Brief History of Our Lady of the Valley Church 1973 - 2023
Our history is rich with dedicated volunteers who started the parish, joined later, returned after many years, or just arrived a bit ago. Our story of the names, events and accomplishments at OLV for over Fifty Years would take volumes to record.
In the early 1970’s the OLV neighborhood was among the newer areas in northwest Phoenix. St. Jerome Parish needed to be divided to service the growing population. When Bishop Edward McCarthy established this parish on July 24, 1973, there was no church, no property, no permanent place to call home. Initially Mass was celebrated at Desert Foothills school; but Rev. James Kelly, Founding Pastor, aided by some parishioners, obtained a $500 starter loan to get the ball rolling.
On February 9, 1975, Bishop McCarthy visited OLV for the ground-breaking ceremonies. A funding appeal for help building the new church was launched March 17, 1975 to the 1100 parish families. The $350,000 goal was exceeded. The plans for the new complex were approved by the Diocesan Building Commission on March 18, 1975.
Construction began on June 1, 1975. The facility, upon completion, was met with pride and satisfaction for all who waited so long. Opening of the new facility took place the weekend of March 27/28, 1976 with approximately 3300 people in attendance. Our new church, Our Lady of the Valley, was dedicated and blessed on May 9th, 1976 with Most Reverend Edward A. McCarthy, Bishop of Phoenix officiating.
Our parish accomplishments have been many over the years; this is mainly due to the strong support, love and dedication our people have for their church, Our Lady of the Valley. We have also been blessed by our clergy and religious who, over the decades, helped make our church the vibrant parish family it is today.
We acknowledge that God is the Master Grower and we are God’s servants called to tend the growth. May God, who has begun this good work, bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus (c.f Phil 1:6).
50th Anniversary Year January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023
A planning committee was formed in late 2022 to identify our activities for the coming year. Early in 2023 we announced our 50th Anniversary Year with the installation of banners on our parking lot light poles. To raise funds to subsidize the cost of our Anniversary Dinner/Dance we sold 50th Anniversary Polo Shirts (black with a gold/white logo) and sponsored a 50/50 Raffle.
May 4 - Our Blessed Mother Mary was honored with A May Crowing followed by a beautiful Mass and Reception.
July 22, 4PM – OLV 50th Anniversary Mass at OLV followed by a Dinner/Dance at Hibner Hall. Our celebration included a video presentation of the past 50 years (video posted on this Website). Attending Founding Parishioners were introduced and they provided comments on their years at OLV. Dinner was catered and a DJ provided music.
July 29 / 30 – (All OLV Masses) - All Parishioner Celebration; Video Presentation; followed by a reception in the OLV Social Room.
August 15 – Feast of the Assumption – OLV Patronal Feast; Mass followed by an Ice Cream Social in the OLV Social Room.
The Anniversary Committee wanted our 50th Anniversary to be remembered as a special year so an enhancement project was identified. Our Chapel had been slated over the years for renovation, but limited progress had occurred. In October 2023 we started a Chapel Renovation Fund Drive. An anonymous donor provided a $15,000 Matching Fund Donation. Our total goal for the drive was $60,000. We met and exceeded our goal the weekend of November 5/6, 2023 (funds included parishioner donations, the $15,000 matching fund, the existing Chapel Reserved Fund and the ending bank balance from our OLV 50th Anniversary). Renovation plans began. The first Mass in our beautifully remodeled Chapel was held on Monday, June 17, 2024 at 9AM.
December 8 – An old-fashioned Potluck followed the 4PM Holy Day Mass for the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
December 31, 10AM Mass - closing of the OLV 50th Anniversary Year. ‘Baton’ was passed to St. Raphael for the beginning of their 50th Anniversary Year in 2024.
