Clark Fork's 'Sacred Heart'

Sacred Heart Chapel in Clark Fork was built in 1931, nearly 100 years ago. With an aging infrastructure, members of the church worked this past summer to renovate the building’s structural problems and to restore and beautify its exterior.

The windows were re-glazed, the crosses and doors refinished, and the ceiling above the altar of the 450-square-foot building was painted, said faithful member David Banning, who lives down the street from the church with his wife, Sharon. 

Sacred Heart is a mission church of the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Sandpoint. The building benefited from volunteer George Geoffroy’s work under the church where he shoveled pickup loads of dirt that were carted off to level the ground for a moisture barrier that will be installed next summer. Geoffroy, who attends St. Joseph’s, also shored up the right side of the building by tearing out rotten wood and installing new timber. 

The exterior of the entire church was painted by the Sacred Heart member volunteers Keith and Kere Delahanty, Tom Stevens, Vern Roof, Tom Vittelli, Derek Kinninger, and Banning.  

“It’s a special place,” said 40-year member Lorry Haflich, whose three children, Bartholomew, Magdalen, and Nathaniel, performed altar service through their younger years at Sacred Heart. 

“They grew up knowing the older parishioners who have since moved or passed away. There was always a grandma that wanted to hold one of the babies,” she said. 

Haflich’s daughter Magdalene’s marriage to Kevin Hodick was held there in 2009, likely the last wedding in the church, she said. 

“There are many good memories,” she said, though she remembers when there was not a bathroom connected to the church and times when there were no services because there was no priest available to serve. She also recalls Saturday masses when there was standing room only in the summer months when visitors attended from out of the area. 

The church generally has 20-25 attendees in winter months and 35-45 in the summers, Banning said.  

Masses are held at 4 p.m. each Saturday with Pastor Rob Cook.

    Sacred Heart congregation members work on the roof of the Sacred Heart Chapel in Clark Fork. The chapel was built in 1931 — almost 100 years ago.