Thanks for the Memories - Homecoming March 25, 2023

Today there are lots of ways to connect with people - web pages, blogs, Facebook, Instagram and many other platforms that will have morphed into something else by the time this entry is posted. But there is nothing like reminiscing with folks you haven't seen in a long time. Holy Rosary Parish contains 100 years of history, and it's amazing how many experiences are the same through different generations: First Communion, May Crowning, Confession, Lent, Holy Week and Easter. And there were priests and teachers who were fondly remembered: Father Kestel, Monsignor Judnic, Sister Mary Magdalene, Sister Mary Bernard and Mrs. Nancy Jackson.

Memories from March 25 have been recorded and can be heard on our YouTube Channel:

https://youtu.be/e3DaYSHHjwU

Holy Rosary students went on to successful lives and credit their experience in the parish as a factor.

Don't miss our next Homecoming on Saturday, October 7th, 2023 (start looking through those old photos)

Herman Brozovich and John Snyder are identified in this photo from the 1940s

Longtime Globeville activist, John Zapien

First Communion for cousins John and Abraham Velasquez with Father Kestel 

Mary Coxsey, Gloria Friedrich, John Velasquez and his son

  

Centennial Celebration of Holy Rosary Church

For the last several years, Holy Rosary Church has been planning a celebration of its 100 years in Globeville. There would be choirs singing in English, Spanish and Slovenian, a procession of the bible study, prayer, nocturnal adoration groups and Cursillos. Flowers would grace both the main and side altars. Afterward, there would be a reception with the ethnic foods of all the nationalities that call Holy Rosary home. We imagined Joe Sadar playing Slovenian and Croatian tunes on the accordion, and entertainment from the ballet folklorico mexico alegre. Photos, artifacts, and documents would describe the continuing story of the parish.

All our plans came to a halt in March 2020 with the arrival of the world wide epidemic. The virus threatened the flesh and bones of our parish as much as it did any human body. Many parishioners lost their jobs and contributions to Holy Rosary dropped. Just when it was needed most, the consolation of the group prayer and companionship was halted. Gradually some bright spots appeared.

At great sacrifice, Ana Galván de Tiscareño, livestreamed our Masses each day. Links to the Archdiocese on-line giving platform provided a financial life line. Parishioners reached out to each other through phone calls, cards and ZOOM meetings. The virus subsided enough for Archbishop Aquila to schedule our celebration on October 25, at 10:00 am. (Continuing restrictions dictated a limited number of attendees and names were drawn from those who submitted them - 150 in all).

Hymns were sung in English, Spanish and Slovenian, and a generous benefactor saw that masses of flowers adorned the altars. The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Aquila, Father Frank Garcia and former pastor, Father Felix Zemeño Martín. The ceremony was lovely and can be viewed on the Archdenstreaming site

As Covid returns, the parish will again have to limit attendance. Parishioners talk wistfully about next year and remember this bright spot in a very dark year. 

 

From the Perko family - Three Persons - One God 

 

 

 

 

Father Frank Garcia,  Archbishop Aquila,
altar servers and Father Felix Zermeño Martín

 

 

Flor Santizo - a beautiful resonant voice

 

Father Joseph Albert Meznar

"Dear family in Christ" the bulletin would begin. The following pages, sometimes as many as four two-sided sheets, would continue with the scripture readings for each day, Mass intentions, prayers for the sick (and those who cared for them), comments on Sunday's readings, and parish activities as diverse as bingo nights, the fall festival, parish breakfasts, bake, craft and rummage sales. Although the grade school had been closed in 1969, the building was used for religious education classes, receptions for First Communion and funerals and meetings of the ladies society, men's club and Knights of Columbus.

Father Meznar was particularly proud of his Slovenian heritage and was thrilled when Rich Eurich and the Preseren Glee Club from Pueblo would celebrate a Polka Mass during the month of October (to coincide with the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7th), followed by a breakfast of Klobase and Potica. Another expression of Slovenian culture was the Easter procession around the block, parishioners singing Zvelichar (Savior), with a strong man carrying the statue of the Risen Christ.   

Father Joseph Albert Meznar: was born in Denver on July 11, 1932. His father Joseph P. Meznar emigrated from Slovenia (then part of Austria-Hungary), worked as a bookkeeper at ASARCO's Globe Smelter and died in 1951. His mother Mary Rose Berce was born of Slovenian parents in Golden, and was a homemaker until 1951, going to work at the Denver Dry Goods for 29 years. She passed away in 1996.  Joseph Sr., and Mary Rose were married at Holy Rosary Church on May 7, 1928. Father Joseph and his brother Father Robert P. Meznar were both baptized and confirmed at Holy Rosary Church and graduated from Annunciation High School and St. Thomas Seminary. Father Joseph was ordained in 1958, Father Robert in 1960. Father Joseph served at Holy Rosary from 1982 until 2009,  overseeing a complete restoration and painting of the church in 1995, funded by the Western Slavonic Association and obtaining state historic designation for the church, convent and school in 1999 (5DV.349).  After struggling with many health issues, Father Joseph retired in November 2009 and passed away June 6, 2015.

Rich Eurich entertaining the crowd in 2006

Holy Rosary Parish

A mayor from Globeville

From the time he was 10 years old and accompanying his grandmother to pancake breakfasts at Holy Rosary Church, Isaac Solano has been saying that, one day, he would be mayor of Denver. Those who know him never doubted it.
Steadfastly pursuing that goal, Isaac distinguished himself at Denver's North High, founding the Ethics Club, joining the DPS student Board of Education and taking advantage of the school's mentors and advisors. A Gates Millennium Scholarship provided four years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Isaac graduating in the spring of 2013. This fall, Isaac will take another step toward his dream, beginning a Master's program in Political Science and Education at New York's Columbia University. 
But when people ask the future mayor where he's from, he confidently answers, "I'm from Globeville - do you know where that is?" Isaac has never forgotten. 

Raised by his grandparents, Bill and Stella Chacon, in their modest Globeville home, Isaac is proud of his neighborhood and wants Globeville residents to succeed as he has done, by dreaming big and working hard. Speaking to fifth graders at Garden Place Academy, the neighborhood school he once attended, Isaac hoped to present a world of possibilities outside of their neighborhood. During a summer break, Isaac ran a month-long College Boot Camp at his former middle school, convincing other inner-city kids that they could be the first member of their family to attend and succeed in college. 
For all his achievements, awards and accolades, Isaac gives thanks and credit to everyone who has helped and encouraged him. A party to celebrate his graduation from the University of Wisconsin included politicians, city officials, former teachers, advisors, mentors and people from Globeville - neighbors, his religious education teachers from Holy Rosary Church, relatives and childhood friends. 
To find all his individual accomplishments and awards, type "Isaac Solano" in your computer's browser. To find our future mayor, visit Globeville, where Isaac returns often and remains the same friendly, humble person Globeville folks remember.

Isaac's religious education teacher, Romelia Carrillo, 

Grandfather Bill Chacon, Isaac and Grandmother Stella Chacon.

A tree grows in Globeville

Griego: North High grad's College Boot Camp fires up kids