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Karl R. Josker | all galleries >> Galleries >> Lofty Photos > St. Francis de Sales RC Church, 585 Humboldt Pkwy, Buffalo, NY
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11-22-03 Karl R. Josker

St. Francis de Sales RC Church, 585 Humboldt Pkwy, Buffalo, NY

Everything that wasn't nailed down is gone; and everything that was is gone too. What's left is the floor, walls, and roof. I now know what plundered and pillaged means. What remains still possesses a sense of strength, quality, and dignity. Completed in 1928, closed in 1993, abused since then. A religious group is attempting to stop the deterioration, and is daringly dreaming of restoration.


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Don Knowlton 03-Jul-2013 02:07
I made my first communion there (twice) during the fifties. Lots of memories of chuch, school and Humboldt Parkway.
What a sad think to see this beatiful place trashed.
Tom 04-Sep-2012 13:47
I have been in the church as recent as a year ago and yes it is really in bad shape. My great Uncle George Dietel along with John Wade were the architects. Graduated from school in 1955 which has been demolished and yes I also remember the bowlings alleys in the school basement. We all remember Monsignor Carr, Father Ben and Father Weiss, Sister Marie Denise.

Searched the Diocesan archives and did find some past history. Just had a neigborhood reunion this past summer Humboldt pk, Sidney, Interpark Northland Ferry, Fillmore street etc kids from the past and are we are looking for more. A great little tour of the past when things were slower and less fast paced.
frank metz 30-Jul-2010 15:49
I went to school there and served as an alter boy in the early 50's. Lots of memories. Frankie Felicetta was my best friend. Lost contact but I remember his family well. Can't help but smile when I pass the church on the expressway.
FRANK FELICETTA 18-Mar-2010 20:50
FRANK- THIS SURE BRINGS BACK SOME WONDERFUL MEMORIES,BUT THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH MAKES ME SAD.REMEMBER THE TWO BOWLING ALLEYS IN THE BASEMENT.
Guest 06-Oct-2009 02:11
My brother and I went to school, mass and many spaggetti dinners there. CYO meetings and dances in the school basement I was married in the church. I still live in the neighborhood. It is very sad to see what has become of it .SHAME on the church for selling it to a bunch of scavenger hunters. SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!
Ray Ball 26-Dec-2008 18:28
I'd like to think that if only the RC Church would return to their original stance of allowing married priests, or even better, wake up to the fact that woman are human beings too and should therefore be allowed to be priests, then their churches might stand a chance of being saved. But, alas, even mainline protestant churches in the cities are falling on the hardest of times and closing their doors. The ironic fact is that these monumental buildings are crushing the life out of the congregations. They are unsustainable without substantial and continuous investments, not unlike the entire infrastructure of the country in general. Once the babyboomer generation of male priests retires, there will be next to NO priests at all, and more of the few remaining churches will perish as a result. Life as we knew it will never be passed on to succeeding generations. St. Francis de Sales as you see it here is the future of churches all over the city of Buffalo. Mr. Josker's galleries serve as a magnificent photographic obituary page for our children and grandchildren to ponder as civilization crumbles around them.
shariys 24-Dec-2008 02:25
Please don't let this become another Transfiguration ...
Guest 03-Mar-2008 23:22
I am a member of an organization that is starting a religious art center at St. Ann's. Please pass the word and try to save whatever is left in these churches. I will not say what I think about the diocese. The words are not charitable. Our legacy is slipping away just like the Central Terminal. The building liquidators and the antique dealers are drooling.
stephen 12-Sep-2007 23:45
I went to the grade school that was next door and had my First Communion here in the mid 60's
Francis 19-Jan-2004 14:17
What a shame that the Diocese of Buffalo does not appreciate the gems they have/had. With dynamic clergy who are more than curators or confecting agents of the sacraments, these once vibrant churches could again be the source and summit of Eucharistic fervor. Congregartions dwindle when they are no longer fed. One need only look at Protestant congregations to see that people will drive many miles to be fed spiritually. It is a shame that the Catholic church of Buffalo fails to see this trend as something to be reckoned with. Churches such as this or the beautiful Trasfiguration only needed dynamic leadership to fill the pews. Does it follow that there are no more dynamic priests in Buffalo except the ones that already are proving this point in their respective churches?