On April 28th, 1924 before he could lay down the blueprints for a new school on the Addison side of the street, Father Andrew Croke died after a short illness. After 30 years of laying the foundation of Saint Andrew Parish, he was called to heaven. He said the high standard by which the following pastors would be measured he looks down upon this very day witnessing every Mass in the church building. The stained of Saint Andrew the Apostle, is dedicated to Father Andrew Croke’s memory.
Saint Andrew went on without a pastor for 3 months following Fr. Croke’s passing. The new pastor would indeed have very large shoes to fill. That challenge was welcomed by Father David L. McDonald when he was selected by Archbishop George Mundelein in July of 1924.
Father McDonald was born and raised in Chicago and an alumnus of Holy Name Cathedral. After his ordination in 1900, he served at his home parish for 16 years. In 1916 he was transferred to Elmhurst where he built the first Catholic school in that area. He made Catholic education his life and was appointed as a member of the Archdiocesan school board.
Stained Glass Window Above Altar - North Side
What helped him first and foremost was a handsome bank account left by Father Croke. The only problem facing the building committee was the site on which the new school was to be built. They decided on the North side of Addison Avenue, across from the church where the old Saint Andrew church building had been moved. (Remember that the old church was moved across the street to build the new church which is where we worship today). A few properties on Addison Avenue would not sell their houses to the parish which caused delays in constructing the new school, but construction finally began in April 1925. The old church had to be dismantled for the construction to begin and in the end, only one apartment building on the Northwestern corner of Paulina and Addison streets refused to sell their property to the parish.
In 8 short months, the school was completed, a three-story building with 24 classrooms. At the time, it was one of the most modern and impressive schools in the city and was blessed by the auxiliary Bishop Edward F. Hoban on June 6, 1926. Sister Mary Rose was principal at the time and the enrollment of the school was 700 children for the new building.
The construction of the new school left father McDonald with an empty old school building on Hermitage and Addison. The building committee decided to remodel the old school’s first floor into a Chapel to ease the overcrowding in the church. At the same time, the 2nd floor was redesigned into a gymnasium. As the parish continued to grow in population, it meant that Saint Andrew needed a new convent to house more sisters. A new convent was built just West of the school in 1929.
Father McDonald didn’t want to slight the priests who served the parish, so he expanded the rectory to provide more office space and living quarters for new priests.
As much as he detested collections and raffles, father McDonald’s gave in to the demands of his associates who persuaded him to exercise this method in helping raise much needed revenue to offset the massive building campaign. It was Father McDonald who started the Saint Andrew carnival and he was one of the first pastors in the city to use weekly collection envelopes for all the parishioners.
In the short time that Father McDonald was at Saint Andrew, it was quite easy to mistake him as a foreman at a construction site rather than a parish pastor. As a reward for his wonderful deeds Cardinal Mundelein made Father McDonald a domestic prelate by Pius XI (making him a Monsignor) and was later appointed by the Cardinal to the Archdiocesan board of consultors. Too soon after his arrival, after serving for just six years, Saint Andrew was again saddened when now Monsignor David McDonald became ill and died at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN in July of 1930. In his honor, the stain glass window opposite Father Croke’s window in Saint Andrew church is dedicated in memory of Monsignor David L. McDonald’s memory.
Father David L. Mcdonald
