Parish History

St. Clare of Assisi Parish was established on May 19, 1963 under the loving, spiritual leadership of Fr. John Dollard. It was originally called St. Clara and later changed to St. Clare of Assisi. As a small country parish, three hundred and twenty-nine families from Ballwin, Chesterfield and Ellisville worshiped as a community for the first time in the Passionist Convent Chapel on September 1, 1963. The church was built on the present site and dedicated by Joseph Cardinal Ritter, Archbishop of St. Louis, on August 11, 1965. Msgr. John Dollard remained as pastor until his death in January 1993. Rev. Richard Buchheit assumed the responsibilities in June 1993 and then passed the job to Fr. Richard Hanneke in November 1994. Our present pastor, Msgr. Kevin Callahan, took the position in January 2005.

Our first educational building was completed with eight classrooms in 1965 and was used for Parish School of Religion. St. Clare of Assisi School opened in September 1979 for 73 students in grades kindergarten through third. After that, the parish added a grade to the school each year. The second building was erected in 1983. The first graduating class was in 1985. The western wing was added in 1997 and the cafeteria/dining hall was completed for the school year 2001-2002. Today, 410 children in grades kindergarten through eighth grade are educated in our parish school and 318 in our Parish School of Religion. Our Pre-School started in this school year, 2010-2011, and has 17 three and four-year olds enrolled.