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Celebrate the Memories!
Celebrate the Memories!
St. Alphonsus Alumni and friends met on Aug. 7, 2022 at the church for 11:00 mass followed by a gathering under the overhang at the school to share memories and renew old friendships.
Click here for Channel 4 Coverage of the Event
St. Alphonsus School Buildings
St. Alphonsus School Buildings
“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens;….A time to tear down, and a time to build….A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
As we recall the verses from Ecclesiastes, the time has now come to say goodbye to our school buildings. Their original purpose is done. They have served well and have a rich history that is to be celebrated.
Since the beginnings in 1846, St. Alphonsus Schools have educated countless thousands through the grade school, high school and religious education programs. There were 78 graduating classes from the high school, over 7,000 graduates from 1926 through 2003. Alumni have spread throughout the world, carrying the influence of their Catholic education far and wide. While we mourn the passing of the buildings, we celebrate the memories of the good times had inside these walls.
Although the buildings will soon be torn down, the property is not being sold. Plans are underway for some additional parking for the church, and a beautiful landscaped green space with trees, various shrines, memorials, and outdoor stations of the cross. Some architectural details from the buildings will be saved to incorporate into the landscaping. For the first time ever, our beautiful church will be visible from Warren Ave.
Unfortunately, since the buildings have been vacant for over 10 years, they are no longer safe to allow anyone inside for tours. Pictures may be taken outside around the buildings.
(Posted July 23, 2022)
St. Alphonsus Library - January 2024
Fr. Anthony Kote-Witah celebrated mass at St. Alphonsus-St. Clement for the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God on December. 31 and January 1. He enthusiastically expressed his gratitude for the support from the parish for the orphanage he is building in his home village of Ogoni in Nigeria. The orphanage will house the homeless and orphans who are victims of crisis, war, and natural disasters. Last year the parish donated approximately 9,000 books rescued from the school library before the buildings were demolished. The books arrived in Nigeria in November 2023, and recently ground was broken to start construction of the orphanage. The Ogoni Shepard Foundation is a nonprofit organization created by Fr. Anthony for the purpose of building the orphanage.
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A story about the books from our library was recently featured on WDIV Ch. 4's website. Click HERE to read the story.
To learn more about Fr. Anthony and his orphanage project visit:
theogonishepherdfoundation.org
To read an article at Detroit Catholic about Fr. Anthony and his plans for the orphanage and library click HERE.
St. Alphonsus Library - October 2023
On October 22, 2023 the books from the St. Alphonsus library were unloaded at their final destination at the village of Ogoni in Nigeria.
A story about the books from our library was recently featured on WDIV Ch. 4's website. Click HERE to read the story.
This completes the journey that began over a year ago. The books were discovered in October 2022, packed in boxes in a storage room in the activities building of the school, along with quite a few textbooks that were left behind by the charter school. It was estimated that there were over 200 boxes containing over 9,000 books. A new home for the books was sought before they were lost in the demolition of the school buildings. Fr. Anthony Kote-Witah, one of the Capuchin priests who had been assisting at our Sunday Masses was collecting book donations to establish a library at an orphanage he is building in his homeland in Nigeria. After arrangements were made to donate the library books, they were moved out of the school to Fr. Yagley Hall for temporary storage. Over the past few months, volunteers helped wrap the boxes in plastic for shipment. Thanks go out to members of the parish, alumni and Knights of Columbus for their help with this project.
St. Alphonsus Library - March 2023
Did you know that the Capuchins supported St. Alphonsus over 100 years ago with their assistance during the parish’s early development? Our gratitude for their service was as strong then as it is today. If you attend mass on Sunday, you are sure to meet one of these priests. Having them here at St. Alphonsus - St. Clement has presented a unique opportunity to get to know more about them and their work.
One of the priests who has recently come to celebrate mass with us is Fr. Anthony Kote-Witah. According to a recent article published in the Detroit Catholic by Janet Sugameli Biono, before Fr. Anthony became a priest, he was an activist that spoke out against the injustices happening in his homeland of Nigeria. When it became dangerous for him to remain in Nigeria, due to his activism, he escaped. After spending time in a refugee camp, he entered the Capuchins first becoming a brother and later a priest. The article also states that, “Although today, there is less fear for activists who speak out, disease, infection and death continue to result from the already polluted farmland, crops and rivers. Families have been torn apart from the devastation.”
Today, Fr. Anthony’s vision is to build an orphanage and library for the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta subregion of southern Nigeria. He desperately wants to make education an option for these children and the local adults. Since the area was colonized by the British, most people speak and read English, so books and textbooks will be valued. This is where we can give back and assist Fr. Anthony with his cause. We have books! Lots of them!
During the initial inspections of the school buildings, in preparation for the demolition, library books were not found. The library was completely empty, and it was assumed that the books had been disposed of years ago. Later in the fall, a closed and unlit storage room near the gym was opened and found to be stacked to the ceiling with boxes. The boxes contained books from the library and loose stacks of textbooks left behind by the charter school. Efforts to donate the books locally were unsuccessful until Fr. Gebre Boyine, another Capuchin, mentioned Fr. Anthony’s vision.
He immediately put us in touch with Fr. Anthony who had been accepting the donation of small boxes of books for the planned library at the orphanage. Fr. Anthony visited the parish to inspect the books and was overwhelmed, immediately agreeing to take all the books and textbooks. Soon after that, parish volunteers, alumni, and the Knights of Columbus helped load the books and move them out of the school to a safe temporary storage location. The next step in the process is to transport the books to Chicago for shipment overseas. To accomplish this task, donations and assistance are being accepted.
The project’s fundraising arm is known as the Ken Saro-Wiwa Memorial Foundation, named after an Ogoni human rights activist who was killed in 1995. The project is currently in the fundraising stage, with plans to start construction soon on nearly twenty acres of donated land in the town of Bane. It is important to note that Fr. Anthony intends to name the library the St. Alphonsus Library, continuing the incredible legacy of 160 years of education in Dearborn.
theogonishepherdfoundation.org
To read an article at Detroit Catholic about Fr. Anthony and his plans for the orphanage and library click HERE.
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