Our Historians

Information in this article is summarized from A History of Oregon's South Coast Vicariate, 1981, written and developed by Father Scott Vandehey, Pat Choate Pierce, Steve Greif and Memo Jasso, shown here in 1981. The book was written to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Holy Redeemer Parish. In the dedication , Father Scott said he got the idea for a book from Coquille pastor Father Karl Schray's invitation to the celebration of Coquille's 65th year as a parish.

Marshfield, Mercy Hospital and Holy Redeemer

In 1906, a new Catholic hospital was built on Sherman Avenue near Vermont and deeded to the Sisters of Mercy. Three Sisters of Mercy arrived on February 10, 1905 from Portland and took up residence. The building was a three-story structure with a basement and had 18 private rooms, two wards and six bathrooms. The third floor held the Sisters' living area and a chapel at the south end.

This picture was taken in 1910 from the top of Sherman Avenue. Mercy Hospital is on the right overlooking North Bend.

Local Catholics began to attend Mass in the small chapel on the third floor of the hospital. Father Donnelly would come from Marshfield by way of a launch which docked at the base of the hill below. In the summer of 1906, a resident chaplain, Father Daniel P. Curley, describes "a young, short,energetic Irish priest" was assigned to Mercy Hospital.

According to the parish history, "the current Holy Redeemer parish of North Bend dates from this time for, even though the Archbishop had not created a parish separate from the one in Marshfield, Father Curley seems to have performed as if he had."

In 1906, four lots on Sherman Avenue near Ohio Street were obtained to build a church there. Although it was expected that the construction of the new church would begin in 1907, plans were delayed for some unknown reason. In October 1907, Father Curley was transferred to a Portland parish, much to the dismay of his North Bend parishioners. By February 1908, however, Father Curley had returned to North Bend, saying that he had been unwell in Portland and homesick for North Bend.

In May 1909, the parish of North Bend was officially separated from St. Monica's in Marshfield. Although the Archbishop offered Father Curley the opportunity to be the pastor of St. Monica's, Father Curley rejected the offer, saying that he preferred to remain in North Bend, the "place that had become home to him". The Archbishop accepted his reply and organized a committee to begin the construction of a church for the North Bend parish. Father Curley's stay was not a long one, however, for he was again transferred to Portland in 1910.

In September of 1910, Father Francis J. Springer was assigned as permanent chaplain at Mercy Hospital. In 1913, Father Springer was replaced by Father Hugh J. McDevitt, who immediately started construction of a new church for the North Bend parish. It was situated just west of Mercy Hospital facing Sherman Avenue. It had been determined to call it the Holy Angel Church, but this was changed when an anonymous donor, working through the Catholic Extension Society of Chicago, offered $500 toward the construction of the new church if the congregation would name it Holy Redeemer Church.

The new Holy Redeemer Church was completed and dedicated in November 1914. It was connected to Mercy Hospital by a new sun room, a windowed area between the east end of the church and the hospital. In this view we are looking at the southern faces of the church on the left and the hospital on the right.

Records of Holy Redeemer Parish for 1914 show $4,138 in expenses for the new church.

The Sisters of Mercy and hospital patients attended Mass in the area to either side of the altar.

The Church was 66 feet long and 33 feet wide and could seat 250. Over the altar was a beautiful rose window four feet in diameter. This window today is over the entrance of the present Holy Redeemer Church.