DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it, and friends, this one's worth every mile to San Juan. Back in 1925, a man named Reverend Alphonse Jalbert, OMI, built a chapel for the Hispanic community of San Juan. A chapel — modest, purposeful, a place to gather.
That's where this story starts. Then came Father Jose Azpiazu, the first pastor, and in 1948 he installed a statue — the Virgen de San Juan de los Lagos. You want to talk about a moment that sets something in motion, that's the one.
By 1949, the mission had grown enough that it was designated a parish. And by 1954, they built a new church altogether. For the next ten years after that, facilities for pilgrims were added.
Pilgrims. Not just neighbors — people making their way to this place with intention, with devotion. The kind of foot traffic that tells you something sacred has taken root.
And then comes 1970. A tragic plane crash and fire destroyed the church and shrine. Now I want you to sit with that a moment.
Something built over decades — community, faith, brick, mortar — gone. But here is what the marker wants you to know, and it says it plainly: the statue survived. The bell tower survived.
In the wreckage of a plane crash and a fire, those two things stood. In 1972, the shrine was separated from the parish. And in 1975, a new St.
John the Baptist Parish Church was built — right there beside the bell tower that had refused to fall. Then in 1980, the Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle was dedicated, and that became the new home of the statue. The statue that arrived in 1948.
That survived 1970. That found its permanent home in 1980. Some things, it turns out, are harder to destroy than a fire.
What the marker says
IN 1925, REVEREND ALPHONSE JALBERT, OMI, BUILT A CHAPEL FOR THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY OF SAN JUAN. THE FIRST PASTOR, FATHER JOSE AZPIAZU, INSTALLED A STATUE OF THE VIRGEN DE SAN JUAN DE LOS LAGOS IN 1948, AND THE MISSION WAS DESIGNATED A PARISH IN 1949. A NEW CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1954. DURING THE NEXT TEN YEARS, FACILITIES FOR PILGRIMS WERE ADDED. IN 1970, A TRAGIC PLANE CRASH AND FIRE DESTROYED THE CHURCH/SHRINE BUT THE STATUE AND BELL TOWER SURVIVED. IN 1972, THE SHRINE WAS SEPARATED FROM THE PARISH. THE SHRINE/BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF SAN JUAN DEL VALLE WAS DEDICATED IN 1980 AND BECAME THE NEW HOME OF THE STATUE. IN 1975, A NEW ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH CHURCH WAS BUILT BESIDE THE BELL TOWER. (2012)