Remembering when Joliet church burned to the ground on New Year’s Eve

Elvira Balog, 85, of Joliet clearly remembers the New Year’s Eve when a Joliet church was destroyed by fire because she saw it happening from her home.

The church was St. Stephen’s Hungarian Chapel at the corner of Collins and Irving streets in Joliet. The chapel was named in honor of Stephen, the first king of Hungary, according to a June 12, 1976, article in The Herald-News.

A Dec. 31, 1948, Herald-News story showed flames roaring through the roof of St. Stephen’s Hungarian Chapel at the corner of Collins Street at Irving Street and estimated the damage at $100,000.

“[The pastor] went in with two firemen and took out the ciborium with the host in there. That was the only thing left.”

—  Elvira Balog of Joliet

Balog said she lived in the back upstairs apartment at 412 Englewood Ave., and the fire was clearly visible. She recalled watching with her parents and younger sister.

“We could look out the back window and see it burning,” Balog said.

The fire reportedly started by accident when the church’s Christmas tree caught fire from a lighted vigil candle.

Balog still has fond memories of the chapel, which is where she made her first communion, she said.

“The chapel was upstairs from the parish hall, where they would hold fish fries,” Balog said. “I went to summer school there to learn to sew.” She later added, “My grandmother used to cook for Father Fabian.”

The chapel was located in the former Steel Works Club, according to the 1976 article in The Herald-News.

The former St. Mary Carmelite Catholic Church, which was the “mother” church for many east-side Catholic churches, established St. Stephen’s Chapel for Joliet’s Hungarian-speaking Catholics in 1937, according to the Joliet Historic Preservation Commission Local Landmark Application for the Joliet Register of Historic Places.

The Rev. Fabian Donlan, chaplain for the Joliet Fire Department at the time, rescued the chapel’s ciborium – which holds the hosts used for communion, according to information from St. Stephen Church.

“He went in with two firemen and took out the ciborium with the host in there,” Balog said. “That was the only thing left.”

The men of the parish then bought and remodeled a building at 456 Youngs Ave. in Joliet to provide a sanctuary, choir loft and rectory, according to the 1976 The Herald-News article.

Martin Dewey McNamara, the first bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, dedicated the new St. Stephen Church on June 24, 1951, according to information from the church.

When St. Stephen held its 25th anniversary on June 27, 1976, the rescued and refurbished ciborium was presented during the offertory at the anniversary Mass, according to information from the church.

That Mass was concelebrated by Bishop Romeo Blanchette, who was the bishop of the Diocese of Joliet at that time, according to the 1976 The Herald-News article.

The Rev. Joseph L. Adam was St. Stephen’s pastor and the chaplain of both the Joliet Fire Department and the Joliet Police Department at that time, according to the 1976 The Herald-News article.

About 85 families belonged to St. Stephen in 1976, according to the article.

A dinner dance was held at D’Amico 214 in Joliet, which is now known as the Renaissance Center, after the special anniversary Mass. A Hungarian menu was served, which Balog’s mother created, Balog said. Balog’s parents were both from Hungary, she said.

Balog, who worked for many years at the former Lyons Lumber in Joliet, had a sign made for the new church building. It now belongs to her.

“When the church was closing in 1981 and they were getting rid of everything, I asked if I could have the sign back,” she said.