(Top photo): Designed by Detroit Stained Glass Works in the 1930s, Gesu Catholic Church’s west wall windows feature medallions illustrating titles of Jesus, including “Lamb of God” and “Christ the King”; (below, top right): Diehl & Diehl Architects designed this image of a bronze cross for the Gesu Church rooftop spire. (below, top left): Detroit Stained Glass Works windows in the chapel at Colombiere Center in Clarkston, Mich.; (below, bottom right): A Diehl & Diehl blueprint of the carved pew panels at Gesu; (below, bottom left): Therese Bellaimey and Paul Diehl, cousins and descendants of the founders of Detroit Stained Glass Works, in front of Gesu’s sanctuary windows depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious. They have both attended the church since childhood.
When Pieces Make Up the Whole
Two Detroit families come together to create and preserve some of the city’s most beloved architecture and stained glass
By Ann Power Greene
Ann Power Greene serves as senior director of advancement operations for the Midwest Jesuits in Chicago. An alumna of Gesu Catholic School in Cleveland, she has more than 16 years of service to the Jesuits.
As chief executive officer of Detroit Sacred Art, a design firm specializing in ecclesiastical architecture and stained glass, Paul Diehl, a true believer in Jesuit education, is also a sort of historian.
“Detroit Sacred Art is dedicated to the preservation, education and celebration of the ecclesiastical works of our family,” he says, referring to Diehl & Diehl Architects, Inc. and Detroit Stained Glass Works. “These two companies collaborated in creating inspiring places of worship across Michigan and the Midwest. As their descendants, we strive to preserve and share their legacy.”
Paul’s grandfather, George F. Diehl, began working on his own as an architect in 1923, and was joined later by his oldest son Gerald. The Diehls designed or renovated more than 60 Catholic churches in the Archdiocese of Detroit. The company ceased operation in 1994 but its legacy lives on today.
Paul’s mother, Josephine Irving, was the great-granddaughter of Charles Friederichs Sr., a pioneer artist who co-founded Detroit’s first stained glass studio, Friederichs & Safflin, in 1861. The firm was later named Detroit Stained Glass Works and became known for some of the oldest windows in Detroit churches, including those at the Basilica of Ste. Anne de Detroit.
Four generations of the Friederichs family operated Detroit Stained Glass Works before it closed in 1970, and the union of the two family-run businesses led to the creation
of some of the most beautiful churches in Detroit, particularly Gesu Catholic Church, an apostolate of the Midwest Jesuits, and St. Scholastica Catholic Church. The firms also designed St. John’s Seminary in Plymouth, Mich., and another Jesuit work, the chapel at Colombiere Center in Clarkston, Mich.
Paul and the Diehl family have been lifelong parishioners at Gesu Catholic Church, which was designed by his grandfather, George F. Diehl, in 1936. Paul and his seven siblings attended Gesu School, and Paul went on to the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, Marquette University (MU), and the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM). He then served as a Spanish teacher at his high school alma mater for 36 years, retiring in 2022.
Paul’s wife, Patricia Montemurri, is the author of Images of America: Detroit Gesu Catholic Church and School (Arcadia Publishing, 2017). She shares Paul’s interest in preserving the long history of Catholic churches in Detroit, notably Gesu, a parish the Jesuits have ministered at since 1922. The parish began in a farmhouse, and the current church was built in the mid-1930s near the corner of Livernois Avenue and McNichols Road near UDM. Paul’s father, Gerald G. Diehl, renovated the church in 1987.
Architect Mary Clare McCormick worked at Diehl & Diehl for 15 years and now maintains the firm’s delicate onion skin drawings of church construction. As vice president and chief archivist of Detroit Sacred Art, she also oversees the hand-drawn designs of church windows by Detroit Stained Glass Works.
Paul Diehl’s cousin, Therese Bellaimey, is the great-great granddaughter of founder Charles Friederichs Sr. Like Paul, she and her family grew up in Gesu parish, where she still attends Mass and serves on the finance council. She is a big supporter of Detroit Sacred Art and has a deep appreciation for the history of stained glass, especially at Gesu.
When stained glass designs are approved, studio artisans create full-scale layouts called cartoons that show the cutting and assembly lines. They then choose glass from different manufacturers based on color, texture and price.
“At Gesu, all of the windows focus on Jesus, whether his life as featured in the Rosary, or his titles and attributes, such as ‘Christ the King’ and ‘Lamb of God,’ in the medallions of each amber window,” Bellaimey says.
The windows were assembled and soldered at the studio in sections and then installed at the church along with steel sashes to support them. Behind the altar, stained glass windows depict three sets of the Mysteries of the Rosary. The north and south walls
at Gesu have beautiful blue windows that get their color from cobalt added to molten glass. They are the only windows with human figures in them. The east and west windows are geometric and include the same Moorish-influenced designs used in the floor tile and ceiling.
For members of the Diehl and Friederichs families, some of the most striking ecclesiastical architecture and design in the Detroit area is woven into their ancestry. Thankfully, they are passionate about preserving it and its history for the rest of us.
For more about Paul Diehl and Detroit Sacred Art, visit www.DetroitSacredArt.com
