History

On September 25, 1921, Archbishop Glennon decreed that a new parish would be started in Glendale and it would be dedicated to Mary, Queen of Peace.  In 1922, having been refused a Parish by then Archbishop Glennon, the Reverend Michael Collins appealed to the Apostolic Delegate who sent him from a Parish in Jacksonville, Missouri (40 miles north of Columbia) to the then 10 year old community of Glendale. Fr. Collins purchased a 2 acre site on Beverly Avenue off Berry Road and built a 49 x 50 foot frame church. The original Parish consisted of 15 families.

In 1933 the little frame church was destroyed by a fire and Mass was held at the Methodist church at the corner of Lockwood and Berry Roads. Nearly two years later, a stone Gothic Church was built on the site of the wooden Church at a cost of $11,500. The Church still stands today on Beverly Avenue and is the St. John's Serbian Orthodox Church.

Father Collins died in 1939 and was replaced by Father Sylvester Tucker who in 1944 arranged with the Sisters of Loretto to open a kindergarten. The intent was to add a class each year until the School had classes through the eighth grade. The classrooms were to be in a three story red brick home at the corner of Lockwood and Berry which also served as the rectory.

One year later, Father Tucker became ill and was replaced by Father Joseph O'Toole, who would remain as pastor for the next 30 years. Fr. O'Toole's first priority was to move immediately to an eight grade school, and in 1947, 9 of the 13 rooms of the red brick house became classrooms for the school. First year enrollment was 100 students. Also that year, land was purchased on the current parish site and ground was broken for the existing school building next door. The school opened in 1948 and the church moved to the ground floor of the school.

With school enrollment increasing, the ground floor was needed for classrooms, so the next project was building the current church and rectory which was completed in 1955. Enrollment in the Parish School grew to 1100 in 1956 making Mary Queen of Peace the second largest elementary school in the Archdiocese. In 1963 the convent on the western part of the Parish grounds was constructed.

Though our Parish boundaries enclose an established neighborhood, with little if any opportunity for new residential construction, the Parish has increased its number of Parishioners in recent years. This may account for the fact that the Parish has had several years of near record numbers of infant baptisms, has had only slight declines in its enrollment in the full-time Parish School over the last fifteen years and has increased its participation in the part-time Parish School to over 100 students.