THE HISTORY OF ST. ANTHONY’S CHURCH CODY WYOMING 1960-1970

THE HISTORY OF ST. ANTHONY’S CHURCH CODY WYOMING
1960-1970

The year 1960 marked an auspicious beginning of a decade of improvement for St. Anthony’s Church in Cody, Wyoming.

On January 3, 1960 the contract for building a rectory was awarded to the Corrigan Construction Company of Cody, Wyoming. John K. Monroe of Denver, Colorado, the architect who had drawn the plans for the new church also drew the plans for the rectory. This was the first actual rectory for the parish as in prior years the pastor, Rev. Francis T. Penny, had utilized the rear section of the old church on Sheridan Avenue as living quarters. This condition existed from 1944 until the end of 1960.

The total price for the new rectory was $73,577.70 with $2,500.00 additional allotted for any contingency. The rectory was built as an addition to the new church built in 1954. The rectory extended from the northwest corner of the church. The rectory has two offices and a waiting room in the front part of the wing directly connected to the church. Back of the office section there is a hall separating that part from the pastor’s bedroom and bath. There is also a spare bedroom and guest lavatory in this section. This part of the rectory has its own entrance. The rectory entrance opens on a hall to the right of which there is a large living room. Back of the living room there is a dining room and kitchen. Across the hall from the kitchen there is a utility room, equipped with an automatic washer and dryer. The utility room also has an electric mangle, a gift from the Penny family of Newton, Iowa. The room has spacious cabinets for storage purposes. With a hall dividing the back part of the house, there is a separate apartment for the housekeeper consisting of a large living room, bedroom and bath. An attached two-car garage with a ramp to the basement completes this area. The basement has five small bedrooms, a multiple bathroom, recreation room and several store and workrooms. This area of the rectory was designed primarily for the use of the summer priests who service Yellowstone National Park in the summer months. The new rectory was turned over to the parish and occupied on December 29, 1960. There was still a little inside work to be done and this was finished in the spring of 1961. New furnishings for the rectory amounted to $9,118.42, which was installed in the fall of 1960 and the spring of 1961. Furnishings from the old rectory were also used in the new rectory.

Due to the increased number of children attending catechism classes it was felt imperative that a large folding door be installed in the basement of the church to divide the room into two classrooms. This was done in April of 1962.

On May 13, 1962 a contract was let to Graham & Hill of Cody, Wyoming, to construct an asphalt parking lot just south of the church. The original contract called for an expenditure of $3,900.00. As the parking lot was laid out, it was felt necessary to enlarge it to include the rear basement entrance of the church. This was done by Graham & Hill at an additional cost of $600.00. This greatly relieved the car-parking problem that had plagued the church in previous years.

When the church was built in 1954 the sidewalks were constructed with a three-foot width. With the increase in the number of parishioners these sidewalks were inadequate, so on May 19, 1963, a meeting was held by the members of the church corporation to award a contract to Lawrence Kaimann of Cody, Wyoming, to widen the existing sidewalks by three feet and to construct new sidewalks to the parking lot and around the rear of the rectory. A patio was also added at this time just outside the rear south entrance to the rectory.

In January of 1964 St. Anthony’s Church made a contribution of $900.00 to St. Barbara’s Church, Powell, Wyoming, towards the purchase of a new Ford car for the use of the Sisters who teach catechism in Powell, Lovell, and Cody. This was done with the approval of all of the members of the corporation of St. Anthony’s Church.

In March of 1964 the Pawnee Supply of Cody, Wyoming, installed an automatic water sprinkler system for the lawns of the church and rectory. This entailed an expenditure of $2,500.00

For a number of years the church had been faced with an increasing need for space to teach the ever-growing number of children attending catechism classes. Room in the church was inadequate for all the classes so some of the classes were moved to private homes. To overcome this problem plans were drawn for a catechetical center to be built on the south end of the church property. John E. Toohey, an architect of Worland, Wyoming, was commissioned to do the work. The plans called for five classrooms, a lavatory for the boys and one for the girls, a boiler room, janitors closet, Sisters’ lounge with a private lavatory, office, and book storage room.

On April 30, 1968, the members of St. Anthony’s Corporation together with the members of the building committee of St. Anthony’s Church met in the basement of the church to consider bids for the new catechetical center. Present were His Excellency, Bishop Hubert M. Newell, D.D., Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas F. O’Reilly, V.G., was represented by his proxy, Rev. Francis T. Penny, Dean H. Pond, Sr., and members of the building committee: Dale Zeller, Joe McNulty, and Ray Mentock. Of the six bids submitted, Spiegelberg & Son of Cody, Wyoming, had the lowest bid with $109,350.00, which included mechanical work and electrical work, which were separate bids selected by the committee previously. The prime contractor included these bids in his contract. After considering the various bids the contract was awarded to Spiegelberg & Son.

The new St. Anthony’s Center was dedicated on Sunday, April 20, 1969. Prior to the dedication ceremonies Bishop Newell confirmed a class of 89 persons, including 8 adults. A crowd of more than 400 persons attended the dedication.

In October of 1969 a contract was given to the Pawnee Supply of Cody to install a water sprinkler system for the lawn at St. Anthony’s Center. As the fall of the year is a slow time in business for them they offered to deduct $200.00 from their original estimate and do the work for a total of $1,700.00. The lawn was seeded in the summer of 1970 and is in the process of growing.

The past decade has seen a growth in the church from 190 families in 1960 to 240 families in 1970. In that time there have been 355 baptisms, of which 43 were adult baptisms. There have been 90 marriages, 62 of which were mixed marriages. There were 70 deaths in the parish. 331 persons made their First Holy Communions and 274 persons were confirmed.

