History of St. David Parish

Named after an English Benedictine in the eleventh century, St. David’s beginnings were humble. Just as St. David had worked to spread Christianity hundreds of years ago, the members of the parish have been proclaiming the Gospel in the parish community for over five decades.

In August of 1963 while the church was being built, Sunday and Holy Day Masses were celebrated on the second floor of Franke Motors, located on the corner of Telegraph and Lower Tenbrook Roads. A year later, the first Sunday Eucharist was celebrated on church grounds in the rectory basement. Monsignor John Ronquest was the founding pastor. The blessing and laying of the cornerstone took place on April 26, 1964, and one year later their first Sunday Mass took place in the rectory basement.

From humble beginnings in August of 1963 with 200 families and no Church, St. David had grown to become a strong community of 880 families with a church, school, gymnasium and athletic field.