St. John Fisher Catholic Chapel – East Bay, Huron

The first celebration of Mass at East Bay in Huron, NY, took place on August 6, 1933, Reverend Lawrence Casey officiating. About seventy people attended. This attendance number continued, showing the need to build a chapel for the East Bay community. St. John Fisher Chapel was erected in 1935 on Garner Road. 

Bearing the name of the English martyr, St. John Fisher, it is believed the chapel, named by Archbishop Mooney of the Rochester Diocese, was the first in the diocese to be honored with the Saint’s name, and perhaps in the world. The Chapel congregation celebrated mass every Sunday during the summer months at 8:30 am.  

Attendance diminishing, the chapel was sold in 1985 and converted into a single-family home.

So, who was St. John Fisher?  Canonized by Pope Pius XI, John Fisher (1469-1535) was an English Catholic Cardinal - Bishop of Rochester, England. He was also an academic and Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Fisher was executed by an order of Henry VIII for refusing to accept Henry as the supreme head of the Church of England. Fisher became a Cardinal shortly before his death. Honored as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church, Bishop shares his feast day with Thomas More (1478-1535) who was also executed for the same reason as Fisher.