The community of St. Saviour has a wonderful story to tell about the birth of our parish. From humble beginnings, the success of our parish is founded upon the same thing that sustains us today--a cooperative spirit of our parishioners.

November, 1945
Reverend Joseph A. Dauwe was commissioned by Archbishop John T. McNicholas to found a Catholic parish in Rossmoyne, Ohio.

May, 1946
Eleven acres of farmland, with existing house and barn, were purchased for the site of the parish. This land was bounded by Kugler Mill Road to the north, Lake Avenue to the east, Myrtle Avenue to the south, and Plainfield Road to the west, with a 600 foot frontage on Plainfield.

August, 1946
This new Catholic parish in Rossmoyne was announced by the Most Reverend Archbishop McNicholas under the patronage of St. Saviour--"Saint", taken from the Latin word "Sanctus", means "Holy"--Our Holy Saviour. The parish feast is celebrated on August 6 each year--the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.

April 6, 1947
Fr. Dauwe offered two Easter Sunday Masses for the 100 families in and around Rossmoyne, Deer Park, and Blue Ash. An obsolete two-story draftsman barracks building from the Wright plant in Evendale served as the church.

After Labor Day, 1947
The St. Saviour School opened with 156 students and four Sisters of Charity as teachers. They met on the second floor of the barracks.

September 8, 1947
The first St. Saviour Festival was held. Grand prizes were a black and white television and a barrel of groceries contributed by parishioners. The net profit was $6,000.

October 10, 1950
The new school building was dedicated by Archbishop Karl Alter. Eight rooms quickly proved to be inadequate-- 75 children were in the first grade room that year--so building additions followed.

Fall, 1955
A new convent, capable of accommodating 20 sisters, was opened on parish property adjacent to the school. (Until 1955, the Sisters of Charity were housed in a series of temporary residences.)

Christmas Day, 1958
Fr. Dauwe celebrated Solemn Midnight Mass in the new basement church. (The small barracks church could no longer accommodate the growing parish, so a permanent church building was planned, with its basement an immediate necessity as a temporary church.)

November 22, 1962 (Thanksgiving Day)
The first Mass in the completed superstructure of the new church was celebrated.

March, 1963
In conjunction with the new church, a new Rectory was completed. The renovated farmhouse, which had served as the Rectory, was burned by the Rossmoyne Fire Department as a training exercise.

April 28, 1963
Archbishop Karl J. Alter dedicated the new church. It now served the spiritual needs of 1500 families with six Sunday Masses (accommodating 1000 parishioners at each Mass). Enrollment in the school had continued to swell to a peak of 1457 students. It was now necessary to use all 30 classrooms in the school building, plus up to eight classrooms in the old barracks. The parish school employed 15 Sisters of Charity and 15 Lay teachers to instruct nearly 1500 children.

Fall, 1972
Fr. Dauwe retired because of failing health. He died on June 30, 1973. Fr. Gerard Evers was appointed to succeed Fr. Dauwe.

1982
Renovation of the convent building into parish office and meeting space began, it was no longer needed as a residence for the Sisters of Charity. The convent Chapel was enlarged to be used for daily Mass.

1984
The original barracks used for the first church and school was no longer needed, so it was razed.

1985
Another original building on the property, the "Barn" (which had served many purposes over the years) was razed following the completion of the present storage building.

February, 1985
Fr. Evers retired to St. Matthias. Fr. Ray Meyer was appointed to succeed Fr. Evers in March, 1985.

March, 1988
Fr. Robert W. Goebel was appointed pastor of St. Saviour.

Spring, 1993
A liturgical design specialist was contacted about possible church renovation ideas, stemming from changes in worship from Vatican II, U.S. Bishops directives, and a need for refurbishment.

Late 1994
The church renovation began, and in 1995 the celebration of Mass was moved to the undercroft while the renovation work was being done.

October 25, 1995
Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk dedicated our beautiful new worship space.

December, 1998
A proposal was made to build a shrine in celebration of the Jubilee and the new Millennium. The decision was made to build a shrine to the Holy Family and dedicate it in the year 2000.

July, 2000
Fr. Robert Goebel completes his tenure at St. Saviour. Fr. Patrick Crone is appointed to succeed him.

