Sentimental Church Record Sunday: St. Michael Catholic Church, Old Town, Chicago - Rectory, 1948 and 2017

I superimposed a photo taken in front of the rectory doors of St. Michael Catholic Church in Old Town in Chicago in 1948 over two photos of that same entry taken in 2017.  Here is the result (click on the image to make it larger):

I was trying to match up the sight lines of the doors between the two photos (and working from memory, because I did not have the 1948 photo in hand), so I took separate photos in August 2017 of the rectory doors themselves and of the arch over them.  Below, I used the Microsoft Paint utility to piece the two photos together as best I could, to make the 2017 backdrop for the 1948 photo.

Here are the separate photos, of the arch...

...and of the doors (which now have windows, not there in 1948).  The window on the left says "Redemptorists," the order of priests who operate the parish, and the window on the right has the address, 1633 [Cleveland Avenue].

The couple in the photo that I superimposed is Gordon Merritt Parks (1916-2004) and his second wife, my first cousin once removed, Patricia "Pat" Pape Hunter (1923-1967).  This photo was taken on their wedding day, August 17, 1948.  They married in the rectory because it was Gordon's second marriage, the first ending in divorce.  Pat is the daughter of my great aunt Maria "Rhea" Gertrude C. Pape (1892-1977).  The photo was provided by Gordon and Pat's daughter, Debby.

Below is the entry in the marriage register index for Gordon and Pat (second from bottom; click on image to make it larger).

"Illinois, Chicago, Catholic Church Records, 1833-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-66BS-Y1J?cc=1452409&wc=M66P-TZ3%3A40204801%2C40671101 : 8 February 2017), St Michael Parish (Chicago: Cleveland Ave) > Marriage index 1866-1973 > image 88 of 135; Catholic Church parishes, Chicago Diocese, Chicago.

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.