About St. Edmund Parish
St. Edmund, the first Catholic parish in Oak Park, was founded by Archbishop James Quigley in June of 1907 with the Rev. John J. Code as pastor. For want of a more suitable site, the first Mass was celebrated in the barn of the Scoville Estate (now Scoville Park) on Lake Street and Oak Park Avenue. For the next three years Mass was said in a rented hall on Lake Street, east of Oak Park Avenue.
The beautiful 14th Century English Gothic Church and rectory designed by Henry Schlacks were dedicated in May of 1910. It has priceless art glassSt. Edmund Church and Green windows executed by the Zeittler Studios in Munich. Prior to its 2000 restoration and renovation, the church had been decorated three times. John Mallin designed the 1943 and 1951 decorations. The ceiling and paintings in the church were his design, executed by graduate students of art in Vienna. In the late 40’s, and until he died in 1956, Msgr. Code made many changes to the interior of the church including replacing the Henry Schlacks altar, pulpit and baptismal font with new marble ones designed by DaPrato Rigali. In 1954 the original red tiles of the church roof and steeple were removed. Grey slate tiles were added to the church and the steeple was encased in stainless steel.
Courtesy of www.stedmund.org
