St. Therese of Deephaven was established in 1946 under Father Mark Otto. As a military chaplain in World War II, Fr. Otto prayed to St. Thérèse of Lisieux to see him safely through the war. In gratitude for his answered prayers, he established a parish dedicated to St. Thérèse of Lisieux in Deephaven. Father Francis Shea was assigned as pastor in 1950. As new families moved into the area and joined St. Therese, Fr. Shea purchased twenty-three acres where the current church, school, and senior living facility Deephaven Woods, built in 2013, now stand. Fr. Shea built the school, which opened in September 1959. To accommodate the increase in families, the church was moved to the school basement. In 1968, Father Jerome Janski became pastor and built the current church in 1970 to accommodate the parish’s 500 families. The sanctuary included a beautiful stained-glass window dedicated to St. Therese. In 1970, the Franciscan Clarist Sisters from Kerala, India came to faithfully serve at the parish and school. The late 1990s saw the expansion of the church’s narthex and the completion of the community room under the leadership of Fr. John Bauer. In the early 2000s, the school was expanded to include a new middle school and offices. Under the leadership of Fr. Leonard Andrie, the parish’s significant debt was eliminated. Additionally, many improvements were made to enhance St. Therese’s campus, including remodeling the chapel and sanctuary and adding a new media center in the school. By God’s grace and under the patronage of the Little Flower, the small parish of 50 families has blossomed into a vibrant community of nearly 1,500 families.
