The first Christian faith to be practised in the area known today as Lumby (originally White Valley) was Roman Catholicism. At first, services were conducted by missionary Father Pandosy, who travelled over the Aberdeen Lake trail to reach early settlers. Long before Vernon or Lumby were settled, Catholic missions thrived among Indigenous communities and a few non-Indigenous settlers, led by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), a French missionary order.

Before the OMI’s arrival, Jesuit missionaries made occasional visits across the province. Under orders from their Superior, Father Pandosy and Father Richard journeyed north from Colville, Washington, arriving on October 8, 1859 at what is now Kelowna’s Okanagan Mission.

Following the 1862 gold strike, the missionaries expanded their reach to include Cherry Creek (Cherryville) and later White Valley, also known then as Bull Meadows, travelling over mountains via Mission Creek. French settler Pierre (Peter) Bessette offered his home’s dining room for Mass. This space was used as a church until 1892, when his brother Napoleon Bessette and son Nap built the first dedicated church on Pierre’s land—now the site of the Lumby Catholic cemetery. Visiting priests stayed at the Bessette home, and the first public school was built that same year just west of the church.

From the recollections of Annie Ward, as told to her nephew Peter Ward:

“Just a mile from where Lumby is now, there was a small school, a cemetery, and a church. The big bell in today’s Sacred Heart Church came from France and was first hung on a log frame beside the old church. You could hear it all the way to Harris Creek and Blue Springs where Grandpa, Jean Baptiste Deschamps, started farming.”

“We lived pretty simply then. Mother delivered babies—home births were normal. Deaths, too, happened at home. When someone died, the body remained in the front room until burial. You prayed a good deal. We prayed in French every night and morning. Sometimes after the lamps were out, Mother led the rosary from her room and we responded from ours—it made the whole house seem to pray.”

The original 1892 church was in use for 29 years, but by 1912, it was clear that it was too small, too remote, and lacked water. Plans for a new church were delayed due to World War I, though land was acquired from the area near what would later become the Shell Service Station in the 1970s.

A house on the new property served as the priest’s residence. When building finally began, Father Carroll (1921–22) traded lots to acquire land on Park Avenue. Materials and labour were largely donated. Parishioners excavated the basement using horses, wagons, and scrapers. The basement became the first active church space, and Jean Murphy Hepburn was the first baby baptized there.

Donated Efforts:

• Lumber: The Gallon family milled 2,000 feet of tamarack; other families contributing included the Quesnels, LeFrancois, LeBlancs, Bourcets, Legers, and more.

• Volunteers: Directed by O. Bonneville and N. Bessette.