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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> 1960 to 1969 Miami Area Historical Photos Gallery - click on image to view > 1968 - Holy Family Catholic Church in North Miami
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FEB-1968 © 1968 Dave Kleylein

1968 - Holy Family Catholic Church in North Miami

14500 NE 11 Avenue, North Miami, Florida


Thank you to former Miamian Dave Kleylein (William Jennings Bryan Elementary, North Miami Junior High, North Miami High, and Norland High Class of 1962) for contributing this image.

Dave says his took this photo not long after the church was completed.


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Carolina Rucks 18-Sep-2016 15:29
Wow.....the Rucks Dairy you mention was started by my great grandfather Otis Marshall RUCKS I. He came all the way from Dekalb County, Alabama from up on Sand Mountain to dairy farm at that location in the early 1920's. He eventually relocated to Dania and built a dairy there. The 1926 Miami Hurricane happened and the young family was injured when their farm house came off it's foundation. Otis's wife Corrye was pregnant and after her back was broken she never recovered and passed away 44 days later. Otis was left with a very young son, Earl. He began to drink to ease the loss but after coaxing from family members he came clean and remarried. When the years passed by and property values sky rocketed he helped his oldest son start a new dairy called Margate Dairy in Okeechobee. Otis passed away in 1964 leaving behind a son dairy farming legacy that thrives among his relatives today.
Don Boyd18-Oct-2010 13:44
Eleanor, thank you very much for posting your great memories of the church and some history about it. And thank you for your old memories of the North Miami area too so the readers can have a better idea of what life was like when you were young. : )

Don
eleanor pinder 15-Oct-2010 23:15
I came across this by accident & would like to say I & my husband & in laws were part of the people who physically help the building of the original holy family church which is now the hall. this was a beautiful area & parish & our first pastor was a fantastic priest named Msgr Ratsatter . a robust Irish priest, this parish was started with the help of dances, bake sales, various shows that were put on by all the parishers, most of us were young families, many veterans of world war two, people who migrated to north miami after the war. we had Irish,Italians, & native floridians some born in the area, some from Key West is where my husband & his parents &. brothers were born previous to the church being built Mass was held in private homes,or a cow barn that was on NE 6 av,which was a dairy farm called Rucks dairy where we sat on hard benches on sunday morning to attend Mass. North Miam was a small town, where every one knew everybody, The city hall was an oldie goldie beautiful city hall where you could walk in & out of & have coffee with the then Mayor who was a gentleman named McBain Holy Family had a womans club, a mens club, a youth group, an ushers club, you name it & we had it. I like many MOMS was a room mother, treat day lady, gofa for the nuns, I knew Randall Malke who said he graduated in 1961, as he & my daughter Holly, were in the same class, Neither my husband or myself cared for the new church as the builder took advantage of the parish & overcharged the parish plus did a lousy crummy job. I wont tell you who the builder was but he truly screwed the parish & was also a parishoner., Saint James was built later , then Saint Lawrence up in North Miami beach near Greynolds park, In parting I will say these were wonderful times, you never locked your door, many children road horses to school back in tha early 40', the area was made up of many farms, 6th. ave was a one lane highway & in some areas there were no roads,& very few cars. it was country, country, country oh how I wish I could go back. children were children & respected God,Parents, friends, & country & saluted the flag God Blees America & our troops.
Christopher 10-Oct-2010 02:31
My family had been attending this church since I can remember till the 1970's.. Started at the old church.. We lived in the neghborhood, and I remember the plumbing contractor for this church my dad worked for. So I remember this being built, and bringing my dad lunches there.. At first.. it was a baby poop yellow.Christopher
Stephen B. 15-Jul-2009 07:13
I also attended William Jennings Bryan Elementary like Mr. Kleylein.
Stephen B. 15-Jul-2009 07:12
WOW. I stumbled upon this website due to my interest in the history of Miami, and seeing this picture, well really shocked me. I'm only 15 years old, and I grew up in this area. The church is still standing to this day, and it still looks the same!
Don Boyd23-Dec-2008 06:05
My pleasure, Jon. Thanks to some photo contributors we've managed to come up with a pretty good collection so far.

Don
Jon 23-Dec-2008 02:35
I graduated from Holy Family School in 1972, and was married in this church in 1979. As an acolyte I spent a lot of time inside the church, and really liked the stripped down post-Vatican II interior. The exterior walls here are just starting to be stained by the sprinkler water pumped from a well. I believe this building was completed in 1966.

Thank you Mr. Boyd for publishing this pictures of the world I grew up in. Maybe I will find a few of my own to contribute
Randy 14-Dec-2008 12:29
We went to Saint James further on down 7th Ave. Don't think it's too safe around there any more. When we moved to the county, I went to Annunciation for a while then on to public school. After that, we moved to Hollywood and I went to Chaminade HS back when it was all boys. Those were great days, that's why both of my children are enrolled in Trinity Cath here in Tallahassee.

Places change and even churches have to give up on a community.
Randall Matke 05-Jul-2008 03:01
I graduated from Holy Family in 1961, when we had Mass in what is now the parish hall. From the beginning, I thought the "new" church was ugly, and my opinion was confirmed years later by a Jewish friend of mine who called it a "big green cork". Three months ago (April 2008), I was visiting South Florida for the first time in years, and took a drive through my old neighborhood. The paint was faded, so the big green cork was now brown. They had two Masses in Creole, one in Spanish, and only one or two in English.