts there before taking them to the annual fur trade rendezvous. Among those mountain men were Catholics like Etienne Provot, Thomas “Broken Hand” Fitzpatrick and Kit Carson. But they were only a temporary presence. Establishment of a permanent Catholic ministry had to wait for over a half century, and even then Logan was served as a mission first of Corinne, then of Ogden.

It was not until 1941 that a parish was created in Logan under the direction of two Dominican friars from San Francisco, Fathers Colin V. McEachen and Joseph Valine, the latter of whom would become the famous “donut priest” who ministered tirelessly in central and southern Utah.  The parish church at 45 East 500 North was funded in large part by the Catholic Church Extension Society and dedicated in 1942 to the great Dominican scholar and Doctor of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas.

In 1947 the Dominicans in Logan were relieved by Fr. (later Monsignor) Jerome C. Stoffel, fresh home from service as a chaplain in World War II. He would serve for the next 30 years, until 1977, a remarkable span of service for any priest in any parish.  

A considerable scholar of Utah and Mormon history, Msgr. Stoffel taught classes at Utah State University, hosted students in a Newman Center program at the parish, and became a very popular presenter of lectures illustrated by his collection of slides and films. In 1957 Msgr. Stoffel arranged to have the overcrowded parish moved to more spacious quarters at 795 North 800 East in what had been a private home, then the Sigma Nu fraternity. The chapel was named for Msgr. Stoffel’s patron, St. Jerome.

Fr. (later Monsignor) Robert Bussen succeeded Msgr. Stoffel in 1977 and made his own mark on the parish before leaving in 1986. For one thing, he realized that the parish was still growing quickly and would soon need to expand or relocate. He also responded to the parish’s burgeoning Spanish-speaking population and began scheduling regular Spanish Masses.

When Fr. Clarence Sandoval was named pastor in 1995, the need for a larger church had become an urgent problem, so he began a three-year fundraising program. He was helped in this by the fact that Msgr. Stoffel had had the foresight to invest in a property that had greatly increased in value. The sale of that property became the nest egg that made moving the parish possible, as did a generous anonymous donation. Ultimately, property was purchased at 725 South 250 East in the Logan suburb of Hyde Park, and a truly magnificent new church was constructed with a separate bell tower.

The history of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, then, is the story of a succession of creative clergy and committed congregations facing and successfully coping with a series of financial challenges and demographic shifts. Today it is one of our most vibrant parishes in one of our most beautiful parish churches.  

Happy anniversary to the people of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish!