The History of St. Elias

Greek Orthodox Church

Greece is a small country poor in natural resources. For this reason it has always — even in ancient times — been an exporter of people. The first Greek to set foot on the New World was a sailor who shipped aboard one of Christopher Col­umbus’ vessels. There were sporadic arrivals of Greeks thereafter (including many who established a colony in Florida), but emigration to the United States from Greece was heaviest in th€ decade before the First World War. Most of these newcomers settled in the large metropolitan centers — New York, Boston, Chicago — but sizable numbers also filtered outward to the less densely populated areas where with time they formed communities such as ours in Dubuque.

The unifying institution for these communities was the Orthodox Church, which served their religious need and also helped to preserve their ethnic identity.

It is not known who was the first person of Greek origin to take up residence in the historic river town of Dubuque. By 1920, there were, by rough estimate, about thirty people living here who had been born in Greece. All but a few were male. True to a Greek tradition, most of them were entrepreneurs of one sort or another, running such businesses as shoe-shine parlors, candy stores, bars, restaurants, and movie theatres. They came from many parts of Greece: Arcadia, Laconta, Messenia, the islands of Crete, Samos, Zakynthos, Rhodes. Several of the earliest settlers died young; others left to seek thefr fortunes elsewhere. But their numbers were replenished by a steady trickle of new arrLvals. By 1930 the total population of Greek-Americans in Dubuque, if we include wives of non-Greek origin and children, came to about seventy or eighty

In those days, a Dubuquer wishing to attend an Orthodox church had to travel to Rockford, Moline, or East Moline, illinois, or to Waterloo, Iowa (the Greek Orthodox church in Cedar Rapids had not yet been built). The Orthodox Chris­tians of Dubuque were considered to belong to the Waterloo community of St. Demetrius.

Late in the 1930’s, the need for a locally situated place of worship could no longer be ignored, and a large room was rented on the third floor of the brick building that stood on the southwest corner of Seventh and Main Streets. Once a month the liturgy was performed in this “hail” by the priest from Waterloo, who at that time was Father Stamatis Saranikolaou. The “hail” also served as the location for organizational meetings such as AHEPA, Daughters of Penelope and Greek school For something like ten years Greek language classes were held on selected weekday evenings for the local youngsters. The teacher was Miss Rose Pappas (Papacharidimou), a highly literate young lady whose intelligence and dedication left a lasting impression on her pupils. During roughly the same period, the devout Mr. Solon Coppas served as chanter, choir director, and Sunday School teacher.

In the early 1950’s the number of Greek-Americans in Dubuque, again including wives of non-Greek origin and children, approached one hundred and fifty. But sadly enough, a large portion of these — one half, if not more — had reacted to the absence of a local Orthodox church by joining other religious groups, or by entering the ranks of the non-churchgoers. Those wh~ wanted strongly to preserve their Orthodox heritage for themselves and their children heeded the newly ordained priest then serving the Waterloo community, Father George Arseniou, and His Grace Ezekiel of Chi­cago (later Archbishop of Australia) and worked hard to build a church of their own. With the generous help of many con­tributors, the Church of St. Elias the Prophet became a reality.

With only forty-three member families, comprising about eighty-five individuals, the parish of St. Elias is one of the smallest in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, but it has participated actively in the life of the Orthodox Church in this part of the country. it has hosted such notables as His Eminence Jakovos Archbishop of North and South America and His Eminence Philaret Metropolitan of Kiev, as well as various Orthodox youth conferences and clergy retreats. It feels privileged to have been served by very capable priests and would like to believe that they in turn have benefited spiritually from their residence in Dubuque.

Although it was established by Americans of Greek origin, the parish is of course open to Orthodox Christians of every national background.

The members of St. Elias thank our friends and express the hope that the Lord will see fit to keep our parish strong in the years to come.

1954 The first General Assembly of all Greek Orthodox in Dubuque was held to elect officers and council members.

Parish Council held its first meeting to discuss a location for the new church.

Al-IEPA purchased the lot where our church now stands for $2,500 and donated it to the church.

Pledges totalling $16,000 were received for the building of a church.

In order to raise additional funds for the building of the church, it was decided to raffle a Plymouth automobile.

A second lot was purchased for $2,500. This lot now contains the parking lot for the church.

The Plymouth automobile was raffled and netted $2,900. A wrestling promotion was also held which netted $600.

Authorized a raffle of a Cadillac at $25 per chance.

1956 A building bid of $51,900 was accepted from Mark Strub.

A banquet featuring the Cadillac drawing was held with Bishop Ezekiel present. Net receipts of $7,800 were received.

Ground breaking ceremonies were held with Bishop Ezekiel officiating.

The first meeting was held at the church on November 20.

1957 Bishop Ezekiel was present for the naming of the new church. Charles and Mary Petrakis had the honor of naming the church.

Dedication of the church was held on July 21 with Bishop Ezekiel officiating. The first wedding to be held at St. Elias Church united Mary Angelos and Don Moore.

Anthony Karigan was the first child to be baptised in St. Elias Church. Pete and Tom Sfikas were the god-parents.

1959 The grassy lot adjoining the church parking lot was purchased for $5,000. The first annual Greek Picnic was held at Leiser Gardens.

1960 The Ladies Philoptochos Society was organized.

1961 Chris Poulis was appointed Chanter of the church. Mr. Poulis replaced George Vrotsos. The church parking lot was black-topped.

Michaudel Stained Glass Studio of Chicago was contacted to install stained glass windows in the church. Win­dows were donated by parishioners and friends.

1962 The house at 1025 Rockdale Road was purchased to serve as a home for the priest and his family.

1963 St. Elias Church donated the largest single amount of $600 to the Save Our Shot Tower Fund. Dan Mihal assumed the duties of Chanter of the church.

1968 Vince Conrad was contracted to build a new parish house adjoining the church grounds.

1969 The annual church Greek picnic was moved from Leiser Gardens to the church grounds.

1973 The Second Diocesan District Clergy-Laity Conference was held in Dubuque at Sinsinawa Monastery with His Eminence Archbishop lakovos in attendance.

1975 It was decided to allow the Department of Recreation to use the playground behind the church.

The annual Greek picnic was renamed the Greek Festival and was moved to its present location of the Dubu­que County Fairgrounds.

Clergymen of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations visiting Dubuque included: Archbishop Philaret,

Metropolitan of Kiev and Galich, Soviet Union; Archbishop Alfred looming, Estonia; Monsignor Cheslav

Krivaitis, Lithuania, and Archdeacon Soiko, Soviet Union.

1976 St. Elias Church contributed $2,000 to the Ecumenical Towers.

1978 The kitchen in the church was remodeled.

1979 An access ramp for the handicapped was built. Bishop lakovos visited our church.

1980 Our church was again honored with a visit by Bishop Lakovos.

1981 The home at 1475 South Grandview was purchased by the church.

2005  The church library was established with funds received from the Dubuque Racing Association Grant program.

2006 The church was remodeled,  repainted and iconography by Rev. Father Andoni Callozzo was installed in the narthex, nave, and sanctuary. This was made possible by donations from parishoners, friends, and a grant from the Dubuque Racing Association. St. Elias celebrated its 50th Anniversary.