I read with great interest (CR, Sept. 22) of the 100th anniversary of Blessed Sacrament Parish. My grandparents, William and Mary Ellen Kailer Dunn were founding members of the parish. She directed the choir there for many years; he opened the church for Mass and was a daily attendant for all the years of my memory. Their son, Monsignor William Kailer Dunn, was one of the 24 “homegrown” priests mentioned in the article, but our entire family’s faith, including my own, was tied to this wonderful church community. My parents, Dorothy Dunn and Charles Gonce, met in first grade at Blessed Sacrament School and often returned there with us for Sunday Mass throughout our childhood.
My grandparents still have one surviving daughter, E. Catherine Dunn, who enjoyed a long career on the faculty at The Catholic University of America. She is 95 and in home hospice care with me here in Mobile. She may be the oldest living member of one of the original families in the parish!
We’re glad that Bishop William was able to join the celebration. If you harnessed all the wonderful energy of all the active parishioners who ever belonged to Blessed Sacrament, I’m sure you’d have enough spiritual “fuel” to keep the important programs it has now going for a long time.