On the night of May 5, 1944, Father Carl F. Goeckeler, pastor of St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, was asked by Archbishop John T. McNicholas to establish St. Antoninus Parish.  The new church was nearly complete at that time, and the Archbishop dedicated it and formally installed Father Goeckeler as pastor on June 25, 1944.

And so, as we say, "the rest is history."  The school was opened in 1948 in a prefabricated building of four classrooms placed over a basement with four classrooms and restrooms.  Dominican Sisters from Adrian, MI, came to staff the school.

The parish grew in size and vigor.  A new school and convent building was dedicated on September 29, 1957.  Father Goeckeler saw the need for a larger church, but the Archbishop would only permit the building of a basement church and rectory because of parish debt.  The first Mass was celebrated in the basement church on January 12, 1963.

Soon a new campaign began to add nine more classrooms to the school, a new auditorium/gymnasium, a library, and to add nine more rooms and a chapel to the Sister's convent.  Auxiliary Bishop Edward McCarthy, brother of the present pastor of St. Antoninus, dedicated the new facilities on November 30, 1966.

Father Goeckeler died on August 7, 1967, having served the parish admirably for 23 years.  His successor, Father Joseph Urbain, pastor of St. Albert the Great, the largest parish in Dayton, OH, became the pastor of St. Antoninus on October 4, 1967.  He began to implement the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council of Catholic Bishops which had ended in Rome on December 8, 1965.  However, for reasons of health, Fr. Urbain retired in 1971 and was replaced by Fr. Robert Hagedorn who had been a professor of moral theology at Mt. St. Mary Seminary.

Fr. Hagedorn led St. Antoninus through the decade of the 70's and retired in 1984.  The original school building was renamed Hagedorn Hall when he retired.  Fr. Hagedorn sponsored the inauguration of "Christ Renews His Parish" weekends in 1981 and almost 65 weekends were held until that program ended in 1998.

Fr. Donald McCarthy became pastor on September 4, 1984, after having taught at Mt. St. Mary Seminary and served as Director of Education for the Pope John Center of Medical-Moral Research and Education.  He led the parish in building an upstairs church above the original basement.  Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk dedicated the new church on April 10, 1992.