Rev. Francis T. Penny, Pastor.

Back to INDEX		THE HISTORY OF ST. ANTHONY’S CHURCH CODY WYOMING 1960-1970 The year 1960 marked an auspicious beginning of a decade of improvement for St. Anthony’s Church in Cody, Wyoming. On January 3, 1960 the contract for building a rectory was awarded to the Corrigan Construction Company of Cody, Wyoming. John K. Monroe of Denver, Colorado, the architect who had drawn the plans for the new church also drew the plans for the rectory. This was the first actual rectory for the parish as in prior years the pastor, Rev. Francis T. Penny, had utilized the rear section of the old church on Sheridan Avenue as living quarters. This condition existed from 1944 until the end of 1960. The total price for the new rectory was $73,577.70 with $2,500.00 additional allotted for any contingency. The rectory was built as an addition to the new church built in 1954. The rectory extended from the northwest corner of the church. The rectory has two offices and a waiting room in the front part of the wing directly connected to the church. Back of the office section there is a hall separating that part from the pastor’s bedroom and bath. There is also a spare bedroom and guest lavatory in this section. This part of the rectory has its own entrance. The rectory entrance opens on a hall to the right of which there is a large living room. Back of the living room there is a dining room and kitchen. Across the hall from the kitchen there is a utility room, equipped with an automatic washer and dryer. The utility room also has an electric mangle, a gift from the Penny family of Newton, Iowa. The room has spacious cabinets for storage purposes. With a hall dividing the back part of the house, there is a separate apartment for the housekeeper consisting of a large living room, bedroom and bath. An attached two-car garage with a ramp to the basement completes this area. The basement has five small bedrooms, a multiple bathroom, recreation room and several store and workrooms. This area of the rectory was designed primarily for the use of the summer priests who service Yellowstone National Park in the summer months. The new rectory was turned over to the parish and occupied on December 29, 1960. There was still a little inside work to be done and this was finished in the spring of 1961. New furnishings for the rectory amounted to $9,118.42, which was installed in the fall of 1960 and the spring of 1961. Furnishings from the old rectory were also used in the new rectory. Due to the increased number of children attending catechism classes it was felt imperative that a large folding door be installed in the basement of the church to divide the room into two classrooms. This was done in April of 1962. On May 13, 1962 a contract was let to Graham & Hill of Cody, Wyoming, to construct an asphalt parking lot just south of the church. The original contract called for an expenditure of $3,900.00. As the parking lot was laid out, it was felt necessary to enlarge it to include the rear basement entrance of the church. This was done by Graham & Hill at an additional cost of $600.00. This greatly relieved the car-parking problem that had plagued the church in previous years. When the church was built in 1954 the sidewalks were constructed with a three-foot width. With the increase in the number of parishioners these sidewalks were inadequate, so on May 19, 1963, a meeting was held by the members of the church corporation to award a contract to Lawrence Kaimann of Cody, Wyoming, to widen the existing sidewalks by three feet and to construct new sidewalks to the parking lot and around the rear of the rectory. A patio was also added at this time just outside the rear south entrance to the rectory. In January of 1964 St. Anthony’s Church made a contribution of $900.00 to St. Barbara’s Church, Powell, Wyoming, towards the purchase of a new Ford car for the use of the Sisters who teach catechism in Powell, Lovell, and Cody. This was done with the approval of all of the members of the corporation of St. Anthony’s Church. In March of 1964 the Pawnee Supply of Cody, Wyoming, installed an automatic water sprinkler system for the lawns of the church and rectory. This entailed an expenditure of $2,500.00 For a number of years the church had been faced with an increasing need for space to teach the ever-growing number of children attending catechism classes. Room in the church was inadequate for all the classes so some of the classes were moved to private homes. To overcome this problem plans were drawn for a catechetical center to be built on the south end of the church property. John E. Toohey, an architect of Worland, Wyoming, was commissioned to do the work. The plans called for five classrooms, a lavatory for the boys and one for the girls, a boiler room, janitors closet, Sisters’ lounge with a private lavatory, office, and book storage room. On April 30, 1968, the members of St. Anthony’s Corporation together with the members of the building committee of St. Anthony’s Church met in the basement of the church to consider bids for the new catechetical center. Present were His Excellency, Bishop Hubert M. Newell, D.D., Rt. Rev. Msgr. Thomas F. O’Reilly, V.G., was represented by his proxy, Rev. Francis T. Penny, Dean H. Pond, Sr., and members of the building committee: Dale Zeller, Joe McNulty, and Ray Mentock. Of the six bids submitted, Spiegelberg & Son of Cody, Wyoming, had the lowest bid with $109,350.00, which included mechanical work and electrical work, which were separate bids selected by the committee previously. The prime contractor included these bids in his contract. After considering the various bids the contract was awarded to Spiegelberg & Son. The new St. Anthony’s Center was dedicated on Sunday, April 20, 1969. Prior to the dedication ceremonies Bishop Newell confirmed a class of 89 persons, including 8 adults. A crowd of more than 400 persons attended the dedication. In October of 1969 a contract was given to the Pawnee Supply of Cody to install a water sprinkler system for the lawn at St. Anthony’s Center. As the fall of the year is a slow time in business for them they offered to deduct $200.00 from their original estimate and do the work for a total of $1,700.00. The lawn was seeded in the summer of 1970 and is in the process of growing. The past decade has seen a growth in the church from 190 families in 1960 to 240 families in 1970. In that time there have been 355 baptisms, of which 43 were adult baptisms. There have been 90 marriages, 62 of which were mixed marriages. There were 70 deaths in the parish. 331 persons made their First Holy Communions and 274 persons were confirmed. Rev. Francis T. Penny, Pastor. Back to Top