The earliest record we have for the founding of St. Joseph's Parish
is the Baptismal Register which begins in 1939 with Fr. Dale McGinnis,
S.J. being the priest whose name appears in the registry. Within a
year or two the name of Fr. James Kelly, S.J. appears and within a
year or two only his name remains. At that time all the baptisms were
either in Bridgeport or Lee Vining. Fr. McGinnis and Fr. Kelly loved
the outdoors and would come up to Mono County to enjoy all that nature
afforded in the high Eastern Sierra but both were also very committed
to their priesthood and would say Mass for the visitors on weekends.
Although the Parish was probably started by Fr. McGinnis, Fr. Kelly
seems to have been the one who really formed the parish as such.
The exact date at which this area became a parish is not known.
The area was canonically under the auspices of the Sacramento Diocese.
But when the Diocese of Stockton was formed in January, 1962, Mono
County became canonically part of the Stockton Diocese. It was also
in this year that Fr. Jim Kelly retired as pastor and Fr. Thomas
Savage, S.J. was sent to replace him. He remained Pastor until August
15, 1983 when Fr. Andrew C. Dachauer, S.J. was appointed pastor
to replace him. In the summer of 1987, Brother Daniel C. Corona,
S.J. was assigned here by the Provincial to be special Assistant
to the Pastor.
Fr. Kelly oversaw the building of the church in Mammoth Lakes,
in Lee Vining and in Bridgeport. He also built a rectory in Lee
Vining which, in the fifties, was the center of the Parish, which
was then known as Our Savior of the Mountains Parish. In 1984, Fr.
Dachauer asked the Bishop, at that time Roger Mahony (now Cardinal
and Archbishop of Los Angeles) if the seat of the parish could be
assigned to Mammoth Lakes. Lee Vining, which had been an important
town in the 30's, 40's and 50's because of its location at the foot
of Tioga Pass, the Eastern Portal to Yosemite, had only a population
of 375 people while Mammoth Lakes had a population of approximately
5000 people. It was simply a matter of the tail wagging the dog.
Permission was granted and thus St. Joseph's in Mammoth Lakes became
the seat of the Parish.
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