Our History

In January of 1946, the Most Rev. Christopher E. Byrne, Bishop of Galveston, assigned Fr. Ralph Diefenbach to establish a new Church in Houston. The enthusiastic Fr. Ralph found a three-acre tract of land at Durham (now Durford) and Rodrigo Streets and immediately began to organize his new parishioners. On April 9, 1946, parishioners met for the first time at St. Thomas High School and, likely because of Fr. Ralph’s devotion to St. Theresa of Lisieux, christened the parish with her name.

On Palm Sunday, April 14, 1946, the parish’s first Mass was held at the auditorium of
Memorial Elementary School. This rental space would house the parish’s two weekend Masses
for over a year while Fr. Diefenbach resided and celebrated daily Mass at St. Thomas.

A vision for the parish’s facilities took shape over the next months. The crown jewel—to
use Fr. Ralph’s words, the pièce de résistance—was to be the present-day Church. In support of
the parish’s building projects, its 92 registered families gave generously and raised outside funds.
The first annual BBQ and Bazaar, a wild success, was held in July 1946 on the parish grounds.
Less than a year later, the parish school held a blessing and groundbreaking ceremony on April
20, 1947.

The parish’s second year, 1947-48, saw the beginning of classes in St. Theresa
Elementary School and of worship in the school building, which served as the first temporary
Church. Three Sisters of the Incarnate Word, including Sr. Theresita, the youngest, were tasked
with teaching 220 students in grades one through eight in just three classrooms. School parents
drove the sisters to and from their convent on Bissonnet every morning and afternoon until the
money for a station wagon was raised and Sr. Theresita learned to drive.

Meanwhile, Mass was first offered in the temporary Church on November 30, 1947. The
next year, St. Theresa Elementary School dedicated its beautiful north wing. The school’s open
house saw it proclaimed “the most modern school in America,” and by September 1948, 385
students were enrolled at three dollars per week per family.

The growing parish celebrated its first Mass in a second temporary space, the new school
auditorium, in April 1950. In this space, the first in the parish to have air conditioning, Fr. Ralph,
as well as Fr. C.J. Alleman, his newly-minted assistant pastor, would preside on weekends for
nine years. At the beginning of this era, both priests lived with Fr. Ralph’s parents at the corner
of Rodrigo and Durham Streets.

A temporary rectory went up in the early fifties, as did the white statue of St. Theresa that
stands at the center of the cross adorning the rose garden. Roses were chosen for the surrounding garden as a reminder of St. Theresa’s promise to “let fall a shower of roses—I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth.”

In 1957, the rapidly expanding parish, which now boasted four priests, began to raise 
funds for a Church building that would be used until its closure for renovations in 2017. With a
significant rearrangement following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Church would
stand for almost sixty years, embodying Fr. Ralph’s vision of a magnificent work of art. A pipe
organ and chimes, stained glass windows from Germany, and Stations of the Cross from Italy all
were fitted into place prior to the Church’s initial dedication on Christmas Eve 1959. Fr. Ralph,
who had experienced a fatal crash in his plane in June, did not live to see that day.

Between 1959 and the present year, 2019, eight pastors have followed Fr. Ralph. Below
are highlights from each of their respective tenures.

Fr. George V. Rhein, 1959-70, and Fr. John E. McCarthy, 1970-72
1960: Inaugural parish council meets.

1970: Senior Citizens Club organized.
Between 1970-72: Scout House, built by Fr. Ralph in 1953, was remodeled and affectionately
nicknamed the “Black Mac.”

Fr. Denis Lynch, 1972-77, and Fr. Edward Randall, 1977-82
The early 1970s: Bride’s room converted to cry room/”St. Denis Chapel.”
1973: Little Flower Thrift Shop opened on Washington Avenue; moved two blocks in 1991.
1974: Fr. Denis leads the hilarity as the debt-free Church’s mortgage papers are burned, New Year’s
Eve.
1977-81: The Korean Catholic community meets at St. Theresa for Mass until St. Andrew Kim
Catholic Church built and dedicated.

Between 1977-82: Anonymous donation secured; bronze mural with a sanctuary lamp
commissioned and installed.

Fr. Rodney Poythress, 1982-87, and Fr. Benjamin Smaistrla, 1987-2000
1999: Groundbreaking and blessing of new community center including cafeteria, offices,
meeting rooms, and a large hall.

Fr. Stephen Tiemann, 2000-05
Between 2000-05: Perpetual Adoration begins in the cry room, rechristened as Adoration Chapel.
Between 2000-05: The Cloister Garden of Biblical Plants was established between the Church and the
rectory (now the parish office). A memory of stones representing the beads of the rosary is
preserved through tiles in the new Church narthex, which was dedicated in 2019 and intended for use in
communal rosary prayer.

Fr. Philip P. Lloyd, 2006-June 30th, 2024
Between 2006-present: Master plan instituted for Church and school. Marked growth in school
enrollment.
2012-13: Capital Campaign Phase I completed. Fr. Diefenbach Fellowship Hall was created from
then-gym. The community center was renovated and repurposed as a gym.
2015-16: Capital Campaign Phase II begins; associated construction plans completed.
2017: Mass was celebrated in the gym until August 2019; the Church closed for renovation, and new school building construction began. Blessed Sacrament Chapel moved to an intimate space in
Fellowship Hall.
2019: Dedications of a new school building and renovated Church on August 7th and 14th,
respectively. Construction is to begin on the new rectory.

Fr. Vincent Tran, July-1, 2024 - Present