September, 2000
Realizing that St. Saviour Grade School had dropped to just above 100 students and also realizing that the demographics of the area was showing a continuing decrease in the number of students in the area, St. Saviour Education Commission launched a program to promote our school and try to get back students that used to be part of St. Saviour School . This included a mailing to all of the people in the area, planned newspaper articles and ads, addition of Kindergarten for the 2001-2002 school year, discount in tuition for new students, etc. It did raise the enrollment but only by a few students.

Lent, 2001
Started the yearly celebration of the Sacrament of the Sick at all of the Masses on a weekend.

June, 2001
St. Saviour called a meeting of the neighboring Catholic School Principals and Pastors to talk about how we could work together to provided an excellent and affordable Catholic School Education to the children in our area realizing the number of Catholic students was decreasing rapidly in our area. None of them were interested in merging or working together, but were willing to accept our children if we closed.

September, 2001
The Education Commission put a new emphasis on our PSR (Parish School of Religion) for parishioners in public schools. The PSR office was moved from a closet to a classroom converted into an office with necessary equipment on the second floor of the School building. There was a emphasis on having our teachers take the courses necessary to be certified Catechist, and most have completed at least the first level of certification.

October, 2001
The Education and Finance Commission after a lot of study and work, recommended to the Pastoral Council that St. Saviour Grade School close in June, 2002 and we start working with the neighboring schools to make sure our students would be able to get into the school they wanted. A group of Parishioners were present at this meeting and ask that the Pastoral Council give them a year to see if they could improve attendance. They agreed to stay open for another year to give this group of parents, "Here We Grow Again" Committee time to try.

October, 2001
Representatives of the "Here We Grow Again" Committee and staff met with representatives from the Archdiocesan Education Office and we worked out Benchmarks that we were to meet by certain dates to keep the school open.

October, 2001
The Parish expanded the ministry of the Bereavement Committee.

March, 2002
The Parish commits to support the Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen by paying for the cost of two meals a month ($300.00).

Spring, 2002
St. Saviour launched a special program for the senior members of our parish fifty and older, the "Young At Heart Seniors." They have been very active with an average of over fifty members at their monthly events and First Friday, meeting with Coffee and Donuts after the 8:00am Mass.

April, 2002
The Pastoral Council, realizing that we had not met the Benchmarks agreed to with the Archdiocese, made the decision to stay open for only one more year and close in June, 2003. There were so many people who registered their children in other schools for 2002-03 school year, we did not have enough students to keep the school open another year and the decision was made to close in June, 2002.

The Parish worked with the neighboring Catholic Schools to make sure that all of our Parishioners were able to get into a Catholic School and the Parish agreed to pay the difference in tuition for our Parishioners in those schools.

June, 2002
St. Saviour School closes due to declining enrollment.

Summer, 2002
The parish started a Youth Ministry program directed at our high school students.

July-2002 - July, 2003
St. Michael, Sharonville, leased our school, Church Undercroft and time in Church and transplanted their school to St. Saviour Campus for one year while they made an addition to their Church and remodeled part of their school.

July, 2002
The Parish begins sending birthday cards to our Parishioners 80 years old and over.

October, 2002
Started a monthly Prayer Group for men on the First Thursday of the month 7:00pm - 8:30pm.

Spring, 2003
A decision was made to rename the school to St. Saviour Education Center since the building's main role would not be as a school but now serving many different areas of education.

August, 2003
St. Saviour Parish entered into a three year lease with Trinity School for the use of the first floor of the Education Center. Trinity School is a private school that works with academically challenged children. The second floor and part of the third floor of the Education Center will be used for PSR Classes, PSR Office, parish meeting rooms and parish storage.

Summer, 2003
The Social Action Commission votes to twin with Churches Active in Northside (C.A.I.N.) by supporting them with food drives and volunteering at their food pantry.

Fall, 2003
A new group, "The Mixers" was formed in the Parish to develop programs just for fun for our Parishioners over twenty-one. Over eighty people came to first event, "Evening in the Park."

Fall, 2003
Remodeling was done in Fr. Dauwe Hall which relocated the secretary's office to a new and larger space, created a waiting area, added a handicap accessible restroom, updated the entrance area, and installed new carpeting on the first floor.

April, 2004
Pastoral Council approved setting up an emergency fund of $7,500.00 to be used by the Deer Park/Silverton Fire Department and the Sycamore Township Fire Department for urgent needs such as walkers, shoes, medical supplies, etc.

April, 2004
Pastoral Council approved a payment of $700.00 to the Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen to cover the cost of running the air conditioning in the dining area during the summer months.

