Sacred Heart Church at 139 3rd St NE, New Philadelphia, OH 44663-3900 US - St. Aloyius at Strasburg

The parish of St. Aloysius, Strasburg, Ohio, was organized through the efforts of Father Celestine Oswald, the Capuchin pastor of Bolivar at the time, with the encouragement of Bishop Hartley of Columbus. The original frame church with attached rectory was dedicated by Bishop Hartley on the twenty-second of October, 1910. The pastors of Strasburg were at the same time the pastors of Bolivar until the closing of the two churches in 1995. Father Marion Pagendarm, who was serving his third distinct term as pastor of Strasburg/Bolivar, died in 1956. Subsequent to his death, the Capuchin friars announced their withdrawal from the two churches. Father Bernard Jones was appointed as the first diocesan priest pastor of the parish. When Father Jones arrived, he found that his first major project, with the help of the men of the parish, was to be finishing the inside of the rectory so that he could live there. The Capuchin pastors had always resided in the friary at Dover, so that the rectory interior, beyond the single sacristy/office/bedroom, was only open studs and unfinished subflooring. With the work proceeding one room at a time, the project was finished in 1962. Remodeling of the church was completed in 1982, with additional space for classes and meetings, and complete brick facing of the exterior of the building. During the pastorate of Father Robert Schneider, the rectory was moved to a newly purchased building next to the church in Bolivar, with the parish offices remaining in Strasburg. The parish of St. Aloysius, in 1995, became a part of the consolidation into the new parish of the Holy Trinity. The church property was sold to the village of Strasburg, to be used as village office space. The cemetery alone remains, administered by Holy Trinity parish.

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