Cathedral Cornerstone On September14, 1919, the deadliest storm ever to hit the city took its toll on the parish. In its aftermath, people learned of the examples of true heroism that had occurred. One is the story of Canadian-born nurse, Sister Thais DesRoche, C. C. V. I. She had, during the height of the storm, insisted on going to assist her patients who were trapped in a wing of Spohn Hospital, which was being battered by huge waves. Her commitment of service cost her her life. Her remains were found washed up across the bay. Another dedicated parishioner, Mrs. Winnie Van Cleve, the first local woman to be elected to the State Board of Regents of the Catholic Daughters, was lost along with her husband, Robert. They were probably swept from their Water Street home, which was directly in the path of the storm. Many more parishioners were affected either by loss of loved ones or loss of property. Over 300 people were believed dead, though accurate mortality counts were impossible. Devastating property loss occurred in the area below the bluff, where many people lived at the time.

Father Malachy O’Leary, pastor of St. Patrick’s, initiated the parish response to the suffering after the storm. A relief center was opened, along with a soup kitchen, for the victims. The Knights of Columbus served thousands of meals and provided clothing and supplies sent by other Councils from San Antonio and Dallas to storm sufferers. Headed by Grand Knight, Thomas B. Southgate, and Field Secretary, Robert Rehm, the center stayed open for a month. The grisly task of recovering human remains and rebuilding what was destroyed lasted for many more months. Once again, the people lived their faith and left examples of generosity and compassion, which at times reached heroic proportions.
In spite of the turmoil of the times, in 1914, two years after the formation of the diocese, the Catholic Daughters Court 246 was established in the parish. One can only imagine what these women faced shortly after receiving their charter: the loss of one of their most active members, Mrs. Winnie Van Cleve, epidemics, storms, war and all manner of attending chaos. It is to their credit that they persisted, and even to this day they remain a viable and important part of parish life.

Bishop Nussbaum felt great stress with the financial burdens entailed in the disastrous damage caused by the 1919 storm, the non-English speaking clergy with no way to make a living, and the loss of his two assistant priests. Consequently, while making his ad limina visit to Rome, he sought leave to return to his religious community (the Passionists). The community was dismayed at losing their bishop, but parish life continued.

In February of 1920, Charles J. Taylor became the first parishioner to be ordained to the priesthood. His ordination as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate in San Antonio and celebration of his first Solemn High Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral were announced with bold headlines in the paper. Taylor was born in Beeville, the son of Frank C. and Adelaide Lovenskiold Taylor. He was the grandson of prominent citizen and noted lawyer, Col. Charles Lovenskiold, and his wife, Sophia. Charles Taylor’s mother died when he was only two years old, and he was sent to live with his aunt and uncle, Emily Lovenskiold Southgate and her husband, Thomas. The couple raised him as if he were their own. The Southgates were converts to Catholicism. Fr. Claude Jaillet also received young Charles into the Church in 1906. In 1908, at the age of twelve, he entered the Theological Seminary in San Antonio. In 1919, while still a deacon, he preached at St. Patrick’s at the Christmas Midnight Mass and again at Mass the next day. His sermons were entitled “ The Babe of Bethlehem” and “The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.” At the time he was 23 years old, two years short of the required age for ordination. After graduation and while awaiting Holy Orders, he served as assistant professor of Greek at the seminary. After his ordination, he was sent to Oblate posts in California and other areas of the western United States, serving primarily as hospital chaplain in several large institutions. Interestingly, at the time of her death in 1924, his grandmother, Mrs. Sophia Clark Lovenskiold, had also converted to Catholicism and was buried from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Following the resignation of Bishop Nussbaum, Monsignor Emmanuel B. Ledvina was appointed to the Diocese of Corpus Christi and was formally installed in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on July 21, 1921. It was a time when the parish would witness controversial persecution of the Church by a revived Klu Klux Klan and the start of World War II. There are parishioners alive today who remember the acts of intimidation and violence perpetrated by the Klan against Catholics and minorities. Many more remember the privation and heartache of the war years.

Fr. John Lannon (later to become Right Reverend Monsignor) was the next pastor to serve St. Patrick’s Cathedral and to become active in the leadership of the parish from 1928 to 1947. During this time, the Corpus Christi Diocese had the special privilege of having the first Hispanic native-born Texan to be elevated to the hierarchy when Bishop Mariano Simon Garriga became the Coadjutor Bishop of Corpus Christi on September 21, 1938.
When World War II broke out, parishioners were again affected by events around them. Men and women went off to war. The parish and the schools were filled with people brought to the city by the war effort on the home front. News began to arrive home of husbands, sons and brothers who were lost in battle. A large board was placed in the sanctuary bearing the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Fervent prayers were offered for soldiers and their families. One particuliar favorite of the women was the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. It seemed to meet the spiritual need of mothers, wives and sisters whose loved ones were in harm’s way in a distant land.
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