Holy Rosary Homecoming Saturday, March 25th, 2023

Since its dedication on July 4, 1920 Holy Rosary has nurtured its congregation and the Globeville neighborhood, generating lots of connections, memories and stories. Did you attend Holy Rosary Church? Or the school? Were your parents or grandparents married at Holy Rosary? Do you remember the sisters, priests or lay teachers who taught you? Are you a member of one of those families with eight or nine children who were connected to Holy Rosary? Or to those large numbers of cousins who called the parish home? Are you a current parishioner? Did your children attend religious education at Holy Rosary? Did you enjoy the many pancake breakfasts and visiting with folks? 

Those who attended the Holy Rosary Homecoming on October 2022 had a marvelous time and there will be another such event on Saturday, March 25th. 

We'll begin with Mass at 10:00 am in our historic church. The same statues, stations of the cross and the lighted rosary that inspired generations will bring back memories. Our exquisite stained glass windows cast reflections in the granite floor. After Mass, we'll gather in the school for refreshments (including Potica and pizzelles) and visiting with folks you haven't seen in awhile.

Gather those memories and photos and join us.
RSVP  maryloudesign@comcast.net
so we can have enough food!

the parish website  -  https://holyrosarydenver.com

our facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/HolyRosaryChurchDenver

The church has an accessible ramp in the front and the school has one on the south side.

Holy Rosary Homecoming - October 8, 2022

You don't have to be a current parishioner (although you are always welcome) - you just have to love Holy Rosary. Were your grandparents married here? Was anyone in your family baptized here? Did any of your family attend school or church at Holy Rosary? Sing in the choir? Act in a school play? Attend religious education classes? What teachers do you remember? Did you go to the church bazaar? Enjoy our monthly pancake breakfasts?

Join us on Saturday, October 8th for Homecoming!

We'll begin with Mass at 10:00 am, and then convene in the cafeteria to share coffee, pastry and memories. Bring your photos, scrapbooks, notebooks, recipes, posters, and stories. (You might even discover a distant relative).

There will be a video set up in the small classroom near the cafeteria where you can share a memory of your family, a favorite teacher or what Holy Rosary meant to you.

RSVP maryloudesign@comcast.net

So we can have enough food!

Row 1: Irene Horvat, Anna Mae Canjar, Mary Jane Grande, Monsignor Judnic, Fernand Cain,
Dorothy Gilmour, Dorothy Meyer, Margaret Kucler.
Row 2: Lucille Franks, Joseph Pavlakovich, Albert Angerer, Harold Nothaft,
Stephen Shinall, Joseph Yelenick, Steffie Okoren. 

Teacher Mrs. Nancy Jackson and husband Bob Jackson

Father John A. Canjar

Humble circumstances, an immigrant community and a faith-filled family provided the environment that nurtured Father John Canjar. Born June 24, 1921 in Globeville, the sixth of 10 children of a Croatian immigrant, Frank Canjar and his wife Mary (Boytz) Canjar, John Canjar attended Holy Rosary Grade School, Annunciation High School, and St. Thomas Seminary in Denver. Father Canjar was ordained on June 4, 1949 and served at Holy Ghost, Holy Family, St. John's in Stoneham, Sacred Heart in Cheyenne Wells, Holy Rosary, Cure d' Ars, St. Vincent de Paul and St. Mark's parishes.

Father Canjar would succeed Monsignor Judnic at Holy Rosary in 1959, a time of turmoil in both the church and in the neighborhood. January 1959 signaled the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, which introduced sweeping changes in liturgy, lay participation, interaction with other Christian denominations, and involvement in social issues. In a parish where the Mass had been said in Latin, and the homily delivered in both Slovenian and English, the changes were viewed as monumental.

There were also big changes in the neighborhood. The Stapleton Public Housing brought "outsiders," Mexicans and Blacks, into the tightly-knit community - they were not welcome. But Father Canjar reached out to the newcomers, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. ”Father Canjar felt that when people asked for help, we needed to respond,” said Jerry and Janet Wagner. The Wagners owned a small grocery, and, with cash donated by Father Canjar, began making up food baskets for Christmas. “Depending on the size of the family, there would be a couple of chickens, potatoes, beans or a sack of flour, enough to make a meal.” Father Canjar was also active in anti-poverty programs and was elected to the North Denver Action Center, a part of the Model Cities program.

