Fr. Battersby Council #7586 Home Page

Council History

Click the links below to learn more about our Council, Father Edmund Battersby or the Knights of Columbus

Father Edmund Battersby - Parish Priest

Father Battersby Council #7586

Two years after Pope John Paul ll was elected pope, Ed Skop a parishioner of St. Joseph Church and past grand knight of Msgr. Hunt Council in Dearborn, Michigan and Felix Trzcienski, District Deputy contacted Father Vogan pastor of St. Joseph Church in South Lyon, Michigan about starting a new council. Through their efforts the council was formed. It was decided that the new council would be named Father Edmund Battersby after the former pastor of St. Joseph Church. Father Battersby served as pastor during the 1960’s. He passed away May 24, 1977 at the age of fifty-two and is buried at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery.

Twenty-nine years ago, on May 14, 1980, Father Battersby Council 7586 was started with forty-three charter members at St. Joseph Church in South Lyon, Michigan. Their purpose was to help Catholic men remain steadfast in their faith through mutual encouragement, provide an insurance system for widows and children, serve our church, community, families and children through worthwhile programs and promote closer ties of fraternity among its members. On May 5, 1981 Thomas Clark, state secretary, presented the charter to the council. Shortly after, the Ladies Auxiliary was formed to support the council and parish. Later, the Squires Circle was established for boys 12 to 18 years of age. Today the council has a strong membership of 165 Knights who join together celebrating the principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism.

The members of the Father Battersby Council provide support for many Parish activities---ushers, Parish Pastoral Commissions, Youth Ministry, lectors, and ministers. The council sponsors social activities throughout the year: Events to raise money for RSVP Vocations and Boysville; The annual Mental Impairment Drive (Tootsie Roll Drive) which raises funds that support local organizations for the mentally challenged; a basketball free throw event; and the annual Crop Walk. The council continues today what the charter members started twenty-five years ago: To be Catholic charitable gentlemen helping St. Joseph parish and the South Lyon community. It becomes quite obvious that the benefits of our Order have made a difference in the lives of not only our council members, but also in the life of our parish and community. We can look forward to the future with pride as we continue to perform the work begun in 1882 by our founder Father Michael J. McGivney. (top)

Father Edmund Battersby - Parish Priest

Father Edmund O’Meara Battersby was born in Windsor, Ontario on October 31, 1924. He was the third son of Edmund L. and Winifred M. Battersby. Father Battersby studied for the priesthood at Sacred Heart Seminary, Detroit; Mt. St. Mary’s, Norwood, Ohio; and Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan. He completed his studies and was ordained on May 21, 1949 by Cardinal Edward Mooney. Father’s first assignment was associate pastor at St. John the Baptist in Monroe, Michigan. Next he was assigned to Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, Michigan. He also held a variety of other positions, including: teacher at Sacred Heart Seminary High School, assistant director for Propagation of the Faith; Director of Information, A.O.D., professor at Sacred Heart Seminary; civilian chaplain at Grosse Isle Naval Base and director of the Michigan Conference of Catholic Men and the Holy Name Society.

Father Battersby came to South Lyon from Detroit where he was director of the information bureau of the Archdiocese of Detroit for eleven years. He was the first resident pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church upon its attaining full parish standing on September 1, 1965. Although the plans had been laid and property purchased for the new church prior to his arrival, the new church and rectory at 830 S. Lafayette Street were built under his leadership. He became the first pastor to live in the new rectory, which served as a parish office and reception center as well. The church groundbreaking was on July 17, 1966 and was completed with the dedication and blessing on December 20, 1966 by John Cardinal Dearden.

“Becoming a parish with a full-time resident pastor after more than 85 years as a mission church was a long overdue recognition for the Roman Catholics in the South Lyon area”, according to Father Edmund Battersby. Advantages of parish standing included the availability of a constant supply of spiritual attention to the parishioners. It allowed for daily Masses rather than just Sunday services and more frequent devotions. The biggest advantage, according to Father Battersby, was that it allowed closer contact with the church for the parishioner. “A new church does move people to buy homes in a particular area and residential growth is presently greatest up to the Northville area. It’s logical that the next step is out here,” concluded Father Battersby.

Father Battersby’s next assignment was pastor of St. Monica’s in Detroit and as co-pastor at Royal Oak St. Mary’s. In 1975 he was named rector of St. Mary’s School for girls in Detroit.. In 1976 the very zealous and enterprising priest became the pastor of Saint Patrick’s Detroit inner city parish, which was a small parish whose treasury consisted of a wealth of friendly people of whom most survived on poverty incomes. Father Battersby had been like a twentieth century genie. He needed no magic lamp; just his warm personality kindled the fires of friendship.

Father Battersby became ill and died on May 24, 1977, and was buried May 27, 1977. When the Mass of the Resurrection ended, Bishop Walter Schoenherr, D.D., led the congregation in a procession up the city street for a half block. At that spot was a senior citizen park that was blessed by the Bishop and given the title, “ST. PATRICK’S GREEN”. The coffin, with the body of the late pastor, rested on the city sidewalk beside the recently sodded plot of the newly blessed park grounds.

When the park blessing was completed, friends of the city and the neighborhood organizations paid tribute to Father Battersby in speeches and concluded with the song, “BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC”. The mile long funeral procession moved silently to Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Southfield, Michigan. (top)

Knights of Columbus History

On Oct. 2, 1881, a small group of men met in the basement of St. Mary's Church on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut. Called together by their 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, these men formed a fraternal society that would one day become the world's largest Catholic family fraternal service organization. They sought strength in solidarity, and security through unity of purpose and devotion to a holy cause: they vowed to be defenders of their country, their families and their faith. These men were bound together by the ideal of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the Americas, the one whose hand brought Christianity to the New World. Their efforts came to fruition with the incorporation of the Knights of Columbus on March 29, 1882. (top)