Two weeks ago, we took a short stroll down Memory Lane looking at some memories that most would probably deem not too pleasant. Unfortunately, over the last 140 years of Sudbury’s history, many local religious institutions have suffered horrifically from the destructive power of fires.
Luckily, some were so inconsequential that they did not disrupt parochial life in the least. However, others were so disastrous, their memory remains emblazoned in the minds of those intimately involved, as well as regular citizens who did have any direct attachment to these institutions.
In each case, the proverbial phoenix would inevitably rise from the ashes through the sheer will of the church congregation. In fact, the Church of the Epiphany chose this very imagery for their rebuilding project, christening the fundraising effort, the “Phoenix Fund.”
In the end, we will remember these moments in time for what they brought to the community most closely affected and also the community at large.
But even though that which is built along this lane of memories may burn down in a blaze of heartache (quite literally), our memories will not be obscured by the accompanying dark clouds. Let us now look beyond the smoke and the haze at some of your memories of the times, places and feelings.
On Oct. 30, 1947, the Church of Christ the King was completely gutted by fire. In spite of the heartbreak to priests and parishioners alike, Father Humphrey wasted no time in beginning preparations to restore the church. And a short nine months later, in July (correction from the last column which stated September) of the following year the church was rebuilt and ready for occupancy.
Catharine Belfry Mitton wrote to tell us that her parents hold the distinction of being “the first couple married after the church was rebuilt (on) August 21, 1948.”
According to reader Gerri Grogan Kusnierczyk, who was a parishioner at the time, after the fire of 1947, the English Catholics of Christ the King made their temporary home at the Capitol Theatre until July of the following year.
Geoffrey Lee wrote in to let us know that at one time “there was a large brass plaque on the interior of the cinema commemorating that use. It was in the area by the popcorn sales area and the entrance to the main hall.” The lack of an actual building did not affect the spiritual life of the church community, everything continued as if nothing had happened. Remo Slater, who was a young child at the time, wrote that his “first Communion was at the Capitol Theatre.”
On April 8, 1972, St. Peter’s United Church on York Street was completely destroyed by a fire that broke out around 7 p.m. and was not put out until Sunday around 1 p.m. Reader John Crozier remembers that prior to the fire “the church was damaged in the tornado in 1970 but it was more glass and roof damage over the entrance” before becoming “the victim of an arsonist on two occasions and which finally destroyed the main part of the church” less than two years later.
Donalda Lamb, who worked at the Memorial Hospital on night shift, used to look forward to dawn breaking and seeing the peaks of St. Peter's every morning. She states that after the fire, “you would be amazed at the number of staff that wept the morning dawn broke after the fire.” She also believes that the spray paint slogan seen on the side of the church building post-fire became their fundraising slogan: “Praise the Lord Anyhow?"
In an ominous sign of the future, the first deliberate attempt made to destroy St-Jean-de-Brébeuf Church on Notre Dame Avenue occurred on June 2, 1936, when an arsonist set six separate fires inside the church. For 43 years, all was quiet on Notre Dame Avenue, then on Oct. 15, 1979, an arsonist entered the unlocked St-Jean-de-Brébeuf Church, spread the contents of three jars of lighter fluid and ignited it.
In the ensuing fire, the nearly 50-year-old church and adjacent presbytery suffered severe damage. While preparing this article, I discovered that this was actually the second time in as many weeks that a fire had broken out in that church. A youth had been apprehended in the first instance for attempting to burn pews.
Ginette Leclair-Bouchard who “was on the bus, on my way home from work … was stunned to see the smoke coming from the church. It was heartbreaking.” Another reader, Claude Simard “remember(s) the smoke smell like it was yesterday.” And, Berney Simard who was there while it was burning declared it an “Awful sight.”
After the fire at St-Jean-de-Brébeuf Church, Father Morin noted that he saw “the Flour Mill community strengthened and unified following the disaster” as everyone wanted to do their part in the reconstruction.
In the interim, masses were celebrated at the nearby College Sacré-Coeur and at the Nolin, Assomption or Ste-Marie Schools. The theme of the reconstruction was: “A place of prayer and peace.” The church would eventually be rebuilt in time to celebrate its 50th anniversary (albeit a year late) during the following year.
On April 2, 1987, an arson fire completely destroyed the 74-year-old structure of the Church of the Epiphany on Larch Street. The destructive power of the flames combined with the age of the building created a perfect storm that caused portions of the floor of the main church to eventually give way into the kitchen in the basement below.
Despite the destruction of the physical building of the Church of the Epiphany — an incident reader Frank Scott said “broke (his) mother's heart” — Archdeacon Paterson had no doubt that the faithful would come together to raise funds and do what would be necessary to rebuild it. And, of course, they did this through the Phoenix Fund (which I mentioned above) and a lot of hard work from many dedicated parishioners.
An interest (and mysterious) side story to this fire was related to the author by a parishioner at the time. A day or two following the fire an unknown person sent a bouquet of flowers to the locked front door of the blackened shell of the church. On the first anniversary of the fire, a single red rose was found in the locked church on what was left of the middle aisle. At the reconsecration of the church in January, a single red rose again appeared. This "Epiphany Rose" would continue to appear every anniversary and Christmas Eve (if anyone knows if it is still appearing or when it stopped, please let me know). Where it came from or who left it remained a mystery.
