Founding of our Assembly
On April 26th, 1988, a meeting was called by SK Charles Higgens to form a new Assembly. The meeting was held at St. Pius X Church. The meeting originated from a letter written by Charles Higgens to the District Master regarding establishing a new assembly. Presiding at this meeting was Edgar Tessier, District Master for District 2. Assisting were John Cardellina State Secretary and the following Past Faithful Navigators: Leonard Zimmerman, Vincent DeStasio, Walter Warner, Emil Pelech and Frank Burke.
The following Sir Knights were elected as charter officers of the new assembly:
Faithful Friar Fr. Robert R. Bryerton
Faithful Navigator Charles B. Higgens
Faithful Admiral Vincent A. DeStasio
Faithful Captain Edward W. Laconto
Faithful Pilot Eugene F. Mialki
Faithful Comptroller Norbert L. Fey
Faithful Scribe Ira S. Godwin
Faithful Purser Fred L. Guthrie
Faithful Inner Sentinel Gasper J. Pellerito
Faithful Outer Sentinel Guido LaViola
Faithful Trustee 3 yr Carl A. Jokerst
Faithful Trustee 2 yr Joseph V. Santa Lucia
Faithful Trustee 1 yr Walter C. Deyo
The name of the Assembly was voted to be the Monsignor James T. Weber Assembly. The meeting day was decided to the 3rd Thursday of each month at 7:30 PM. Dues were set at $15.00 with $10.00 going to the General Fund and $5.00 for the Chalice Fund.
The following obituary appeared in the Tucson Daily Citizen, Mar 5, 1988:
“The Very Rev. James T. Weber, the retired founding pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Roman Catholic Church here, died of a heart attack Thursday night in Phoenix.
Monsignor Weber suffered the attack while riding in a car and died later at Baptist Hospital. He was 71.
“He had a very gruff exterior, but a heart of gold and a heck of a sense of humor. He will be sorely missed by all of us,” said Mary Jane Pottebaum, a 25-year parishioner.
Monsignor Weber became the parish’s first pastor when it was established in 1961, and he continued as pastor until he retired early last year. After retiring, he was an archivist with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson.
He was born Feb. 10, 1917 in Evansville, Ind., and moved to Phoenix with his family in 1931. There he attended Brophy High School., then studied for the priesthood at St. Thomas Seminary, in Denver.
He was ordained a priest in 1941, and first was assigned briefly to Sacred Heart Parish in Nogales, Ariz. as assistant pastor. From 1941 until 1945 he was pastor of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament in Miami, Ariz.
The Rev. Jim Modeen of St. Frances Cabrini said Monsignor Weber suffered his first heart attack while in Miami, Ariz.
"He was a people’s priest. I think a lot of his health problems stemmed from the fact that he sank every ounce of energy into helping people.. He had worked very hard for the people in the mines (in Miami), improving working conditions and salaries”, Modeen said.
In 1979 he was elevated to monsignor by Pope John Paul II and was designated as an honorary prelate of His Holiness.
He is survived by his sister Denise Weber of Tucson.
A memorial Mass will be said at 7:30 p.m. Monday at St. Frances Cabrini, 3201 E. Presidio Road. The funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Frances Cabrini, followed by burial at Holy Hope Cemetery, 3555 N. Oracle Road.
On October 15, 1988, the Monsignor James T. Weber was chartered as assembly 2152 with a date of institution of October 15, 1988. The assembly’s affiliated councils are 5133, 6848, 8813 and 9380. The Charter members of the assembly are:
Charles B. Higgens Ira S. Godwin
Stephen F. Lado James D. Reedy
Carl A. Jokerst Frank W. Niehaus
Marvin F. Farmer Rev. Robert R. Bryerton
Fred L. Guthrie Rev. Robert G. Tamminga
Vincent De Stasio Ernest K. Conley
Martin Cinquemani Jack Ivans
Santo Cinquemani Guido La Viola
John H. Cardellina John W. Mc Intee
Emil T. Pelech Vernon Safford
Jerome Horkey Robert P. Hall
Norbert Fey John Peci
Richard S. Kozlowski Walter Deyo
Angel G. Ayala Joseph V. Santa Lucia
Arturo R. Ruiz Gasper Pellerito
Eugene F. Mialki Edward W. Laconto
Keith Van Voorhees Charles E. Knapp
Richard V. Jeffrey Albert F. Kuhm
Michael J. Hight Anthony P. Marino
William H. Montgomery
The first business meeting of the assembly was held on November 17th, 1988. At a meeting on December 15th, 1988, Faithful Navigator Charles Higgens presented the assembly a personal check for $1,000 to establish the Chalice Fund. Installation of charter officers was held on February 11th, 1989 at St. Frances De Sales Church. Eugene Mialki became the assembly’s first Color Corps Commander in February, 1989. SK Gasper Pellerito was appointed the first chairman of the Visitation of the Sick program.
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