May 27, 2010 NEW MONITOR
7
St. Joseph’s Oldest Parishioner Recounts Ties to Church
By: Joseph Cabadas
Detroit’s new automotive industry
was booming – the Ford Model T and
General Motors were less than three
years old while the city’s population
had grown to 465,000 people – when
Gladys Lepouttre was born on July
11, 1911, in the neighborhood around
Eastern Market.
The only child of Albert Rose
and his French-Canadian wife, Lena
(Beaudoin) Rose of Windsor, the
nearly 99-year-old Gladys recently
reconnected with St. Joseph Catholic
Church, 1828 Jay Street. Near the
intersection of Gratiot Avenue and
Orleans Street, St. Joseph’s parish is
where her parents were married back
in 1907 and where her first husband,
Leo Weinert, and oldest son, Larry
Weinert, went to school. A traditional,
historic German church featuring
Victorian Gothic Revival architecture
and extensive wood carvings on the
inside, it offers a traditional Latin
mass at 10:30 a.m. and an English
mass at noon on Sundays.
“I lived on Leland Street and it
was a nice neighborhood with a lot of
German and Italian people,” she said.
“My mother worked in the factory
during World War I. My father was
a machinist and came home awfully
dirty.”
One of the original dancers for the
Fox Theatre, Gladys was baptized at
nearby St. Elizabeth’s parish – and
then as her parents moved around
during the early 1910s and 1920s, she
attended several other churches, but
her life has been linked to St. Joseph’s
in many ways. “My parents were
married here back in 1907 – my father
grew up in this parish,” she said. “My
first husband (Leo Weinert) went to
school here and my children went to
school here so St. Joseph’s has been
a part of my family.”
SACRED
MUSIC
For over a century and a half, St.
Joseph Parish has provided one of the
most outstanding music programs in
the region.
The present church was dedicated
in 1873 with Heiligmesse (the Holy
Mass) of Franz Joseph Haydn, the
first performance of that work in
Michigan. St. Joseph’s music program
often performs classical works by
composers that can seldom if ever
be heard anywhere else. Most are not
available on recording, but some are
available for listening at saint-joseph-
detroit.org/Listen Gregorian Chant is
sung at all Latin Masses.
The highly praised choir is St.
Joseph Cappella and St. Joseph
Academy of Music musicians perform
four orchestral masses per year. The
choir performs regularly and is now
welcoming new members. Contact
Director of Music Michael Semaan
at (248) 250-6005.
Gladys Lepouttre (left) was born in
Detroit in 1911, nearly 99 years ago.
devotional meetings each Tuesday
and members take Holy Communion
to the homebound and perform other
spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
Meeting the second Sunday of each
month, the Holy Name Society is a
Catholic men’s organization whose
members devote their everyday duties
to God and their neighbor while
aiming to lead lives of manly virtue
and of good example, resounding to
the greater glory of God.
“I was married to Leo Weinert
for 45 years and he was the father
of my children,” Gladys said. “He
came from a family of seven boys. I
Photo by Jude Beres
met him at church when I was 15 or
16 and he had just graduated from St.
Joe’s. He wanted to go on for more
schooling after graduation, but didn’t
ST JOSEPH
have enough money.”
Instead, Leo Weinert got a job at
John Morrell & Co., a nationwide
meat packing company, where he PRAYER
worked out of an office on Gratiot,
not far from St. Joseph’s, starting St. Joseph, foster father of our
as an office boy and working his Lord Jesus Christ, and true spouse
Traditional weddings are the mainstay of St. Joseph’s parish, and have way up to sales person. “He was a of the Virgin Mary, pray for us.
changed little since Gladys’ mother was married here in 1907. wonderful man and a good Catholic
boy,” she said. “He died in 1977. I God our Father,
Founded in 1855, for a century opportunities from first grade up later remarried Maurice Lepouttre of
and a half, St. Joseph’s has been through high school. Today the Creator and Ruler of the universe, in
Belgium. He died in 1999 and I’m a
a Detroit cornerstone of faith and schools are gone, but the church every age you call man to develop
widow but I had good marriages. I
center of worship. Construction on has two active ministries for lay have five children, 17 grandchildren and use his gifts for the good of
others. With St. Joseph as our
the present church structure began parishioners including the Maria and 12 great-grand babies. Can you
in 1870 to replace a much smaller Liebesbund (Legion of Mary) and imagine that?” example and guide, help us to do
the work you have asked and come
wood frame building. The parish Holy Name Society of St. Joseph Now living at the Atria Shorehaven
also offered extensive educational Church. The Legion of Mary holds retirement community in Sterling to the rewards you have promised.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Heights, Michigan, Gladys has
reconnected with St. Joseph’s, the Christ, your Son, who lives and
parish that her family has had many reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
deep ties with, by going to mass one God, for ever and ever.
occasionally with her daughter and Amen.
son-in-law.
Corpus Christi “It is really a beautiful place here,”
she said.
St. Joseph grips the heart
of people He wants here ...
people come in, sometimes
Sunday IN ‘YOUR’ they cry; and they know it is a
place for them to be.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Mass at 10:30 a.m. HONOR Chris Gray,
long time parishioner
Latin Novus Ordo May we pray for you?
Featuring
It is a Catholic tradition to offer
a mass for the intention of someone,
YOU ARE
THE ST. JOSEPH CAPPELLA CHOIR
Mass in C by Baldassare Galuppi
a loved one, living or deceased. We
invite you to call us and make a Mass
INVITED
Request for yourself, someone you love
Lauda Sion - Carl Gottileb Reissiger or a special purpose or cause. When St. Joseph Church welcomes
Hoc Corpus - Johann Ernst Eberlin you call a date is set for your special you to worship God with us
mass. The person receives prayer and in our historic church.
St. Joseph Catholic Church their name appears in our bulletin that
Gratiot, across from the Eastern Market day. Call to make your mass request: MASS SCHEDULE
1828 Jay St., Detroit, MI 48207 Mollie Murphy (734) 355-7195. Sunday: 10:30 am Latin
(313) 831-6659
Noon English
St. JosephChurch
www.saint-joseph-detroit.org
Wednesday: 12:10 pm
Newcomers Welcome!
followed by a Novena to St. Joseph
1828 Jay St.
Gratiot across from Eastern Market Come visit us, and experience
(313) 831-6659 traditional worship in
www.saint-joseph-detroit.org magnificent surroundings.