A parish built by forty families

Forty families ask for a parish. Polish Catholics settling near the River Rouge approach Rev. Adalbert Zadala of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish. Bishop Gallagher agrees, and the first Mass is offered in a small brick chapel on Tireman at Warwick on Christmas, 1923.

A first pastor. Rev. Raphael Chrzaszcz is named pastor of SS. Peter and Paul while also founding St. Barbara in Dearborn. The work takes its toll, and he dies in 1925.

The move to Grandville. Under Rev. John Hewelt, Mr. Peter Zielinski donates twelve lots, and the beloved “little white wooden church” is built on the parish's present site. A four-classroom school follows in 1926.

Sisters arrive. Rev. Vincent Borkowicz, later a monsignor, builds the first rectory and invites the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio, to staff the growing school.

Thirty years of Fr. Gramza. Rev. Francis Gramza begins the longest pastorate in parish history. A new church is completed, the school expands in 1942 and 1950, a convent rises in 1948, and a new rectory in 1953.

The church we pray in today. Ground is broken in 1957. The lower church opens in June 1959, and on December 22, 1959, Archbishop John F. Dearden celebrates the Solemn Dedication Mass of the upper church.

The Gramza Activities Building. Under Rev. Francis Maliszewski, the activities building is completed and named for Fr. Gramza. The first Parish Pastoral Council forms in 1970.

A future bishop. After the pastorates of Rev. Richard Steiber and Rev. Sigismund Kowalczyk, Rev. Francis Reiss becomes pastor. He is later ordained an auxiliary bishop of Detroit.

A changing neighborhood. Rev. Stan Tokarski becomes pastor. During his pastorate the parish school closes due to low enrollment.

Fr. Jerry. Rev. Jarosław Pilus is appointed administrator, and in 2012 pastor, continuing Mass and the sacraments in Polish while serving every Catholic in the parish territory.

One hundred years. The parish celebrates its centennial on June 25, 2023 with a Traditional Latin Mass and a Polish dinner in the parish hall.