Dates in St. Thomas the Apostle History:

• January 26th, 1939: The late Archbishop of Newark, Thomas Joseph Walsh, canonically established the parish of St. Thomas the Apostle in the Brookdale section of Bloomfield

• June 17, 1939: Father Thomas J. Herron received the letter designating him the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle

• Sunday, June 25, 1939: The first parish Mass was celebrated by Father Herron

• July 23, 1939: The first benefit was held for the Church and this was followed by a family picnic

• August 6, 1939: Ground was broken for construction of the church school building

• August 17, 1939: The parish corporation was formed

• October 15, 1939: Cornerstone was laid for the new church and school building

• December of 1939: The Confraternity of the Holy Rosary was organized

• March 31, 1940: Dedication of St. Thomas the Apostle Church by Archbishop Walsh

• September 1940: The School opened

• October 1940: The Convent's Construction was complete

• February 16, 1946: Funeral Mass for Father Thomas Herron

• December 5, 1955: Archbishop gave his approval to the building of the new Church in a letter to Father Magnier

• February 21, 1960: Father Magnier offered the first Mass in the new Church

• March 26, 1960: The cornerstone laying and the formal dedication and opening of the new Church

• June 1975: Jose Barrios became the first man from the Newark Archdiocese to the permanent diaconate and was assigned to St. Thomas