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ST. MARY MAGDALENE (1907)Father Joseph M. Desaulniers, the French Canadian chaplain at St. Anthony Hospital, was asked by Bishop Matz to start a parish in Edgewater. This Jefferson County town on the west edge of Sloan's Lake had incorporated in 1901 and, according to the Denver Catholic Register of June 7, 1907, had 128 Catholic families plus the patients of six nearby sanitariums. Lots north of West 26th Avenue on Depew Street were acquired, as well as large donations for the building fund. While awaiting construction of a church, Father Desaulniers said the first Mass for fifty parishioners on June 2, 1907, at Sarah Berran's Edgewater home at 2537 Ames Street. Frank Osborne, a carpenter-contractor in the parish, built and probably designed the brick church with its concrete foundation. Even before 900 people celebrated the laying of the cornerstone on June 30, 1907, the parish had celebrated its first wedding on June 24, 1907, for Frank Cody and Emily Negri. The parish was formally organized July 9, 1907, and its modest church with a single alcove altar was finished on July 28, 1907. Father Desaulniers decorated the church with leaded and stained glass windows, an oak altar rail, and eight lightning rods. "Father D was terribly afraid of thunder and lightning," recalled long-time parishioner Albert G. Mariacher, but "he loved his snuff and always had his snuff box on the altar so he could have his sniff of snuff before the sermon. I served as an altar boy for Father D and he always reminded us to have his snuff box and a black handkerchief handy." In 1918, Father Mark W. Lappen replaced Father Desaulniers and paid the parish debt with the help of fairs, festivals, and dances. Then he bought the old Methodist Episcopal church across the street and converted it into a hall for meetings and social gatherings, including popular performances of the parish's Dramatic Club. St. Mary Magdalene's next sky pilot, following Father Lappen's assignment to Holy Family parish in 1923, was Father William J. O'Malley, who had been the pastor of Annunciation Church in Leadville until the altitude threatened his frail health. KKK cross burnings in front of the rectory, parishioners said, aggravated his condition, contributing to his fatal heart attack on September 9, 1926. Father O'Malley also had served as director of Mt. Olivet Cemetery, where he was buried after being memorialized for his work with the poor, sick, and elderly. James P. Flanagan assumed a forty-three-year pastorate in 1926, during which he enlarged the church with a new sanctuary and sacristies before stuccoing the exterior for a rededication by Bishop Vehr on October 15, 1933. In 1941, a third Mass was added to the Sunday schedule with the help of the Jesuit fathers from Regis College, and in the next eight years a fourth and fifth Mass were needed. Membership jumped from 400 families in 1938 to 1,400 in the 1950s, despite the creation of St. Bernadette's (1947) and Sts. Peter and Paul (1949). The baby boom in the parish led Father Flanagan and his parishioners to open a school savings fund. Back in 1927, the parish had purchased property in the 2800 block of Sheridan Boulevard where, after more lots were bought in 1947-1948, a single story, four-classroom school became a reality in September 1950. Instead of the Sunday school that the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet from St. Patrick parish had conducted since 1922, St. Mary Magdalene's finally had its own school, where two Franciscan nuns taught sixty-five students. During the 1950s, more classrooms and a $165,000 auditorium were added to what soon became a school of eight grades. As the parish was outgrowing the old church, Sunday Masses were moved to the new auditorium, which seated 400. The old church at 2601 Depew was used as a parish hall until it was sold to be recycled as the Templo Evang‚ lico Bautista. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, there was continued growth in the parish school, with enrollment exceeding 500 students in 1961. Not until 1964, when Our Lady of Fatima opened its own school, did St. Mary Magdalene School drop in enrollment. Although the school closed in 1979, the parish continued to stress education, providing an adult tutorial group to help refugees from Southeast Asia learn English. In 1979, Archbishop Casey officially designated St. Mary Magdalene's as the parish for ministry to the deaf community. St. Mary's also opened, thanks to generous support of the Knights of Columbus, a coffee house for developmentally disabled adults. In 1982, the parish worked with St. Anthony Hospital to open a child development center in the old school building and a playground north of the church at West 29th Avenue and Zenobia. For years, the Rustic Tavern next door had tried to rent the property to extend their building and open a nightclub. Father Flanagan, who consistently had fought this idea, felt it far better to use the site for a children's playground than for adult playboys and playgirls. Father Flanagan, after forty-three years as pastor of St. Mary Magdalene parish and director of Mt. Olivet Cemetery, retired with the title of monsignor in 1969. He died December 21, 1980. Roy Figlino, VF, who was appointed pastor by Archbishop Casey, converted the spacious rectory to the Villa Madeleine, a home for retired priests. There, Father Figlino himself retired in 1986 when a layman, Gene Murray, was appointed administrator for St. Mary's. By this innovative arrangement, Father Roy tends to the spiritual needs of the parish while Gene Murray handles the day-to-day operations. In guiding the parish through its seventy-fifth anniversary, Father Figlino noted in the 1982 jubilee booklet that St. Mary's had lost its school and many parishioners when three new parishes had been carved out of it. Despite these losses, he observed:
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