03/08/2026
๐ธ Snapshot in Time: Late 1970's - early 1980's
Established in 1974 within the Diocese of San Bernardino, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in La Quinta, CA, was founded by Fr. Raymond Bluett, designed with inspiration from acclaimed film director Franco Ze๏ฌrelli to resemble a 12th-century Romanesque basilica, was dedicated on November 25, 1984.
It features a vaulted ceiling, and its interior art, including mosaics by Alexander Rosenfield, the artist who designed and painted 14 frescos reproducing the Giotto murals of the original Church of St.Francis in Assisi, Italy. The public came to see him working on the frescoes at the church.
As pictured, around 1982, are from left to right Franco Ze๏ฌrelli, Father Bluett and Frank Capra standing on the site where the new St. Francis of Assisi Church would be built. It is on the south platform of the old Point Happy homestead on Washington Street in La Quinta and was dedicated in 1984. For the first 10 years of the parishโs history, services were held at the local Crocker Bank and at the Simon Motors auto dealership.
The first mass was attended by Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, and Roger Moore........................................................................
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