Part VII

The church at Saint Mark Parish, with accommodations for five classrooms was completed in 1916, and the following year, with an enrollment of 123 students, Saint Mark School opened. The parishioners welcomed the School Sisters of Saint Francis, who, having recently arrived from Slovakia, began to teach there. In that same year, 1917, the parishioners of SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish were able to secure a home for the Holy Family Sisters who staffed their school.

At Saint Francis de Sales, the growth and development of the parish was advancing so much that the old school was transformed into a Lyceum in 1917. These social centers provided a place where parishioners could gather informally, helping to build community. While this growth was a positive aspect of parish life in the area, some of the other parishes struggled with debt and had to make every effort to keep their buildings because of it.
In 1919, the Saint Mark Parish purchased property in Kennedy Township to use as a cemetery. A year later, in 1920, Father Cillo at Mother of Sorrows organized the first Memorial Day Parade for the area, recruiting nurses from Ohio Valley Hospital, local dignitaries, societies and citizens to march in the parade. Just a few years after, in 1922, Saint Mary Parish drew up plans for a new school and ground was broken in that same year. The pastor, Father William Jordan, was unable to oversee the project to completion because of his physical condition, and sailed to Europe to recover, but never regained his health. He died in Germany.

Another milestone in 1922 was the arrival of the Dominican Sisters from Saint Mary of the Springs, Columbus, Ohio, who replaced the Sisters of Charity at Saint Francis de Sales School. The first Superior of the Sisters at the school, Sister Agnes Fleury, suffered a fall that resulted in pneumonia, and died that same year.