On May 10, 1914, the Knights of Columbus Angels Gate Council 1740 was established in San Pedro with 49 members and they immediately set to work assisting Father Patrick McGrath, pastor of Mary Star of the Sea Church, with fundraising efforts for much-needed parish projects and charitable endeavors.
Exactly 100 years later — on May 10, 2014 — nearly 200 council members and their guests celebrated the group’s centennial anniversary at the Dalmatian American Club of San Pedro (in a room overlooking Angels Gate, the name of the entrance to the Los Angeles Harbor), with honored guests Msgr. Joseph Brennan, representing the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and Knights of Columbus California State Deputy Timothy Carvalho.
After reaching a membership high of 350 in 1923, the number of council members eventually dwindled to 68 on the official roster — with only 18 active members — by 2009. With pastoral and lay leadership, however, the men of Mary Star of the Sea — including the late Sam Palmer and District Deputy John Perez — appointed a slate of dynamic new council officers headed by then-Grand Knight Nick Vilicich. Today the Angels Gate Council has more than 200 members, including many active young men.