The construction of I-25 and I-70 during the 1950s and 60s displaced many parishioners and businesses and demoralized the neighborhood. Another blow to the community was the record-breaking Platte River Flood of 1965, but Father Canjar worked tirelessly to clean and repair the parish buildings afterward.

Father Canjar retired from active ministry June 9, 1996 after 47 years of service. He moved to the Gardens at St. Elizabeth's where his sister Mary also lived, and then to Mullen Home, facing many physical challenges with courage and grace.  Father Canjar passed away November 20, 2014 and is buried at Mt. Olivet. He is survived by sister Lucille (James) Stanaway, sister-in-law Mary (Leo) Canjar and numerous nieces and nephews, and was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Frank, Ray and Leo; sisters Helen, Mary, Catherine, Florence and Margaret.

John Canjar is the tallest young man (with glasses) in the back row.

1937 graduating class from Holy Rosary

Father John Canjar, 1969

Father John Obituary 

Anticipating Christmas

There was a time before door-buster sales, Black Friday, Gray Thursday, Christmas in July, 24-hour advertising, piped-in carols, gift catalogs and decorations that appear in the fall. Despite the lack of constant reminders, the days leading up to Christmas in Globeville (and in America before World War II) were filled with hope and anticipation.
For months, women would set aside a little in their food budget to afford the walnuts, honey, raisins, and poppyseed to make potica, kolache, kuchen, blini or the other ethnic treats that reminded immigrants of home. Obtaining oplatek, a wafer impressed with religious scenes and eaten before Wigilia, (the Christmas dinner) required a conversation with the pastor of St. Joseph's Polish Church or a request (well ahead of time) from a relative in Poland. Baking family favorites was a day-long event that involved helpful children and the telling of family stories in the process.
And there were choir practices, play rehearsals and special scripture readings during Advent.  Traditions from Eastern Europe, such as setting an extra table setting for an unexpected visitor or to remember someone who died, were preserved. Hymns, legends and symbols from the Old Country were maintained in church services and lodge events.
Children from large immigrant families didn't expect a lot of toys, and were likely to receive practical things like socks, sweaters, or shoes. Ed Wargin longed for a bike, but got a donkey because the animal could transport building supplies for Ed's father, and June Jackson remembers the delight of receiving the doll her older sister Helen had outgrown. Many old timers fondly recall the sack of hard candy distributed at church, probably donated by grocers Carl Gerhardt or John Yelenick. And a Christmas tree was a genuine treat, maybe purchased at Bomareto's, fresh, fragrant and decorated with strings of popcorn, lights, glass ornaments and tinsel.
Our current preparations for Christmas seem to involve the non-stop activities of shopping, wrapping, eating, attending multiple gatherings, texting and posting. Yet there are many of us who miss the richness and flavor of those earlier times.
Here's wishing you some memories of a simpler time as we await the birth of Jesus.

Potica or Povitica

Kolache

Oplatek

Blini

Nicknames in Globeville

Globeville was (and is) like a small town where everyone knew everyone else, a familiarity evident in the many nicknames given to people.
Joseph Yelenick remembered, "Everyone down here had a nickname. There were 'Buck' and 'Beans' Oletski, 'Dutch' Maier, 'Alias' Stefanski, 'Stash' (Stash is Polish for Stanley) Slovenski, 'Butch' Lunka, 'Too-tall' Vuksinich, 'Hawk-eye' Evanitich (because he couldn’t see very well), and 'Goose-eye' McGahan (because he was a great shot). Andy Jackson was 'Stonewall Jackson' because he had a military posture. There was a kid who played football in Wyoming that had such a long last name that they just called him 'Joe Alphabet'. There was 'Oogie' Ungehire, Johnny 'Chink' Horvat, and 'Butch' and 'Moose' Horvat."
Larry Summers added. "Cocky Spomer was a little fellow and that’s why they called him 'Cocky'. John Dreith was called 'Peggy' because he had a bad leg and Harold Schaffer was called 'Shugs'”.
 "Gas-pipe" Joe Grabrian was a plumber and "lead-pipe John" Predovich managed the Polish Hall. John Wysowatcky was known as "Smitty" and Father Jarzynski as "Father Jar." 
The nicknames were good-natured and well-meaning fun in a tight-knit community.


Top photo, John "Smitty" Wysowatcky
Bottom photo, Andy "Stonewall" Jackson