Who We Are
Our history as a Catholic community in Rockingham County began when Joe Mansfield and his family moved to Leaksville Spray (Eden) in 1917. The Mansfields attended church by renting a car and traveling to Greensboro or Danville. After many years of this arrangement, the Mansfield family invited the Reverend William Kuder to offer Mass in their home. In 1930, Napolean Lufty came to Reidsville, with his wife, Rachel, and daughter, Pat. Nap worked for the American Tobacco Company. In 1939 Doctor Frederick Klenner and his wife, Anne, moved to Reidsville. These three families were some of the pioneers that brought the Catholic faith to Rockingham County.
For many years, a small caravan wound its way to Leaksville, carrying Reidsville Catholics to Mass at St. Joseph's of the Hills (built in 1938). In 1951, Father Tate, Parish Priest for Rockingham County, obtained permission from Russell City to use his funeral chapel for Sunday service. The celebration of Mass then moved to the Reidsville Municipal Building with Father Graves celebrating. To accommodate the parishioners, Father Graves obtained permission from Benton Pipkin to use the small top floor of a washerette on Scales Street in Reidsville. One of the rooms was converted into a Chapel and the rest of the space was used for classrooms. Catherine Deazley was in charge of the religious instruction that took place every Wednesday from 3:30-5:00 PM.
In 1953 there was also an African-American Mission in Reidsville conducted by Father Donovan from the African American parish in Greensboro. Mass was offered at the home of William Gravely, along with his wife, Mildred, their four children and the Albert Clark family.
Through the influence of Mrs. Ashby Penn, the parishioners were able to acquire land to build their long awaited church. The land was purchased on a highway because the Bishop wanted the church accessible to Catholic travelers. The hopes for a church were becoming a reality. The building fund increased considerably through the generous giving by the Reidsville people at the time of Felix Fournier's death. These donations made possible the Temporary chapel, which was to serve later as a residence for the parish priest.
In 1963, Father Graves was sent to Rome for studies and Father Thomas Clements came to Reidsville. While in Rome, Father Graves befriended Mr. And Mrs. Gaetano of Orange, Connecticut. The Gaetanos promised to finance the construction of a church in a town where there was none. Father Graves with the approval of the Bishop chose Reidsville. The church was blessed and dedicated on June 24, 1962 by the Reverend Bishop Waters. It was the Gaetanos who named the church, Holy Infant.
A lot of the church furnishings were given as memorials. The American Tobacco Company employees gave most of the pews in memory of Dave Anderson, friends and family of James Pope gave the Altar, the tower was a gift from Mrs. Ashby Penn in memory of her husband, and Maria Fournier gave the bell in memory of her husband. Mr. Fournier acquired the bell many years before his death and kept it in the Fournier home in hopes it would be used someday in their church.
Father Clements at Holy Infant first celebrated midnight Mass in December 1964. In June 1966, Father Clements was appointed to study at the North American College at Rome. During his absence, Monsignor Dennis Lynch assumed the administration of St. Joseph parish and Holy Infant, which was a mission church attached to Saint Benedict Church in Greensboro under Father Carney. In 1967, Father Clements returned to Rockingham County and was assigned to the St. Joseph parish in Leaksville (Eden). The Reverend Edward O'Doherty was installed as the first full-time priest of Holy Infant. For the first time Holy Infant Church was designated as a parish. Father O'Doherty was a retired Lt. Colonel in the British Royal Air Force.
In response to Vatican II's call to the laity to assume more leadership of church life, the first Parish council was established. The members of this council were Anne Pope, President, Bill Noonan, Nap Lufty, Frank Courts, and John Flannagan.
The church hall was built under Father O'Doherty's guidance and was dedicated on December 24, 1972 by the Mayor of Reidsville as Lufty Hall in honor of the Napolean Bonaparte Lufty Family.
Father O'Doherty retired after eleven years of service at Holy Infant. Father Gabriel Meehan came to our parish in 1978. During Father Meehan's one-year stay, he focused his work with the handicapped and under-privileged.
Father Joseph McCarthy succeeded Father Meehan in 1979. In January of 1982, the church was broken into and set afire. There was a significant amount of damage done to the church, and Mass was held in Lufty Hall.
Since the beginning of the Catholic presence in Rockingham County in 1917, the diversity of our population has expanded. With the large growth of the Hispanic/Latino population, our parish began offering the Mass in Spanish in 1984.