The Pastorate of Msgr. Edward Moran

Fr. Moran needed a larger church, but had ina-
dequate land and funds to build the 1,500-seat church
that the parish population demanded. Providentially, on
February 1, 1952 a Federal antitrust suit against several
of the largest of the Hollywood filmmakers required
them to get out of the business of theatre ownership.
This fact, combined with the impact of television upon
movie attendance, resulted in the availability of the
Loew's Woodside movie theatre, which had opened in
September 1926. A fund-raising drive under the direc-
tion of chairman Eugene Cavanagh exceeded its goals.
Thus, in March of 1952 Fr. Moran was able for
$250,000 to purchase the theatre, which then required
another $422,000 in renovations, a total probably one-
half the price of building an equivalent church from
scratch. Several store fronts were also acquired to create
the daily Mass chapel. The architect for the conversion
project was William J. Boegel, and the church designer
was Harold W. Rambusch. Douglas Persich designed the
chapel. The church was dedicated on October 23, 1955
at the 11:00 A.M. Mass, with Bishop Thomas Molloy
presiding. The new church was said to be the first air-
conditioned church in the Brooklyn Diocese and to have
the longest center aisle of any Catholic Church in
Queens.

Parish societies continued to flourish. In 1950,
the Holy Name Society reached out to the youth of the
parish with the establishment of the Junior Holy Name
Society under Fr. James Me Inenly, assisted by Ed Fow-
ley. The year 1950 also saw the creation of the Catholic
Youth Organization (CYO), with Ed Fowley as the
chairman and Jimmy Scalfaro as the coach of the first
boys' basketball team. Other "first team" coaches in sub-
sequent years were: Frank Kehoe, Sr. (baseball), Bill
Strack (boys' track), Ann Me Court (girls' track), Marty
O'Kane (boys' swimming), Helen Coyne (girls' swim-
ming), lan Gillespie (soccer), and Jeanne Connelly
(cheerleading). The St. Vincent de Paul Society, caring
for the immediate needs of the parish's poor, was headed
by Joe Bostwick. The parish organist for many years
was Mrs. Rita Kaljian.

Meanwhile, the parish school enrollment reached
a peak in the late 1950's: 1,292 students filled the
school. Sister Mary Justa, S.C.H., the principal then,
was assisted by 20 Sisters and 5 lay teachers.
 

The fund-raising campaign for the new church
had exceeded the goal and left the parish with a surplus.
The old church was torn down in 1956, and a house was
purchased as a residence in anticipation of the arrival of
religious Brothers who would teach in a projected parish
high school. Circumstances were to ordain otherwise.
Archbishop Molloy's death in 1957 occasioned the divi-
sion of the Diocese of Brooklyn to create the new Dio-
cese of Rockville Centre from the counties of Nassau
and Suffolk. With the arrival of Archbishop Bryan J. Me
Entegart came a major diocesan effort to build a number
of Catholic high schools. The idea of a strictly parish
high school was no longer in favor. By the time of
Monsignor Moran's death from cancer on February 7,
1962, a new need had surfaced: that of a Parish Center.

Fr. Moran had been made a monsignor within a
short time of his death. He was widely mourned, not
only by the parish, but also by the community of St.
Francis College in Brooklyn, of which he had been a
great benefactor. The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Richard B. Me
Hugh, the pastor of St. Joseph's Church in Astoria, was
the celebrant, assisted by the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph P.
Wiest, V.F., the pastor of St. Augustine's Church in
Brooklyn, and the Rev. Thomas Dunnigan, the pastor of
St. Clare's Church in Rosedale, as deacon and
subdeacon, respectively. The Rev. John H. Walker,
Kings CYO director, was the master of ceremonies, and
the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas F. Little, executive secretary
of the National Legion of Decency, was the eulogist.
More than 100 priests attended, including 21 monsignori
and 3 auxiliary bishops. Bishop McEntegart gave the
final absolution.