SAINT GEORGE CATHOLIC CHURCH

6707 West 175th Street, Tinley Park, IL  60477  – Phone:  708-532-2243

History

The parish’s first Mass was celebrated on September 9, 1934, by its Pastor, Father C. C. Boyle, in a structure that originally housed a public school.  The first church was located only a few blocks from the present site at 17240 South 67th Court and served the people of Saint George until the “new” church’s first Mass on Christmas Day, 1953.

The late 1930s, World War II, and the post-war era brought significant change to Tinley Park and Saint George Parish.  By the late 1940s, it was clear that the number of families served by the parish would soon require a school.  The Pastor, Father Lawrence Fitzpatrick, enlisted the help of the entire Saint George community in his effort to build a school in spite of the extremely tight financial position of the rapidly expanding parish. An abandoned Civilian Conservation Corps building in Thornton Woods was acquired.  The men of the parish dismantled and hauled the usable building materials, creating a four-room structure, Saint George School.  Classes commenced on September 7, 1949, with eighty pupils in six grades.  A fitting tribute to the vision of these early parishioners, this structure remains in use some fifty years later as part of today’s school.

Shortly after the school opened, Father O’Connell led the effort to build the sanctuary that opened on Christmas Day, 1953.  With it, the move to the present location was completed. The school would require several additions over the years.  The most recent major construction projects, included the expansion of the church and the addition of the Parish Life Center.  These were dedicated in 1997.  The Parish Life Center was dedicated in Father Cahill’s honor in 2003.

A number of faithful priests have served the people of Saint George as pastor.  Father Boyle served until his death in 1941.  He was replaced for just one year by Father Edward D. Malloy.  Father Lawrence W. Fitzpatrick was pastor from 1942 to the end of 1949.  On January 20, 1950, Father Thomas D. O’Connell became Pastor, a position he held until his retirement in 1975.  Father Nicholas J. Crosby was named the fifth Pastor of Saint George.  Upon Father Crosby’s death in 1988, Father Donald C. Cahill became Pastor until his death in 2002.  After Father Christopher Doering served for one year as Administrator, Father Kenneth Fleck was called to become Pastor in 2003.  Father Kenneth Fleck retired in 2020 and Saint George welcomed the current pastor, Father Paul Seaman on July 1, 2020.

All of the Pastors have faced challenges in attempting to serve the people of God in an ever-changing world.  From Father Boyle’s time down to the present, Saint George has been blessed with good priests who have had the parish’s best interests at heart.