In April of 1927 Father McDonald celebrated the first Mass in the new church. The total cost for the building was budgeted at $175,000 but there was a cost overrun and the ultimate bill came to $204,000. As a measure of the enthusiasm demonstrated by that generation of parishioners for their parish, the mortgage for the building came from the people themselves. The parish sold bonds which were fully subscribed within the parish. The average bond purchase was approximately $135 per family. At a time when the average skilled worker, should he work 52 full weeks, might earn $1000 in a year this manifestation of support exhibited how closely linked the people were to their parish. Once again the spirit prevailed. The Pastor led but the devotion of the people provided the finished product. In Verdun, as in the rest of the world, the onset of the depression warned of even darker days to come.

Present church opened in 1927

The sudden death of father McDonald in October of 1931 brought a new Pastor; the articulate and witty Martin P. Reid. Father Reid, arriving as the depression deepened, shepherded the people of St. Willibrord’s as they reached out to help each other in times of deprivation unimaginable to those who didn’t live through them. Families, without homes, and without any income at all, lived in Sodality Hall until the parish found them living quarters. The people of St. Willibrord’s kept the spirit strong by those who had, rallying to assist those who did not, thus raising the hopes of everyone. There was great suffering but there was great love, and despite hardship, the St. Willibrord family continued to grow.