Sacramento County
Biographies
REV. JOHN V. AZEVEDO
REV. J.V. AZEVEDO.--In 1909 the parish of St. Elizabeth's National Church in Sacramento was created by Bishop Grace and Father Azevedo was called as its first pastor. He had been in charge of the Sutter Creek parish and its missions in Amador County. When he assumed charge of St. Elizabeth's parish he thoroughly organized it and immediately began raising funds for the erection of the present church, which is a fine mission style of architecture and was dedicated on February 2, 1913. Owing to the continued untiring work of Father Azevedo the parish was free from debt in 1920.
Rev. J. V. Azevedo was born in Portugal on November 25, 1880, a son of the later J. V. and Mary Azevedo. The father left his native land of Portugal in the early sixties and came direct to the United States and to California, where he engaged in ranching at Freeport, Yolo County, for about eleven years. He was very successful, and upon selling out he returned to Portugal and there was married. He lived there in peace and contentment until 1901, when he once again felt the lure of the Golden State and with his youngest son, Anthony, left Portugal and came back to California, establishing a home in Sacramento, where he was joined by his wife and daughter and our subject in 1902. The father died here, respected by all who knew him, and the mother makes her home with our subject, beloved by a wide circle of friends. The son Anthony served in the United States Army for two years during the World War; eight months of the time he spent in France as a member of Battery C, 347th Field Artillery. He returned to Sacramento and is now serving as vice-counsel of Portugal for the northern California district.
Rev. Azevedo began his classical and theological studies in his native land, completing his theological training at Menlo Park, Cal., and was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Grace at the Cathedral in Sacramento in 1904. The St. Elizabeth parish comprises some 250 Portuguese families at the present time, although formerly it included the families of the Riverside mission. Rev. Azevedo is a member of the Knights of Columbus, the U. P. E. C. and the I. D. E. S. and is well known as a man of progressive ideals, and his aid and cooperation can be counted upon to further many measures for the public good.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County,
California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 878-881. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA.
1923.
© 2007 Jeanne Taylor.