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Father August W. Vandebilt
Knights Of Columbus
4th Degree Assembly # 2322



Father August Wynand Vandebilt
Pastor Of St. Francis de Sales in Houma 1914-1938
Page 2




In 1926, a hurricane of extraordinary violence swept in from the Gulf and struck the city of Houma. It left in its wake a mass of wreckage and destruction amidst this was the old church of St. Francis de Sales. At night during the height of the storm the bell of the church began to toll, as the tower built by Father Vandebilt to house a bell presented by Mrs. Emile Daigle, was shaken on the foundation. Finally, above the howling wind could be heard the crash of falling masonry as the tower collapsed. The bell had tolled the death of the Old Church.

From that day on Father Vandebilt dreamed of a new church "A simple village church" he called it; but he was a native of Europe where village churches are often massive and large structures and that what he had in mind. The damage to the old church was repaired and Father Vandebilt set out to work collecting money for the new and more fitting building in which to offer the Sacrifice of our Faith. I wish I could say that the money poured in, but it did not. The people of Houma have never been overly generous with their church and Father Vandebilt raised the necessary funds cent by cent. In the end he put his life's savings, seven thousand dollars, into the building fund, and had to raise forty-five thousand dollars by issuing mortgage bonds on the church Archbishop Rummel property. At last in 1936 the old church was torn down, the cornerstone of the new one blesses and laid by, and the building raised. The new church, the present magnificent structure was blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Rummel in 1938; and Father Vandebilt life work was at end. Shortly afterward he sickened and died on April 7, 1938.

Such briefly is the life and work of a man from Holland who devoted himself to the salvation of souls in Louisiana. Sometimes the people of Houma failed to understand him, but as his first assistant Bishop Greco said once in my hearing he was with all his foible and faults, a very priestly and zealous man. In 1965 Vandebilt Catholic High School was dedicated in Honor of Father Vandebilt and has an enrollment of 800 students.

That simple church that Father Vandebilt built between 1936-1938 for $114,857.00 serve today as St. Francis de Sales Cathedral for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

Information found in
The Historical Research Center
Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
205 Audubon Avenue
Thibodaux, LA 70361
The Story of St. Francis de Sales
1847-1947
By: Rev. Frederick J. Pooley
Published by:
The Houma Courier Publishing Co. Inc.
Researched and compiled by:
Milton J. Champton Jr. P.F.N.


Email: vandebilt2322@hotmail.com