Parish History

First Mass was celebrated in a hall in North Bend, May 20, 1891 by Fr. Giroux from Snohomish.  Other masses were celebrated in the home of Conail Fury in Snoqualmie, and in stores and homes of other parishioners.  In 1902 Ella Margaret Carroll was the first person baptized on February 27, 1902 by Fr. John E. O’Brien.  The first marriage recorded was that of William Fury and Frances Brickenridge, August 19, 1919, witnessed by Rev. William Carey. The first Confirmation was on May 4, 1932 by Bishop McGrath of Baker City, Oregon.

Established as a parish on July 25, 1929.  Rev. Michael Rosol was the first pastor.  The rectory was built in 1929. Until it was completed Fr. Rosol lived at Meadowbrook Hotel in Snoqualmie.  It was reported that there was great animosity towards Catholics in the valley in the early 1900’s.   It was a time that the Ku Klux Klan were active but animosity lessened when William O’Neil, a strong Catholic, became manager of the mill and many Catholic activities were held in the mill hall.   Early religious education for children was on Saturday mornings taught by the Sisters of Charity, and later by the Dominican Sisters, and as the parish grew parents and volunteers took on this responsibility.  Fr. Rosol was replaced by Rev. Michael Mead in 1935 – 1949.  Fr. Patrick McNerney was pastor until 1956 and Fr. Daniel McAllister served as pastor from 1956 to 1961.  Little of the history is recorded in this time.

It was reported that Fr. Thomas Delahunty (1967-1975), next pastor was faced with a very difficult time with many changes in the church following Vatican II.

Father Lester McCloskey was assigned pastor (1975-1980).  Under his direction renovations to the worship space took place and the moving of the rectory and the construction of the parish hall.

Rev. Gerald Moffat, pastor (1980-1992) completed the worship space renovation, the ramp, and completed the sacristy construction.  He also implemented additional commissions to carry out the parish mission.

Fr. Jan Larson (1992-2007) was assigned as 8th pastor of OLOS. After retirement in 2007 he continues to assist on weekends at the parish.  He emphasized hospitality and had a great appreciation of the liturgy which he shared with the parish.

Our ninth pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows arrived July 1, 2007.  The parish had searched for property to build a church for the previous 15 years. Under his direction and the advice of the Pastoral Council and the Finance Council, the parish purchased 10 acres of land at the Cascade Golf Course near North Bend in 2009 and also celebrated its 80th Anniversary.

Fr. Roy Baroma was assigned as the Priest Administrator, then was appointed as the parish pastor by Archbishop Peter Sartain in June 2016. The parish was affected by the global economic and unemployment crisis. Thus, it affected financially in so many ways. The unexpected economic crisis and the zoning restrictions became apparent that the parish would not be able to pay off the property loan and the new zoning restrictions would limit the land use. Therefore, the property was sold.

     For more than eighty years, Our Lady of Sorrows Parish has been fulfilling its mission as a Catholic parish. At no time has the need for future planning been more important than today. The number of parishioners in our parish continues to grow as the ever-growing North Bend, Snoqualmie, Fall City, and Upper Preston areas become home to many new families.