St. Thomas Aquinas History

The first meeting of St. Thomas parishioners was held October 1, 1940 in the Spartan Room of the Union Building on the campus of Michigan Agricultural College.  Rev. Cecil Winters celebrated the first Mass in the State Theatre on Abbot Road.  
 
 Fr. Jerome MacEachin was appointed to St. Thomas Aquinas in May, 1943.  Fr. Mac, as he was fondly known, saw the need to expand the parish.  In 1948 property was purchased on Alton Road.  A school was opened in September 1949 with ninety-five students in six grades.  Fr. Mac oversaw the building of a convent, school additions including a gym that served as the temporary church, the present church and the rectory.
 
The present church was dedicated in 1968.  At the time of its dedication the church contained the largest faceted glass window in North America.
 
The Catholic Student Center and St. John Student Parish was erected in 1956-57.  The student parish separated from St. Thomas Aquinas in 1957. The parish population grew from 80 families in 1940 to over 2200 in 1983.   Our current registered households is approximately 3400.  The parish school attendance grew from 96 in 1949 to the maximum of 800 in 1964. Our current school serves students from pre-school through 8th grade with a capacity of 400 students.

  In February of 2011 a  Capital campaign was begun to update the school building, add additional classroom space and more functional space for the parish as a whole. A brand new preschool wing was added on in 2019 offering full and half day classes for 3 and 4 year old children.