Saint Hilary Parish and School collection

In 1926, Cardinal Mundelein selected Father James O'Brien as the founding pastor of Saint Hilary Parish to serve parishioners who were populating the new Budlawn Woods subdivision which had been the wooded area of a pickle farm. In 1928, on the day after the cardinal dedicated the school, the Benedictine Sisters of Chicago were teaching 132 pupils at Saint Hilary. The first principal was Sister Theresa Sweiger, OSB who served from 1928-1930. The early faculty included Sister Victoria Link, OSB, Sister Constance Matern, OSB, and Sister Anthony Hrusovsky, OSB. By 1936, there were 12 teachers and 564 students.

In 1954, Saint Hilary on the north side and Most Holy Redeemer on the south side began teaching students who were visually impaired, teaching them Braille and preparing them for mainstream classroom settings. For Saint Hilary School, Sister Agnes Therese Kulovitz, OSB and Sister Winifred Sommer, OSB trained at Catholic University in Washington, DC for this work which they practiced at Saint Hilary School in Chicago for 10 years.

Cardinal Stritch dedicated the new church building on June 10, 1956, 30 years after Father O'Brien had said the first mass in the portable chapel on Lincoln Avenue which had served the parish since 1926.

Sister Dolores Schorsch, OSB, along with Father Richard Burke, organized the North-East Council of the Interfaith Ministry in the 1970s. This group coordinated unifying activities among Catholic, Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Episcopal, Evangelical Covenant Church of America, Seventh Day Adventist, Chaldean Rite, and Methodist groups.

Sister Jane Smith, OSB had the longest tenure as principal, 1969-1980.