About Us
Parish History
Get to know the history of St. Timothy!
On October 15, 1985, a meeting was held at the Club House in Orange Blossom Gardens for the purpose of establishing a place of Worship. An estimated crowd of 225 attended. Father Philip Stegeman, Pastor of St. Paul's in Leesburg outlined the forming of a parish. The boundaries were North to Route 42, South to Eagles Nest Road, encompassing the counties of Lake, Sumter and Marion. It's name, LADY LAKE CATHOLIC MISSION. The first Mass was celebrated on November 3, 1985, at 8:00 AM in the temporary location in the Recreation Hall of OBG.
In early 1986, the Lady Lake Catholic Mission became ST. TIMOTHY CATHOLIC MISSION. The generosity of the parishioners was unbelievable and the determination of the different committees made the ground breaking for the $800,000 multi-purpose building possible on Sunday, October 4, 1987. The first Mass was celebrated by Father Stegeman on June 26, 1988. Father Philip Stegeman died suddenly and on October 7, 1988 his funeral Mass was celebrated in this building.
On December 1, 1988, Father William Killion was appointed the first pastor, and St. Timothy became a Parish. The church building was dedicated on December 10,1989.
Our second pastor, Father Louis Dunleavy, was with us only from November 1992 until his death on October 13, 1993.
Father Francis X Zammit served as administrator during Father Dunleavy's illness, from December 1992 until December 1, 1993, when Father Robert V. Fucheck became our third Pastor.
The need for a larger church became evident as the Catholic households mushroomed to 1600 families crowding the five weekend Masses. Ground breaking for the new church was on November 23, 1994. The dedication of the new St. Timothy Catholic Church was Sunday, January 28, 1996, with the presider being The Most Reverend Norbert M. Dorsey, C.P.S.T.D., and Bishop of the Diocese of Orlando, Florida.
Father Robert Fucheck retired in June 2009. At that time, Bishop Thomas Wenski appointed Father Ed Waters to be pastor of St. Timothy.
Since that time we have seen the enlargement of the St. Vincent de Paul Society building to double the original size. In 2011, a new Last Supper Adoration Chapel was established on the north side of the ministry building.
In October of 2022, Father Ed Waters was transferred to the Diocese of Orlando and Father Ralph DuWell, who had served as Parochial Vicar at St. Timothy from 2007-2010, was appointed pastor of St Timothy by Bishop John Noonan.
Many thanks to all the members of the parish organizations and all the parishioners without whose sacrifice and hours of toil, this house of worship could not have been completed.
