For over 150 years, Catholic education in Lima has played an integral part in the spiritual, academic and personal development of students in our community. This opportunity for growth and learning has been provided because of the vision, generosity and commitment of dedicated priests, sisters, lay faculty and caring parish families. It is important to look back and respect the vision, hard work and sacrifices made over the years that have been so instrumental in making our Catholic schools a source of pride in our community.

The city of Lima, OH was officially founded in 1842 as the center of government for Allen County and quickly established itself as a railroad center. Much of the muscle for building these railroads was supplied by Irish Catholic immigrants. In the 1850’s, a pocket of Irish Catholic families, residing in the north end of Lima, established the first Catholic congregation called Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Fr. Mathias Kreusch of Minster, OH was responsible for this Catholic community. He rode his horse 25 miles to Lima each month to offer a mass held in a home located on North West Street, just a few blocks north of the present St. Rose parish. Soon after, Fr. Kreusch began raising funds for a permanent church and in 1858 the first Catholic Church in Lima, Ohio was completed and named after St. Rose of Lima, Peru.

The middle of the 19th century saw increasing Catholic interest in education in tandem with increasing Catholic immigration. To serve their growing communities, Catholics began opening their own schools. Lima’s Catholic community followed this national trend by opening St. Rose School and staffing it with two lay teachers in 1865. The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary assumed teaching duties there in 1868. In 1888, a 3 story brick school was built next to the church on North West Street. 1906 saw the addition of a brand new high school that included a gymnasium and even a swimming pool. The building was considered state of the art and much of it is still in use today. In 1954, a brand new two story school was dedicated.

In 1899, the Bishop granted permission for 72 Catholic families to begin a new Catholic parish in south Lima. They purchased property on South Main St and named it St. Johns the Evangelist Church. Fr. Fredrick Rupert was named the first pastor and he helped to lay the cornerstone of the new Catholic Church and school in 1901. In the beginning, masses were held on the third floor of the new school. In 1910, St. Johns began the construction of a new church. From 1912 until 1924, masses were held in the basement of the new church while construction continued above. On Thanksgiving Day, 1924, the first mass was held in the present St. Johns Church. A new school building was built and dedicated in 1959 and operated until its closing in 1973.

The Catholic community of Lima continued to grow with many Catholics settling in the north end of town. With St. Rose Parish and school bulging at the seams, Bishop Shrends of Toledo asked the Redemptorists order of Priests if they would be interested in beginning a new parish in north Lima. The Redemptorists agreed and in 1916 the first parish mass was held in the Klaus family home located on the present St. Gerard Property. On July 15, 1917 the cornerstone for the St. Gerard Parish church and school was laid. Fr. John Mare was named the first pastor and the Ursuline Order of Sisters as faculty. In 1953, the St. Gerard Parish laid the cornerstone for a new High School building.

The Catholic population in Lima continued to expand with many new families now settling on the west side of town. In 1946, Monsignor James Elder, pastor of St. Rose, purchased five acres of land at the intersection of Cable and Elm Streets with the intent of beginning a new Catholic parish. Fr. Walter Hanley was chosen to lead this new parish, named St. Charles Borromeo. The St. Charles school building was dedicated in 1956 and the Sisters of Charity were given teaching duties. Masses were held in the new school building until the new church was completed in 1964.

In the 1950’s, following a nationwide trend to centralize high schools, Bishop George J. Rehring directed the three Catholic high schools (St. Rose, St. Johns and St. Gerard) to consolidate their parish schools into one central high school. The consolidation began in 1956 with St. Rose and St. Johns high schools merging. St. Gerard High School, having recently completed building a new high school was not eager to join the others and remained independent. The new high school was named Lima Central Catholic High School and housed students on two campuses, the former St. Rose High School building and the former St. Gerard High School building. Sister Mary Patrice was named the first principal. The nickname for the new school was the Lancers and their colors were red and gold. That first year, St. Gerard High School played LCC in a basketball game and St. Gerard came away with the win.

In LCC’s second year of existence, Bishop Rehring appointed Fr. E. C. Herr as the new principal and ordered St. Gerard High School to join the consolidation. Bringing these 3 separate communities into one high school presented many difficult challenges. Controversies arose over everything including the location, school colors and the nickname for the athletic teams. Merging three schools that had previously been intense rivals into one true community would not have been possible without the strong leadership of Fr. Herr. He quickly announced changes and put his imprint on the new high school changing the name to Lima Central Catholic High School. While traveling in the southwest on vacation during the summer before he began as principal, Fr. Herr bought an Indian blanket and became enamored with its art work. The scarlet and turquoise colors on the blanket became LCC’s official colors and the Thunderbird woven into its fabric was the inspiration for the athletic nickname of the new high school.

Fr. Herr led Lima Central Catholic for twenty five years until failing health forced him to step down. He continued to support the school from his home, located next door to the school, until his death on October 18, 1986. Fr. Herr’s spirit, drive for excellence and call for resiliency live on and are evident in the success of our students, past and present.

In 1980, Dan Rupert was named Principal of Lima Central Catholic and guided the school until his resignation in December of 1997. Rupert was the first lay principal to guide LCC and continued to emphasize three areas of importance: a strong religious curriculum, academic excellence and a school community where discipline and respect were emphasized. Upon his resignation, Bill Clark, a very popular and long time faculty member, was lured from retirement to handle the principal’s duties until a successor could be named.

In the spring of 1998, Fr. Dennis Hartigan was introduced to the students and faculty as their new principal and would remain at the helm until 2004. Fr. Hartigan was instrumental in introducing numerous changes to Lima Central Catholic including block scheduling, college on campus and a new, stricter dress code for students. He was also responsible for an ambitious capital campaign that resulted in the construction of a new science and technology wing and athletic and convocation center.

In 2004, Fr. Todd Dominique took the reins of the school for two years. He was followed by Richard Mitterholzer who was hired in 2006. In 2011, Walt Klimaski was hired by the LCC Board of Trustees as President. The following year, the board acted to change the administrative structure of the school to a President/Principal model where the President acts as the head of the school and works closely with the board to bring the school forward in the areas of strategic direction and development, while the Principal handles most day-to-day operations, including academics. At that time, Dr. Kathleen Herpich was hired to assume the new role of Principal.

After Walt Klimaski announced his retirement in February 2017, the Lima Central Catholic Governing Board voted to restructure the administrative model. Stephanie Williams was hired as the Principal/CEO. Williams has been with LCC for 15 years and served as interim principal during the 2016-2017 school year. Williams was a social studies teacher from 2006 to 2009 and was Director of Guidance from 2010-2016. Williams graduated from LCC in 1998.

The position of Finance Administrator was created and is currently held by John Schnieders. John has been on the LCC faculty for 21 years and continues to serve as a part time business teacher. His job is to oversee the school’s business operations and athletics departments.