St. John Vianney History
The following accounts are a brief resume of the beginning and more recent major events that make up our history.
In September of 1969, Father Robert Kline was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Willoughby with instructions to found a new parish in the northern sections of Willoughby and Mentor.
Father Kline selected the name Saint John Vianney because it is the only parish in the state with that name and his father, his brother and all his previous pastors were named John.
Our first “home” was the then new Lake Elementary School where we attended Mass and our children were taught religion by dedicated parishioners. The first parish Mass was held December 8, 1969 in the multi-purpose room of Lake Elementary School.
Early in 1970, two model homes were purchased on Lakeshore Boulevard, just west of Reynolds Road. One was to be the rectory, the other the Chapel and Administration Center.
A neighborhood Mass program was begun because for the first four months of our existence we had no chapel for daily Masses. Several liturgical firsts for our parish included:
Opening of the Administration Center Chapel on March 6, 1970;
Lay Distributors appointed on November 1, 1970;
First Parish Eucharistic Devotion, March 7, 1971.
