The History of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish5. Our Pastors (Part 1)

Technically, our first pastor, from 1920 to 1923, was Fr. Francis Scherer, the pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians parish in Cheektowaga. However, he is rarely listed among our pastors and is not included in the memorial to prior pastors in the rear of the church.

Our first resident pastor was Fr. Edward L. Ott. He was appointed at age 34 and served 18 years, from 1923 to 1941. Father Ott built the parish during the 1920s and helped it survive the financial difficulties of the 1930s. In 1941, he was transferred to be pastor of Nativity of Our Lord parish in Orchard Park, where he served until his death in 1960 at age 71.

Fr. C. George Zimpfer was appointed to succeed Fr. Ott. Fr. Zimpfer served only four years, 1941-45. These were the years of World War II. Wartime brought high employment and good wages, and the parish finances improved considerably compared to the depression years of the 1930s.

Fr. Zimpfer began the practice of having the people participate in reciting parts of the Mass (in Latin) along with the priest. Fr. Zimpfer was a dedicated historian, who preserved and documented much of the early history of Sacred Heart. In 1945, Fr. (later Msgr.) Zimpfer was appointed pastor of Sts. Peter & Paul in Williamsville, where he served until retiring in 1973. He died in 1975 at age 78.

Fr. Earl J. Kleis served from 1945 until his untimely death in 1954 at age 53. During Fr. Kleis’ service, the school was reopened, and the statues of Our Lady of Fatima and of the Sacred

Heart were acquired. Following World War II, many people moved from Buffalo to the suburbs, and the parish grew rapidly. As described in last month’s article, this meant our original church was much too small; planning and fund-raising began for a new church. Fr. Kleis’ sudden death from a heart attack put that project on hold. Following Fr. Kleis’s death, the Diocese decided to create a new parish, and Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish was formed; about 40% of Sacred Heart’s parishioners were assigned to the new parish.

Fr. Francis J. Hall was appointed in 1954. He carried on the planning and fund raising for a new church, which was completed in 1959. The parish continued to grow. The split in 1954 reduced Sacred Heart from 390 to 237 families, but by 1962 it had doubled to 476 families. With the new church in place, attention turned to the need to replace the school, as demand exceeded the available space. Before this project could be carried out, Fr. Hall was reassigned in 1963 to be pastor of St. Bernard’s parish in Buffalo. In 1967 he was named pastor of St. Mary’s in Lancaster, where he served until his retirement in 1974. He died in 1997 at age 88.

Fr. Joseph Zeitz succeeded Fr. Hall in 1963. He carried on the planning for a new school, which opened in September 1965 with 200 students. A new garage and storage building was

also constructed, replacing an old barn, and an addition to the rear of the rectory provided space for the parish office. Another new parish was formed in 1965, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (now St. Martha’s) in Depew, causing some reduction in Sacred Heart’s population. Fr. Zeitz suffered from serious heart problems for several years, and he died in 1968 at age 56. He is the only one of our pastors who is buried in the parish cemetery.

To be continued next month….