Before St. John the Evangelist Parish

Folsom was the location of the first church in the area, which included Fair Oaks and Carmichael. Father John Ingoldsby offered the first mass there in 1851. As the parish grew, it soon became too large for one church, and Father Cronin was sent to Fair Oaks to open the “church on the hill” known as St. Mel. The boundaries stretched to Gunn Road in Carmichael. Carmichael, as well as the other towns, was growing fast and soon another division was necessary, and this required the creation of a new parish, Our Lady of the Assumption, in 1950.

In the beginning

The area’s population continued to grow, and Bishop Joseph McGucken appointed Father James Kenny to open another new parish in Carmichael, making the boundary line at Landis Ave. Thus, St. John the Evangelist was established in 1960. The church was in a store located in the Foothill Farm area. Father Kenny was motivated to become the first pastor by the promise of nuns from Ireland to arrive in the summer of 1961. The Sisters of Mercy came from their motherhouse, St. John’s Mercy Convent, Balloonaugh, Tralee, Ireland

The parish plant was designed by architects Satterlee and Tomich and built by Ed Riverman and Son at slightly under $200,000. The property sits on 10 acres located at Hackberry and Locust. The church was built facing Hackberry with two parallel four-classroom wings in the back. Glass mosaic tile, the design by Frank Margetich, was installed on the exterior wall of the church and along the two walls of the school facing the small courtyard.

About the same time, the telephone company moved its offices into Carmichael. Some of the employees became members of Father Kenny’s fundraising team. These people, as well as some of the local residents were responsible for the beginning of St. John the Evangelist. Tom Hole, Charles Mayer, Leo Marcotte, Frank Margetich were the team chairmen.

The school opened in September, 1961, with 300 students from first to sixth grade. The nuns had 55 or more students in each class, a mighty task to say the least. The Ladies of Tralee group was formed to assist and support the Sisters with whatever their needs were.

“There was nothing, and I mean nothing, when we started this parish,” said Father Kenny who was also quick to point out that the “nothing” had reference to a barren site and vacant lots, not to the people of the area nor to their faith in God and trust in themselves to bring forth both a parish community and a physical plant that is at once impressive in size and vibrant in spirit.

Father Kenny asked Esther Armstrong to form a woman’s group in the parish. She brought together 11 women. These women had already helped with the building of other churches in the area; Our Lady of the Assumption and St. Mel, changing parishes each time when the new boundaries were drawn. They formed the Women’s Council. Pat Green was the second president with Delores Eisner following for the third year. The most important task set before this group was helping the school. Gladys Sullivan was the Council’s coordinator for the school. The Women’s Council later became the Ladies Guild of St. John’s, which eventually disbanded in 2015 after many, many years of faithful service to the parish.

A men’s group was formed and re-started three different times and eventually became the Knights of Columbus. There are stories of George Plenert and his crew building the cabinets for the school, the two kitchens, and the restrooms; Father Kenny helping with the library; Rocco Mosca and Leo Marcott building the backstop for the baseball field and running the bingo program. The church festival was a prominent fundraiser for the church and was initiated in 1963-64. Bill Porter did the cooking on his roll-about stove. Many events were done by the men and proceeds turned over to the parish.

A new church

The plan was set to build a new church. After several years of planning by the parish staff and the near forty member building committee, the architectural firm of Barnum and Folsom was chosen. The general contractor was Harold J. Younger, Inc.

Father Declan O’Sullivan guided the building of the current church which was dedicated on February 15, 1987. He tried to play down the significance of the moment by stating:

The Tralee Center

Under the g uidance of Fr. John Lagomarsino, a community center was completed in April 2005. This large building houses a high-school regulation basketball court, a large commercial kitchen, and a fully equipped stage. The center was dedicated on March 13, 2005 and named in honor of the Sisters of Mercy who came from Tralee, Ireland, so long ago.
 

Fiftieth Anniversary

In October 2010 the parish celebrated fifty years of ministry in the greater Carmichael area. The celebration included a joy-filled outdoor Mass, a fun-filled picnic and a memorable dinner and dance.