"By 1910, Catholics living in the northern portion of St. Ita parish were chafing at the inconvenience of traveling a mile or more each Sunday for mass. A year later, three men from the neighborhood --- Peter J. Mulvaney, P. Frank Combiths and Frank Kelley --- met with Archbishop James Quigley and made their case for a new parish.
"He agreed. And the new parish was established on January 3, 1912, with Father Peter F. Shewbridge as pastor. It was named for St. Gertrude the Great, a German mystic and theologian from the 13th century and the only female saint know as "the Great." According to Peter M. Brost, one of the intitial group of parishioners, that name was chosen to honor Father Shewbridge's mother.
"Five days later, the parish faced its first sorrow. Perter Mulvaney, one of the men who had met with Archbishop Quigley, died. His funeral was at St. Ita."
The Mulvaneys lived at 1519 W. Glenlake, only a few blocks from the location of the current Church now located at 1420 W. Granville. Peter's wife, Elizabeth, lived at the Glenlake address until 1961 when she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, two months before she died.
Source: Patrick J. Reardon, Woven Lives: One Hundred Years in the Story of the St. Gertrude Faith Family, May, 2012, pages 15-16.
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