The Founding Father
The Life of Father Crowe
The story of St. Ita’s founding is intimately tied with the parish’s first priest, Rev. John H. Crowe. Father Crowe was born in County Limerick, Ireland, on January 17, 1864. He was the oldest of eleven siblings on his family’s homestead and walked six miles every day in order to be trained into the priesthood. Father Crowe finished his studies and was ordained in the Cathedral of Thurles by Archbishop Croke on June 29, 1888. Upon his ordination, Crowe departed for the Archdiocese of Chicago, who first appointed him to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish. After his short stint there he was appointed curate at Immaculate Conception Church but soon left after he was chosen to establish St. Ita’s in Edgewater.
Father Crowe served St. Ita for the next twenty years. In addition to founding the parish, he also proved pivotal to the construction of the church’s ornate sanctuary, which we will discuss shortly.
Remebering Father Crowe
Father Crowe unfortunately came to untimely death on August 28, 1930 when he was hit by a car and died of his injuries in the hospital. Beyond the building, Crowe’s legacy lay in his presence to the broader parish community. Parishioners recalled his evening walks around the parish, his shouts of encouragement to the schoolboys in their snowball fights, and the parish bazaars, which always featured a main attraction like a ride around the block in an Irish jaunting-car. After his death, the Rev. Joseph Quille would be named as his successor.