Remembering Monsignor Peet（英文）

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Historical March 1995 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.

This is a time of reminiscences for those of us at the Times. Our impending 25th anniversary has caused some reflection already in these pages.

It therefore seems more than fitting to take another look at a man who did so much for our neighborhood from 1962 to 1981.

I never knew Msgr. Peet but I have heard a great deal about him since I moved to Skinker DeBaliviere in 1989.

In order to write about him, I spoke with George and Rose Storey, his very good friends, and with others who remembered him.

I also consulted articles already in print. George told me that there wouldn’t be anyone who would say a bad word about Father Peet and I certainly could not prove him wrong. Msgr. Peet arrived at St. Roch’s in May of 1962, just before significant racial transition occurred.

After integration began, many white families fled Skinker DeBaliviere to homes in more distant locations. Msgr. Peet led the fight to stabilize the neighborhood and preserve it as a place where black and white families could live.

To do this, he made the parish the heart of the community. Meetings, parties, all kinds of events took place in the church hall.

He did not save his ministrations for Catholics alone but created a new type of family– “social Catholics.” The social Catholics became part of many activities–neighborhood activities. Msgr. Peet felt correctly that the church school was vital to the preservation of diversity in Skinker DeBaliviere.

When the school became too small and students had to attend other Catholic schools, Peet supervised the construction of the St. Roch School addition so that neighborhood children who wished non-public education could go to school right here. George Storey remarked that Msgr. Peet and Sister Leo Ann “were a vital part of this neighborhood.

They were people for the time.” Rose added that “he was a gentle man and a priest.” Msgr. Peet often said that “you owe it to yourself to do the good things in life.” He used the good things to bring people together and to create the strong bonds that unite so many of the families here in Skinker DeBaliviere.

As Jean Eberle wrote in these pages in 1981, Father “visited throughout the neighborhood, lent the use of parish buildings, and encouraged people to get together and invite others. Card parties, sports events, musicals, luncheons, dinners of every type and description, coffees, rummage sales, art and craft displays, anything that got people working together filled the St. Roch’s calendar.” And, there were parties, especially the annual St. Patrick’s Dinner.

The Storeys noted that Father Peet had a beautiful voice and loved to sing.

He knew all the Irish tunes and sang Danny Boy. But, they’d bring down the house when Kathleen Hamilton played the piano and Monsignor sang “Saloon.” The words went. “Saloon, saloon, saloon, it runs through my head like a tune.” There was a lot of good fellowship and a lot of neighborhoodbuilding, too. Msgr. Peet loved children.

He greeted the St. Roch’s students every day, come rain or shine.

He remembered everyone’s names, even when families had numerous offspring. Several longtime residents told me how good he was to their kids and one person remembered him fondly from his own youth. Msgr. Peet’s rectory was often a place for teenagers to go when they were troubled.

He was clearly a man of great warmth and caring.

He and his church had a great impact on this neighborhood and on many lives.

I wish I had known him.

I am glad I know his works.

Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, March 1995.

Read this article in the original newspaper issue.

Original source: SD_Times1995_03.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.