May, 2004
Parishioner Joseph Kindel was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati on May 22, 2004 at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral. Fr. Kindel celebrated his first Mass at St. Saviour Church on May 23, 2004 at 11:00 am with a reception following.

May, 2004
St. Saviour donated $1,559.94 to Deer Park High School to be used toward replacing the sound system in the high school gymnasium.

June, 2004
An area of church dedicated to remembering all of the people buried from our church was created. This Remembrance Area is distinguished by a plaque and includes a Book of Life, listing the names of the deceased, plus vigil lights and a stand.

June, 2004
A landscaping design for the entire campus was developed. The first phase included the area on the Kugler Mill hillside and the area by the main parking lot. Also, a bench was added by the side entrance to church. The remaining phases will be completed as funds become available.

July, 2004
Trinity School leases two additional rooms in the Education Center.

July, 2004
St. Saviour begins collecting wheelchairs, walkers, canes, etc. to be loaned to those who need them.

March, 2005
A Parish mission, sponsored by St. Saviour, St. Vincent Ferrer, and St. John Deer Park, with each parish hosting one night with a reception following.

May, 2005
Eight Parking Spaces for the Handicapped added in front of Church.

May, 2005
The Social Action Commission adopted a Pro-Life Program to provide moral and financial support for pregnant parishioners.

May, 2005
St. Saviour Parish received the Circle Award from Churches Active in Northside (C.A.I.N.) for supporting them through our food collections, Christmas Giving Tree and Christmas in July, monthly financial support, and hours of volunteering in the pantry.

June, 2005
Phillip Revekant is hired as Music Director to replace Kim Zang who had served the Parish for nine and one-half years.

September, 2005
Trinity School leases a third room in the Education Center on the second floor.

February, 2006
Pastoral Minister Linda Smith expands her area of pastoral ministry, and Jenny Daniels takes on more of the secretarial work in the Parish Office.

April, 2006
A Parish Mission with St. John the Evangelist is held from April 2 - 6, with talks from Fr. James Bok.

April/May, 2006
A pictorial directory is taken for our upcoming 60th Anniversary of the parish.

May, 2006
The baseball diamond is graded to be used as a football/soccer field. The tractor and drag are donated to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Reading.

May, 2006
The roof over the hallway connecting the church and recorty is replaced.

May, 2006
A special outreach project, run jointly with St. John the Evangelist, is held for the orphanages in Guatemala.

June, 2006
Parishioner Arleene Keller is appointed to the Trinity School Board.

June, 2006
A new organ is purchased for the church, a Rodgers Trillium T957.

June, 2006
Trinity School leases a fourth room in the Education Center; they are now using half of the Education Center, with the other half being used by our Parish School of Religion (PSR) classes.

July, 2006
Region Eleven with St. John the Evangelist is officially formed. pLanning is taking place for the time when the two parishes will share on priest. Adult Education, Outreach, Parish Mission, Vacation Bible School, and Penance Services are some of the joing projects already taking place.

July, 2006
Vacation Bible School is offered as a joint project with St. John the Evangelist. It runs from July 24 - 27, 2006.

August, 2006
Jim Balbach is hired as Music Director.

September, 2006
Our Sixtieth Anniversary begins with the 60th Fall Festival.

October, 2006
Matthew Kelly, an internationally known speaker, leads a one day Mission at St. Saviour.

November, 2006
Rolled Copper Gutters are installed on the Rectory and the Church.

January, 2007
Region Eleven sponsors the program "Getting the Most Out of the Old Testament" with Fr. Tim Schehr.

January, 2007
A Grief Support Group, formed by Region Eleven, meets once a month at St. Saviour Parish.

February, 2007
A Parish Mission, held with St. John the Evangelist, is held from February 26 - 28, with talks by Fr. John Ferone, S. J.

March, 2007
A new piano is purchased for the church, a Kawai RX-3.

March, 2007
The steam table was removed from the Undercroft and donated to Deer Park Schools.

April, 2007
A storage closet is constructed in the Church Undercroft to store seasonal decorations for Church.

August, 2007
Bishop Daniel Conlon returns to St. Saviour Church to celebrate Mass as we complete our year long commemoration of the Parish's 60th Anniversary.

We have matured as a parish and have seen many changes over the last 61 years. We come from many backgrounds to utilize our God-given talents for the welfare of our parish. We continue to celebrate the spirit of cooperation--which has sustained us throughout our history and which is an undying testament to our faith.