The first Mass at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish was celebrated over 65 years ago in the gymnasium of Glen Lake Public School. Monsignor Thomas R. Jude presided, and about 90 people attended that first liturgy in June 1946. Archbishop John Gregory Murray of St. Paul and Minneapolis dedicated the new parish the following month.
 
Before the year was out, IHM’s first church – a Quonset hut seating 250 – was constructed near Woodhill and Excelsior Boulevard, at the site of the current baseball fields. Appropriately, the first Mass in the new building was celebrated on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

In 1951, the Archbishop assigned Father Francis J. Fleming to IHM, and authorized purchase of our current site at Excelsior Boulevard and Mayview Road to accommodate the growing parish. A tavern on the site known as “Jack’s Place” was renamed “Immaculate Heart of Mary Social Center” and was used for social gatherings.