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

Joe and Leah Tekavec

Joe and Leah Tekavec's roots in Globeville ran deep. Joe Tekavec was born in 1906 to parents who emigrated from Slovenia, then part of Austria-Hungary. The family lived on Elgin Place in a Slovenian enclave on Globeville’s north side, attending Holy Rosary Church and events at the Western Slavonic Association [WSA]. 
Leah Jacoby was born in 1913 in the house her grandfather built on Lincoln Street on the south end of Globeville. The Jacobys were Volga Germans from Norka, Russia and attended the First German Congregational Church. The culture of those times dictated that Joe and Leah would spend most of their time with people from the same ethnic background, but somehow they met, fell in love and were married. Daughter Janet Tekavec Wagner mused, ”People didn’t attend each other’s church services in those days, so I guess I’ll never know how they met.”
The Tekavecs enjoyed a conventional lifestyle with Joe working as an auto mechanic and Leah as a homemaker, and straddled the ethnic cultural divide by attending religious services at the First German Congregational Church and participating in the social activities of the WSA. Joe served as the supervisor of the WSA’s young people's group for many years where son Jim and daughter Janet were enrolled.
When Interstates 25 and 70 carved up the neighborhood they loved, Joe and Leah decided to stay rather than move and joined the Globeville Civic Association to fight for the survival of their community. Leah became treasurer of the organization in 1961, a post she would hold for 17 years, and Joe served as president from 1970 to 1978, a time when Globeville was under attack by the city. 
Tekavecs arranged countless meetings in churches, lodges, and associations to organize neighbors in opposition to Denver's plan to turn Globeville into an industrial area. Tekavecs and the Civic Association then fought to get the neighborhood its fair share of city services, helped neighbors obtain funds to improve their homes and successfully fought the construction of rendering plants that would produce sickening smells in the area. The Tekavecs became familiar to city officials at public meetings. “They know me when they see me,” Joe said.* 
The Civic Association was also active in improving the quality of life for Globeville's seniors, creating a health clinic, community luncheons and activities in the former First German Congregational Church. Daughter Janet continued, “The Civic Association also sponsored kids’ softball teams and held lots of pancake breakfasts to pay for the uniforms.”
When Joe and Leah stepped down in 1978, the city had dropped its plans to industrialize the area, and the neighborhood had begun to recover and improve. Tekavecs would live to see the neighborhood they loved celebrate its centennial in 1988. Joe passed away in 1989 and Leah in 1991.

*Globeville Community Spirit Renewed to Combat Blight, Denver Post, July 29, 1978, pg 21

Leah and Joe Tekavec

House on Lincoln Street built by Leah's Grandfather

Joe, far left, with WSA's young people's group

John and Katherine Peketz

The story of John and Katherine Peketz is one of opportunity and upward mobility in America. An immigrant from Slovenia, John Peketz is listed as a laborer in the 1905 edition of the Denver city directory, but by 1911 he is recorded as working as a bartender at John Predovich's saloon. In 1915, Peketz opens his own tavern at 4511 Washington Street.
Before Prohibition (Colorado went dry in 1916, four years before the rest of the nation) immigrant saloons operated as banks, social clubs and clearinghouses for newcomers where a recent arrival could get a drink, a good meal, news from the Old Country, a place to stay, a loan, and advice concerning jobs and meeting other young and single people from home. Tavern owners like Peketz knew everyone and everything happening in Globeville.
By Globeville's standards Peketz was prosperous, owning his own home and operating a successful business, but he never forgot his humble beginnings. Peketz helped found the Western Slavonic Association (WSA), a fraternal organization that provided financial help to families in case of sickness or injury. Katherine Peketz then formed a women's branch of the association, Holy Rosary Lodge, Number 7, which focused on service to the community. Using their business and fraternal connections, the couple then worked to raise money to build Holy Rosary Church in 1919. Their lives and contributions can be remembered in two windows in the church that feature St. Catherine and St. John the Baptist.
Top photo: John and Katherine Peketz in their grocery store. After Colorado went dry in 1916, many former taverns became grocery stores. Photo used with written permission from Don Snider
Second photo: 4511 Washington, site of the Peketz Saloon
Third photo: Location of Western Slavonic Hall, today the McDonald's on Washington Street. Photo used with written permission from Joe Sadar
Bottom photo: Peketz windows in Holy Rosary Church.

Western Slavonic Association
Holy Rosary Church

Southern Slavs

Most of the Southern Slavs in Globeville were from Slovenia and Croatia but were citizens of the Austrian empire, which had absorbed their homelands, as well as those of Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia. They began arriving in the 1880s, attracted by political and religious freedom and by jobs in the Grant and the Globe Smelters.

Work in the smelters was hard and dangerous with men risking death or disability from extreme heat, toxic fumes and dust from heavy metals. To provide financial security for themselves and their families, Slavs formed fraternal societies or lodges that offered sick and death benefits while seeking to preserve the language, culture and heritage of the home country. The lodge was like a clubhouse where members felt at home and Globeville's residents had many choices: St. Jacob's Croatian Society, the American Fraternal Union, the Slovene National Benefit Society, the American Slovenian Catholic Union or the Western Slavonic Association (Zapadna Slovanska Zveza). Croatians met in St. Jacob's Hall, now the Sidewinder Tavern at 4485 Logan, and many of the Slovenian lodges held their activities at the Slovenian Home at 44th and Washington. Weddings, funerals, labor rallies, Catholic Mass and confession were held in the lodge halls until Holy Rosary Church was built. Members of the fraternal organizations petitioned Bishop Tihen for permission to build a church and then set about raising the funds. Holy Rosary was dedicated in July 1920 with Reverend Cyril Zupan as the first pastor. The church, convent and school received state historic designation in 1999.

Holy Rosary Church and convent about 1930. Photo June Jackson Egan

In 1919, Slovenian Societies hold a fund-raising bazaar 
outside the unfinished church. Photo Joseph Yelenick.

45th & Washington

For over a hundred years, the corner at 45th and Washington has been the place to go for an inexpensive meal and visit with friends. Today the site is home to a McDonalds Restaurant; in 1908, it was home to the Western Slavonic Lodge.

Slavs began arriving in Globeville in the 1880s seeking jobs in the Grant and Globe Smelters. Work in the smelters was hard and dangerous with extreme heat, dust, and exposure to toxic fumes. To provide financial security for themselves and their families, the Slavs formed Zapadna Slovanska Zveza, the Western Slavonic Association, a fraternal society that offered sick and death benefits for its members.

The organization sought to preserve the language, culture and heritage of the mother country, Slovenia. Here, the newcomer felt comfortable and welcome, speaking his native tongue, enjoying familiar ethnic dishes and socializing with others from the old country. Slavs could find information about jobs, places to stay and where to meet other single people from home. New arrivals were introduced to American customs, music, dress and slang and helped with the process of Americanization.

Slavs gradually assimilated into American life, moved up the economic ladder and away from the Globeville neighborhood. The Western Slavonic is now Western Fraternal Life and still offers annuities, insurance products and fraternal activities at its location at 11265 Decatur Street in Westminster. The land was sold to McDonalds in 1988.

http://wsalife.com