How Catholic immigrants built America
This is the fourth article in a series.
by Therese Horvat
Special to The Leaven
SLOVENIAN
Holy Family Parish, Kansas City, Kansas
The determination and boldness of Kansas City’s early Slovenian settlers made a lasting impression on Frank Simonich, parishioner of Holy Family Parish in Kansas City, Kansas.
In the 1890s, 30 Slovenian men and women left their homeland in Carniola, part of the Austrian empire. They came to the Midwest for jobs in meatpacking plants and on the railroad.
Along with other ethnic groups, they settled in the shacks of “The Patch” in the Kaw River bottoms. The 1903 flood uprooted the immigrants, who then sought higher ground on the river bluff where strawberries grew — eventually known as “Strawberry Hill.”
For many years, the Slovenians lacked a parish and a church and felt treated as a minority. Annually, a Slovenian priest came from a settlement in Frontenac, giving immigrants the opportunity to fulfill their Easter obligations.
Simonich’s maternal grandfather, George Veselich, was among the group of five men who led efforts to build a Slovenian parish. However, the bishop said they were too few and too poor to maintain a parish.
With a mission in mind, the maverick leaders formed a corporation to build the church and school. The first Holy Family Church was a bungalow with an extension added for the school, meeting room and social center. The Sisters of St. Francis of Christ the King came from Slovenia to staff the school. In 1910, the parish affiliated with the then-Diocese of Leavenworth.
Recruiting a Slovenian priest proved challenging, but the group was undeterred; they began buying lots for future use.
From 1916 onward, pastoral leadership stabilized. On Christmas Eve 1927, the bell pealed over the new brick church that stands today at 6th and Orchard.
In 1944, Father Heliodore Mejak became pastor. Of Slovenian descent on his father’s side, Father Mejak (later named a monsignor) wasn’t fluent in Slovenian, but he appreciated the culture and traditions. Under his leadership, a new school and social hall were built. He led the parish for 63 years until his death at age 98 in 2007. He was believed to have been the oldest active pastor in the United States at the time.
An annual Slovenefest celebrates the culture with food, music and dance. In 2017, Holy Family welcomed Burmese immigrants into the parish — a new community in search of a faith home.
