During the Spring of 1942 the Most Rev. Bishop Orestes P Chornock appointed the Rev. Stephen Dutko as the first pastor of St. Mary’s Church. On July 18, 1943 Bishop Orestes came to Buffalo for the first time for the dedication ceremony of the church.
On September 23, 1945 the members of St Mary’s had a celebration after paying off the Church mortgage. Further progress was realized by the acquiring of the parish Cemetery which was finalized on May 19, 1946.
The Rev. Elias Kozar and the Rev. Basil Zeleniak served as pastors of the church between the years of 1948 and 1951 during this time the interior of the church was renovated and the tile was laid in the church.
The Rev. John Hutnyan assumed the pastorate in November of 1951. During this time the icons in the church were acquired, the church interior was painted and was blessed by Bishop Orestes on July 25, 1954.
In November of 1956 the Rev. Andrew Sabak succeeded Fr. Hutnyan and on July 28, 1957 the parish again welcomed Bishop Orestes for the blessing of the newly acquired pews.
The Rev. Robert Radasky came to St. Mary’s in February of 1959. Fr. Radasky enlisted as a Chaplain in the U.S. Navy. On August 2, 1964, the feast of St. Elias, the Rev. James A. Stropko assumed the pastorate.
In September of 1970 the Rev. George Dyak was assigned to the Buffalo parish. Rev. John Baranik assumed the pastorate in July of 1971. In September of 1976, Rev. William Ward served as the pastor. Rev. Thomas Blaschak assumed the responsibility of guiding the members of the church spiritually in July of 1978. Rev. Frank Miloro, at the time, Director of our Diocesan Camp Nazareth, became the weekend Pastor starting in September of 1978.
On May 25, 1979 the Rev. Fr. John P Hutnyan, the son of the former pastor, the late very Rev. John Hutnyan, was assigned to the parish.
On August 12, 1979 the Parish rectory which was located at 81 Fairoaks Lane in Cheektowaga was purchased.
Tragically, St Mary’s Church was destroyed by fire on an early Monday morning, March 8, 1982. The following Sunday, the congregation began worshiping at the Hellenic Orthodox Church of Annunciation. The beautiful parcel of land ( 3.6 Acres) on 940 Losson Road in Cheektowaga, was purchased that spring. This proved to be a significant decision enabling the new church to be more Centrally located for the parishioners. The architectural firm of Bernard and DeSimone of Buffalo was hired by the parish that same year.
On Sunday, March 27, 1983, during a steady rain, Fr. John P Hutnyan, along with the church president and the president of the trustees, broke ground for our church complex. Over 150 parishioners and friends attended the banquet at the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Church hall, on Como Park Boulevard, in Cheektowaga.
On Sunday, March 4, 1984, the move was made into the Social Center for Divine Services, while the church was being built. The blessing of the Church Cornerstone took place on Sunday, May 20, 1984, which was celebrated by the Bishop’s Representative, Very Rev. George Hutnyan, Dean of the Youngstown Deanery. Over 160 people attended the dinner, which was held in the Social Center.
In 2002 the Parish celebrated its 60th Anniversary with Metropolitan Nicholas Smisko present. This same year major renovations of the interior and the roof of the church took place.
In 2010 Metropolitan Nicholas blessed new candle stands and blessed new icons in the Naive of the church. At this time the altar was elevated on a step and was removed and made into a flat surface and marble tile was placed.
On September, 9, 2011 Fr. Thomas Kadlec became the priest of the parish. In 2014 Metropolitan Gregory Tatsis visited the parish. New icons were put again in the Naive of church.
In 2017 the parish celebrated its 75th Anniversary, and Metropolitan Gregory was present and blessed new icons.
Succeeding his predecessor Fr. Thomas Kadlec, the current parish priest, Fr. George Ellis was appointed the priest of the Church by His Eminence Metropolitan Gregory in September of 2021. He remains to be the priest of the parish community to this day.
Before the arrival of Fr. George Ellis in 2021, Fr. Nicholas Mihaly and Fr. James Dutko, son of the late Rev. Fr. Stephen Dutko, were the weekend priests taking care of the congregation and providing the Divine Services after Fr. Thomas Kadlec retired.
The present Parish membership embraces Orthodox Christians of many ethnic backgrounds: Carpatho-Russian, Ukrainian, Albanian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Greek, and American who are worshiping and working together to further the Kingdom of Christ on earth.