In the early 1900s, a community of 12 Catholic families living in Geneva— at the time a small town of just over 2000 residents— petitioned the Diocese of Cleveland for their own parish so that they could have regular Mass. After a meeting with the community, the diocese arranged for travelling priests from the surrounding area to celebrate Mass in the homes of the Geneva families.
Assumption Mission Church was formally established on July 7, 1915, as a mission of Painesville’s St. Mary Parish. The mission, which had grown to 35 families, became Assumption Parish on April 27, 1922. Seven-and-a-half acres were purchased the same year and construction began on the first parish building, completed five years later and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin’s Assumption on September 25, 1927.
The construction of a parish school began on Ash Wednesday in 1953 and opened in September of 1957, with more than 150 registered students being taught by the Sisters of the Congregation of the Divine Spirit, who staffed the school until 1992. By the parish’s Golden Jubilee in 1965, there were approximately 450 families in the congregation. In 2004, due to declining enrollments, the parish school began a shrinking program to encompass kindergarten to third grade.
The school remained open for another 11 years until June 2015, when it closed. During the same period, the parish also initiated a grief support group, a young mothers’ group, and a neo-catechumenate group to support the congregation. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the parish received several donations and upgrades, including the donation of grand piano, upgrades to the parish offices and rectory and the building of a chapel within the parish for the celebration of daily Mass.
The parish will celebrate its 110th anniversary in September, 2025. The parish’s name reflects the Catholic doctrine of Mary’s bodily Assumption into heaven at the end of her life, and our faith in the Resurrection of the Body through Jesus Christ.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
