Our History
Immaculate Conception Parish had its beginnings in Fyfe Lake, a community 22 km from Prince George, during the 1950s. St. Anne’s Church was built by Henri Bachand and others, and was served by priests in the Prince George area. There were a considerable number of French speaking Catholics living at Fyfe Lake who had come to the area when the forestry industry was developing. Family names like: Bachand, St. Amand, Cote, Plouffe, Parent, and Rancourt, were some of the founding families of Immaculate Conception Parish. When the mill closed the families moved into the city of Prince George where forestry was beginning to boom.
Bishop O’Grady had Domano Chapel built in the early 60s. Domano was a word coined by Bishop O’Grady from Domine Mano Nobiscum which means "O Lord Remain with us", which became Bishop O’Grady’s motto.
With the influx of volunteers, the Frontier Apostles, who came at the invitation of Bishop O’Grady; to serve as teachers, nurses, carpenters, bus drivers, etc., the community grew. Sunday Mass was celebrated in Domano chapel by Bishop O’Grady, Fr. Clenaghan and many other priests. It was known as Domano Parish. As the congregation grew a hall was built to accommodate the growing numbers. Fr. Jim Glendon was Pastor of Domano Parish in the 70s.
The construction of the church of the Immaculate Conception was a vision of the late Bishop Fergus O’Grady, O.M.I., for the expanding area of the city. Bishop O’Grady chose the site and in 1976 the building of the church and hall sections started of the proposed building plan. Fr. Glendon completed this task with the help of the Matte Bros., McIntoshs, Fullers and many others. When the Church was completed Bishop O’Grady named the parish The Church of the Immaculate Conception and it was consecrated on June 26, 1977.
As Bishop O’Grady predicted, the surrounding area began to develop with new residences being built, thus we have Tony, Parent and Henry Roads, along with many others named after those who resided in the area.
Fr. Forde became the new Pastor in 1979. Bishop O’Grady asked Fr. Forde to build a school. Again the founding families and many others contributed to the building of the school – Immaculate Conception School opened in 1981.
Displayed on the church corridor wall are pictures of pastors at Immaculate Conception Church.
| Fr. Jim Glendon | 1975-1979 |
| Fr. Nick Forde | 1979-1995 |
| Fr. Pier Pandolfo | 1995-2002 |
| Fr. Jose Joaquin | 2002-2003 |
| Fr. Mappilanparambil | 2003-2005 |
| Fr. Polotan | 2005-2006 |
| Fr. Tom Shymko | 2006-2013 |
| Fr. Chris Lynch | Aug 2013-Jul 2022 |
|
Fr. John Garden |
Aug 1, 2022 to present Aug 4, 2023 to present |
The parish owes a great debt of gratitude to those original families who today continue to support all parish endeavours. To them “Deo Gratias” - Thanks be to God.