St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Ripon was created in 1874 when the pastor of St. Mary’s in Stockton gifted land for a new “mission” to the community.
St. Patrick’s remained a mission until 1946 when its status was elevated to that of a diocesan church.
The church has seen quite a lot of growth in its past years from adding new families to spreading out the property to accept more grave sites to St. John’s Cemetery where more than 3,000 have been laid to rest.
Lead groundsman Bob Freeseha has been on the job for more than 35 years. He has seen the foresight of Monsignor Cain at the diocesan level in buying more acreage over the years to provide for future expansion. The first three purchases came in five acre parcels followed by one of nine acres and the last of some 14 acres.
At the time of Vatican II it was ordered that all churches should bring their altars forward and that the priest must face his congregation. Since then the priest has faced his congregation while saying mass. It was also ordered that the priest would be saying mass in the native language of the country. The change was to be completed by the first Sunday in Advent in 1969. When Latin was prominent in the mass for church members, prayer books in English were a necessary item.
The parish house was built in 1947 and the church hall in 1952
Fr. Peter Carota has repeatedly asked his parishioners in recent years to help build a new church — an idea the bishop had countered. However, the money he had collected provided for a stately chapel built to the north of the cemetery that is open daily where parishioners can enjoy the quiet and meditate as long as they wish. It can be reached just off Carrolton Road.
Freeseha clearly remembers coming to work one morning years ago when he was scheduled to dig a grave for a child that had died. When he drove up he noticed the pastor, James Sweeney, had already begun the dig and was nearly finished and sweating from the effort. That was in 1981 when Fr. Sweeney was the only priest assigned to St. Patrick’s. Freeseha has worked under five priests during his tenure at the Highway 120 church.
He also noted the community response to the burial of three children that had burned to death in a house fire back in 1927 — all part of the Sandoval family. The grave had been fenced with wrought iron and a marble marker had been donated by Jack Deegan in later years. The children were aged from nine months to five years. St. Patrick’s historian, the late Elsie Alfieri dedicated herself to see that the children would be remembered properly. Ever present, her resting place is near the brick wall on the east side of the cemetery.
Another memorable addition to the church campus was a bell and crucifix in a courtyard between the parish house and the church hall. The bell was cast in the County of Aarau, Switzerland in 1969. The crucifix was carved from native California wood stock by Riponite Joe Beeler. The bell and crucifix along with a shrine that remembered Sister M. Veronica and erected by Jeff Steves. Sister Veronic was the aunt of the late Verner Wagner and of his eight brothers and sisters.
A granite memorial is also seen in the cemetery inscribed with the words of Jeremiah which reads: “In Memory of the Unborn — “Before I Formed you in the Womb, I Knew you, and Before You were Born, I Consecrated You.”
And for today, Arlene Riemersma is in the office to assist parishioners and answer the many questions that come about from the community.
