World War II brought people to East Hartford from all over New England to seek employment at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft. The immense influx of workers, combined with a wartime shortage of building materials, meant that the federal government had to step in to provide defense housing. Five hundred homes were built in the Laurel Park section of town. The development was named Mayberry Village after a local physician, Dr. Franklin H. Mayberry. The homes were located in the eastern portion of St. Rose parish and housed many Catholics. Wishing to save his new parishioners the drive to St. Rose church during this time of gasoline rationing, St. Rose’s pastor, Father Austin Munich, began to say Mass for this segment of his parish in the community building on Cannon Road. The first Mass was celebrated on December 25, 1944. The ministry continued for two decades. Finally, a mission church of St. Isaac Jogues was dedicated on May 2, 1964, by Archbishop Henry J. O’Brien. The new edifice, located on Laurel Park Heights in the spot where the Little Red School House had stood, became the first in New England to be constructed of precast “tilt up” concrete panels. Its design is a reflection of the simple rustic life and environment of the American frontier where St. Isaac Jogues carried on his missionary work in New York State. Some significant points of interest in the interior of the church include two large murals. One mural depicts the Old Testament scene of Abraham offering his son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. The other is a depiction of St. Isaac Jogues offering Mass with his hands badly mutilated by the tribe that had captured him. On the sanctuary wall is a large panel of Christ the Pantocrator (Teacher of the World and Renewer of All Things). The altar is a handcrafted piece of walnut. Anticipating a change in liturgical procedure, Father Munich had two altar stones within the altar table – one traditionally situated for when the Mass was said with the priest’s back to the congregation and the other for when the altar was moved forward, and the priest faced the congregation. Suspended in the center above the altar is a jeweled cross containing 88 gems, gifts of many early parishioners. St. Isaac Jogues attained full canonical status in 1965, the same year Father Munich died. In September, Father W. Vincent Cronin became pastor, and the development of the parish proceeded rapidly. The parish marked the 20th anniversary of the church’s dedication on May 6, 1984. Father Emilio Padelli became pastor in 1990. St. Isaac was a close knit community and parishioners were active in men’s and women’s clubs as well as social action endeavors. A cannon Road apartment complex was refurbished as the new rectory. The Father W. Vincent Cronin Parish Center was built between the church and the rectory and allowed parishioners to enter the hall without going outdoors. In 2004, St. Isaac Jogues was joined to St. Mary’s and St. Rose churches as the Catholic Communities of East Hartford North. As the Spanish population at St. Rose continued to grow, a Spanish Mass was added to the church’s schedule. When the Cluster was dissolved on June 29, 2017, and the three churches became the North American Martyrs Parish, changes occurred in the Mass schedule. The Ghanaian Community, formerly located at St. Mary’s Church, had also been growing. To accommodate their numbers, the Ghanaian Mass was relocated to St. Isaac Jogues. The wartime spirit of enthusiasm that built St. Isaac Jogues continues to motivate the many salutary works characterizing this worship community. The continued growth of the Ghanaian Community and their desire to form their own “quasi parish” was realized on January 1, 2019 when St. Isaac Jogues Church separated from the North American Martyrs Parish and became the St. Isaac Jogues Ghanaian Catholic Quasi Parish.