On June 27, 1992, a fire set by an arsonist in a shed at the rear of the church raged through the night and completely destroyed Paroisse Ste-Anne-des-Pins, Sudbury's oldest church. As chronicled in the previous article, the church had already been rebuilt once, in 1894, following another devastating fire. Although the walls and the bell tower remained standing, it was later determined by engineers the walls would have to be knocked down, since the bricks, due to the excessive heat, had become too weak to withstand a rebuild.
After the devastation at Ste-Anne-Des-Pins, masses were held next door in the basement of the Church of Christ the King while plans were hatched for a new church to rise from the ashes as its predecessor had 98 years before. In the end, it took four years of hard work before a new church was designed and built.
In July 2019, Sudbury's Grace United Church was hit by two lightning strikes. Much of the church building burned, leaving only the facade which faced Bancroft Drive largely untouched. A week later crews demolished what was left of the 78-year-old building, while plans were being made to rebuild.
After much discussion the church council of Grace United Church decided to rebuild their place of worship. While rebuilding plans took place, a temporary home to worship was located at the Minnow Lake Place Gym. Reverend Erin Todd stated at the time that “the rebuilding has brought the community together.” After many delays, the first worship service in the new church building occurred on Mother’s Day 2022.
After all is said and done, the splendour of the architecture and art contained within each church that suffered the fate of the fire was no longer available to be admired. However, some physical reminders of those fateful days remained with many of the churches either ever so briefly or even to this day.
Ken Lusk pointed out to visitors at the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page that on parts of the exterior brown brick walls of the Church of Christ the King “you can still see burn marks.”
At St. Paul’s United Church, while the phoenix would eventually rise from the ashes, Alasdair Macleod wrote that he took the opportunity to build a nest (maybe for that phoenix’s return) by “salvag(ing) some of the green shingles to put on (his) birdhouse roof.”
In regards to the Church of the Epiphany, Timothy Bolton wrote in that “for a short while we had some old hymn books from the church that smelled like the fire. The memories that were locked in by that smell were profound.” Unfortunately, even through the efforts of Archdeacon Paterson and Reverend Gower, who were present at the time of the fire, as Timothy Bolton also stated “very little else was saved from the fire due to the extreme heat, smoke and water damage.” Although, according to a booklet celebrating its 125th Anniversary, the church’s eagle lectern fell “through the floor to the basement, sustained heavy damage but was repaired and put back in the chancel” where it still stands.
After the devastating 1992 fire at Paroisse Ste. Anne-des-Pins, the church’s bell tower was removed to the rear of the parish grounds between the new church and its parking lot. It now acts as a gateway onto the grounds as one has to pass under the tower while walking along the path to the church’s entrance.
Prior to demolition, Grace United Church was able to save a charred cross to be installed in their new building. “It's still intact and we're actually not going to fix it," Reverend Erin Todd was quoted as saying at the time. "We're going to keep it as a memento."
A follower of the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook Group, Marty Benoit, speaking specifically about the fire at St. Jean de Brebeuf Church, wrote, “As a Sudbury firefighter…I feel that the Brébeuf fire is a testament to what my brothers and sisters are willing to do, anytime, for our community. Those firefighters worked so incredibly hard that day and the fact that the church stands to this day is incredible.”
In fact, this sentiment could be used in relation to every church fire (actually, every single fire of any kind) that has occurred here in the Sudbury area.
In October 1947, twenty-four firefighters were required to battle the blaze at the Church of Christ the King. They fought the flames for nine hours before finally vanquishing their foe. Unfortunately, minor injuries did occur, as a falling beam injured four firefighters and the fire chief suffered a coronary thrombosis requiring hospitalization following the fire.
In 1972, the structure of St. Peter’s United Church posed a series of problems for the firefighters, due to the fact that the only windows of the building were found to be too far away from the source of the fire. The firefighters also found it to be very difficult to pierce the roof of this church, with its roof designed to look like three sails fluttering in the wind.
At St-Jean-de-Brébeuf Church, in 1979, twenty-five firefighters were required to fight the intense blaze for 12 hours in order to save the structure.
When the Church of the Epiphany went up in flames, the fire department, which had been called at just before 1 p.m., required more than two hours before succeeding in bringing the fire under control. The thick smoke escaping from the blaze also forced the evacuation of adjacent buildings. Deborah Lynn Kuz Jongsma “was in Dr Prince's waiting room in the building next door to the church when the fire broke out. All appointments (were) cancelled” immediately.
It was exactly 4:44 a.m. on June 28 1992, that firefighters were dispatched to the Ste-Anne-des-Pins fire. Within minutes, six trucks and 20 firefighters were at the scene. In just over an hour, the fire was brought under control, however the roof was completely destroyed.
In 2019, firefighters first arrived at Grace United Church at around 6:30 p.m. observing some minor damage to the roof from what appeared to have been a lightning strike, but no smoke or fire. The crews then left in order to respond to several other storm-related calls before being called back again at around 9 p.m., this time with reports of flames and smoke emanating from the building. In the end, it took firefighters upwards of six hours to put out the blaze.
Well dear readers, this month’s hot topic has come to an end. I would like to take this opportunity to thank those firefighters (both past and present) that have risked their lives to save these structures, our family homes and our lives. And, thank you to everyone who shared their memories and photos of the devastating Church fires in Sudbury’s past. We’ll see you again in two weeks.
Jason Marcon is a writer and history enthusiast in Greater Sudbury. He runs the Coniston Historical Group and the Sudbury Then and Now Facebook page. Memory Lane is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
