Father Emil J. Kapaun
History of Fr. Emil Kapaun Council No. 3744
Father Emil J. Kapaun
Our Council was named for the heroic US Army Chaplain, Father
Emil Kapaun, discussed in The Heroic
Chaplain a web page on the
Soldiers
website. You can find more details about Father Kapaun on the
California War Veterans web
site, including what you can do to help elevate Father Kapaun to Sainthood.
Brother John Wilson, of Council #3744, gives an
accounting of Father
Emil Kapaun in his condensed version of the book The Story
of Chaplain Kapaun Patriot Priest of the Korean Conflict,
a book by Father Arthur Tonne.
THE HISTORY OF
COUNCIL 3744 Back in 1953, Westchester was a fledgling
community where rows of houses and apartments were swiftly
replacing the bean fields and empty lots. State Deputy
Bernard Loughman saw a need for a Knights of Columbus council in
the area to serve the growing population, and he assigned
his chairman for New Council Development, Rudy C. Wittal,
the task of forming a new council.
Rudy Wittal, Charles Spencer, District Deputy Clyde Long and
Robert Tucker publicized their cause from the pulpits of
the local parishes and in booths at community fairs. Rudy
visited each potential member at his home. Rudy was joined by his
wife, Carol, who invited the prospective member's wife to
join the Ladies of Columbus.
The first meetings for organizing the new council were held in
Rudy's garage. Then on October 20, 1953, the first one
hundred members were inducted into the Order in a
ceremony held at the Westchester Women's Club. The pastor of
Visitation parish, Fr. Thomas J. O'Sullivan (who became
Msgr. Sullivan) served as Chaplain. Also on this date, the
first officers were elected, including Rudy Wittal as the Charter
Grand Knight. Following a Second and a Third Degree
Exemplification held at Council 621 on November 17,
the council had the required number of full Knights to apply for
its charter.
Inspired by an article on the life of Fr. Emil Kapaun that
appeared in the newspaper, the members voted to rename the
Westchester council after the heroic Chaplain of the
Korean War. Fr. Thomas J. O'Sullivan served faithfully as the
council's Chaplain during the first year, after which Fr. Charles
Harmon of St. Jerome parish was appointed Chaplain. Fr. Harmon
served as Chaplain for over four years.
The council calendar of activities started off slowly with
fundraising dances, but within a few years offered a full
calendar of council and district activities for its
members' participation. These included bowling (the council had
three bowling teams), retreats at the Serra Retreat House, a
Christmas Party at the Nazareth House for orphans and
Quarterly Communions followed by breakfasts at local restaurants.
The council was consistently one of the top ticket sellers in the
chapter for Rancho San Antonio and twice received St.
Anthony statues for placing first in the chapter.
At first, regular council meetings were held at the Women's Club,
while the social events were held elsewhere, usually at an
American Legion hall on Lincoln Blvd.. After two years,
the council decided to hold all of its meetings at the
American Legion, and it did so for the next five years.
Finally, the members had enough of renting, and decided it was
time for the council to build its own hall. Several
locations and hall designs were considered, and they
decided to build on a partially developed block on Manchester
Ave. in Playa Del Rey.
The hall was paid for by soliciting $25,000 in bonds from its
members, and taking out a $10,000 loan from the bank.
Grand Knight Joseph Van Dusen conducted the ground
breaking ceremony. The hall was built in just one year.
Dozens of members volunteered their labor and talents in
plumbing, painting, paneling, electrical wiring, and
constructing the bar and kitchen so that the council hall was
literally built and finished by the members themselves with very
little hired help.
Under Grand Knight Julius Lazok, the council held its first
meetings at the completed hall in September, 1959. The
flag-raising and dedication ceremonies were conducted in
November. From then on, regularly held dances, including the
Spring Luau, Clergy Night and Past Grand Knight Dinners,
Christmas and New Year's parties, and community Fish Fries
were held in the new hall.
After a year of searching for a new Chaplain to replace Fr.
Harmon, who had been reassigned to a new parish, on August
2, 1960, Fr. Clement Schneider, S.J., from Loyola
Marymount University accepted the office. His devotion to our
council would be demonstrated by his incomparable attendance
record during his 31 years of service. He faithfully
attended ninety percent of the hundreds of council meetings until
he passed away on All Saint's Day in 1991.
During the first Luau in the new hall, the council awarded its
first Chris Award to Past Grand Knight Joe Van Dusen; Knight of
the Month Awards were added a few years later and
continued for about ten years. In 1962, the council
chartered Boy Scout Troop 134, which helped dozens of boys reach
the rank of Eagle during the next 23 years.
During the 1960's, the Nocturnal Adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament at St. Anastasia was a great commitment. Teams
of five Knights took one-hour shifts day and night for 38 hours
during the first weekend of each month. The Clergy Night
Dinners also became popular during this time (largely due
to the sports celebrities that were invited to speak),
although they were only open to Knights, their sons, and priests.
It wasn't until 1973 that the officers realized that the council
hall was situated on land that they were still renting, so
additional bonds were sold during the following year to
buy the land underneath the hall and the parking lot. Then
in 1975, the council was able to pay off the original
bondholders, and Council 3744 finally had a hall of its own.
In 1975, the golfers started holding tournaments and awarding a
perpetual trophy for the low net of the year in honor of Past
Grand Knight Alex Stevenson.
With the hall paid for, and with advertisers paying for the cost
of the monthly bulletin, the council was able to increase
its charitable programs in the early 1980's -- including
annual scholarships to graduating students of the four schools in
the Westchester area and Kapaun Mount Carmel High School
in Wichita, Kansas and aid to local seminarians though the RSVP
program. Subsequently, in 1980, the first Family of the Year
Award was awarded to Past Grand Knight Tom Jones.
On May 21, 1985, the council's newly-formed First Degree
ceremonial team inducted 20 new members into our council.
This class would be known as both the largest group of
inductees in recent years and the most active and productive;
four of the members of that class have become Grand Knights and
four others became officers or chairmen in the council.
Our council was proud to have a role in two recent events of
national importance; we were assigned a block in which we
served as crowd control during our Holy Father's motorcade
through the streets of Los Angeles in 1987, and we helped the
State Council raise money for a float in the Rose Bowl
Parade honoring the Columbian Quincentennial of 1992.
Today, the Fr. Emil Kapaun Council has about fifty program
committees and holds over seventy meetings and activities
each year for the enjoyment and edification of its
members, not counting the dozens of additional events attended by
officers and Fourth Degree members. Our council is proud to have
earned the Supreme Council's top award, the Star Council
Award, for Columbian Years 1989-1990, 1993-1994, 1995-1996 and
1999-2000. The successful member recruitment efforts of the past
few years have raised our membership to 324 members; surpassing
our previous record that was achieved thirty years ago.
As we progress toward our first half-century and beyond, we pray
for God's inspiration and guidance in doing our works of Charity,
Unity, Fraternity continued and Patriotism.
For a more in depth
history, please visit Greg
Ullman's (Council Historian) History of K of C Council 3744.