ST. MARY OF THE CROWN (1980)

Carbondale was incorporated as a town in 1888 and named by one of its founders, John Mankin, for his hometown in Pennsylvania. This ranching and railroad town lies near the confluence of the Crystal and Roaring Fork rivers, thirteen miles southeast of Glenwood Springs. Between 1970 and 1980, the population jumped from 726 to 2,084, inspiring local Catholics to pray for a parish of their own. Thomas A. Bradtke, pastor of St. Vincent's in Basalt, began offering Masses during the 1970s in the Carbondale American Legion Hall. As the congregation grew, services were moved into the Carbondale Methodist Church, where Reverend Lynn Sparks and his wife made the Catholics welcome. Meanwhile, parishioners began building a small house of worship, where the first pastor, Robert E. Hehn of St. Vincent's, celebrated the first Mass on September 3, 1978.

Archbishop Casey dedicated the new church on May 13, 1979, and a year later St. Mary of the Crown was established as a parish, staffed by the pastor of St. Vincent's in Basalt. Sisters Clare Ahler and Janet Dielen, two Franciscans, have directed the liturgy, music, and religious education in the parish since 1981. By 1988, Father Hehn, the founding pastor, was offering a Mass each Sunday at St. Mary's, which was overflowing with 100 registered families. A new addition was completed and used for Mass on December 4, 1988, with a formal dedication on February 5, 1989, by Archbishop Stafford.