OUR LADY OF THE VALLEY (1969)

Windsor, a Weld County town first settled in the 1870s, was named for Reverend Samuel Asa Windsor, who founded the First Methodist Church. The railroad arrived in 1881, and in 1903 the Great Western Sugar Company opened its large plant. During the 1950s, priests from Greeley said Masses in the homes of the Apodacas, the Velásquezes, and the Volges.

Windsor began to boom in 1968 when Eastman Kodak, the leading U.S. photography company, erected a giant plant there. The following year, area Catholics started a "little parish" and persuaded Kenneth Brin of St. Joseph's in Fort Collins to offer monthly Masses in St. Alban Episcopal Church. Thomas L. McCormick, director of Catholic Community Services for Northern Colorado, was appointed the first pastor on March 16, 1973. Mildred Piñeda submitted the winning name for the new parish--Our Lady of the Valley.

In 1974, Our Lady of the Valley became a mission of St. John's in Loveland. By raising money with Mexican dinners, Christmas bazaars, and a Labor Day harvest festival booth at the town ball park, the faithful financed purchase of a 514-516 Main Street building. They converted it to a chapel, hall, offices, and rectory, which was blessed by Archbishop Casey on February 15, 1976.

Three years later, the fast growing parish sold its building and bought the old Zion Church, a handsome, white frame, carpenter Gothic church that has been extensively remodeled inside. Thomas D. Kelly, pastor of St. John the Baptist's in Johnstown, took charge in 1985 of this parish of about 180 households.