Beloved Priest at St. Bernard's in Raritan 1876-1923
By Bruce Doorly
IN MEMORIAM
REV. J. J. ZIMMER
PASTOR
1876 – 1923
While this author is familiar with most of the historical publications on Raritan, I have only found Rev. Zimmer referenced briefly a couple of times. So, I set my research to finding out who Rev. J. J. Zimmer was and why the town of Raritan felt that he should be honored.
To sum up my findings, I am surprised that more has not been written about Father Zimmer as he was a remarkable man who made a tremendous difference in the local community. Here is his story.
It is interesting to note that his sister was also an important religious figure. She was a nun who was known as “Mother Immaculata” - as she headed the Ursuline Order in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx.
Joseph Zimmer was well educated. At age twelve he entered a college prep school. For college he initially attended St. Vincent’s College in Pennsylvania in 1861 where he remained for two years. From there he went to St. John’s college at Fordham, New York for 4 years. He then attended the Theological Seminary at Seton Hall. As a college student he spent quite some time at Raritan with the priest at the time Father Kaeder. After completing his studies, he was ordained in 1872.
In his first year he had short assignments in New Brunswick and Hoboken. Then he spent three years in Paterson where he was chaplain in St. Mary’s and St. Joseph Hospital.
He got to work quickly. Shortly after his arrival he made improvements to the church adding new altars and statuary. Just before his arrival the property for a cemetery was purchased. So, he oversaw the growth of that. Under his leadership at St. Bernard’s the rectory was built.
Built in 1897, where the Italian Bakery is today, the building functioned as the parish’s social center. Downstairs were classrooms for grades 1 through 8. Nuns taught two grades in one classroom. Upstairs was the hall. Over the years social events and meetings were held there.
In later years that building would serve as a VFW hall before it burnt down in 1988.
with the students
One quote about him from the Somerset Messenger Gazette said he was “affable in manner, gentle in spirit, sweet in disposition, benevolent, kind, and charitable.”
His travels were tracked by the local newspapers. Among the places that he visited were the West Indies, Bermuda, and Europe.
On one occasion he traveled to the Vatican to meet with the Pope. As a sign of respect, upon his return from this meeting hundreds of Raritan residents greeted him at the train station.
His 25th, 40th, and 50th anniversaries as a priest were celebrated at St. Bernard’s Hall with well-attended dinners - where testimonials praising his service to the community were given.
Later in 1914, he was again helpful to the Catholic Slovaks of Raritan to establish St. Joseph’s Church.
The “Central Jersey Home News” summed it up best as the headline for his obituary read “Father Zimmer – was Beloved by Everyone.”
This author did not realize that the plaque and statue went together until doing the research for this article.
It is not known why St. Joseph was chosen, but it was probably simply because Father Zimmer’s name was Joseph. The statue, made in Italy, is five feet tall and eighteen inches thick. It was hand carved and made of white Corona Italian marble. Parishioners of St. Bernard’s Church raised the $500 needed. On March 22nd 1925 a well-attended ceremony was held marking the unveiling.
same today as 1925
First, the property on Route 22 in Bridgewater was purchased and in 1965 the Parish Center opened. Starting in 1975 many masses were held in the gym of the Parish Center due to the expanding number of parishioners. Finally, in 1988, a new modern church at a cost of 2.5 million was built on the property on Route 22.
Shortly after that the old church in Raritan was converted to the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.
