Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church - Beginnings

This week I have been talking with my friend Dixon Shrum, who is a lifelong member, and elder and trustee, of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.  We were initially talking about my post, two back, about Susan Lee Crabbe Hunt, and the Pitcairn-Crabbe Foundation. Dixon told me he is quite pleased with my research and article, which means so much to me, since he served as the President of Pitcairn-Crabbe for twelve years.

Well aware of my past service at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, he then related to me that when Shadyside was spearheading the creation of new Presbyterian churches in Allegheny County, a group of Shadyside members met in his parents' home, in about 1945-1946, to discuss starting the church in Fox Chapel.  

So, I asked Dixon where their house was.  And he described it and I knew which house he was talking about, immediately.  It is the big dressed-stone house high above Fox Chapel Road, (house number 350), with sweeping views of the Fox Chapel Golf Club course.  

Dixon said that his parents George Dixon Shrum and Erma Shrum had the house built starting on Labor Day Weekend in 1939, and it was completed in January of 1940.  Pretty remarkable for such a fine piece of architecture. The Shrums lived in their home until 1960, and Dixon grew up there. One of the later owners was Tony O'Reilly of H J Heinz, in the years 1971-1998, who used to commute to and from work in a helicopter.  (There is a helipad on the grounds of the house).  Currently it is the home of the famous racecar driver and team owner Chip Ganassi, whose mom, Marie, a very dear lady, was a member of Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church when I was serving there, and for many years before and after. 

This information about the start of Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church was all new news to me.  And I believe it might be new news for most of the people who are at Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church, today.  So I thought it would be good to make a note of it here, for future reference.  Church histories can get dimmed and forgotten if they are not written down and noted.  Thanks, Dixon, for sharing this with me!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...

So the Senior Tour is at Fox Chapel Golf Club, and so lunchtime today, Judy and I were back in the old neighborhood, watching the tournament (yes) but even more so that we could visit the familiar scenes of Fox Chapel, where we lived and where I worked for a decade when our children were young.

It is fun to point out landmarks, long shots of Downtown, as well as local features like Fox Chapel Road and Powers Run Road, or more specifically, "Martha and Bob's house" and other homes of Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church members, some of which are visible through the verdant landscape. We also scanned the edges of the crowds and believe we saw several good FCPC Presbyterians and other dear friends out there volunteering their help with the tournament logistics. It is a busy day, not only for the members of the Golf Club, but also the Field Club, Oakmont and Longue Vue, all of whom pitch in to help make big events like this one a success.

So many happy memories are wrapped up in seeing the Golf Club—where we spent some wonderful Christmas parties with Speed and Dee and their extended family, joined in with scores of brides and grooms as they celebrated their weddings, met for lunches to plan events at the church, gathered for dinner in celebration of my doctorate thanks to Dee and Speed and Dorothy, and were welcomed back with a festive party after being in Florida for some years by Dave and Christine and their family… Such wonderful times!

It is a cool day in Fox Chapel, per the commentators, and so as perfectly lovely of a summer's day as one hopes for in June in Pennsylvania. I have included a few photos, shall we say for nostalgia's sake.