At Christ the King, a legacy of faith and family

By Linda Faulkner Special to The Texas Catholic It was 1941, and the farming land just north of University Park was soon to be the site of Christ the King Catholic Church.   L.E. Guillot and his wife, Helen Ruth “Dutchie” Guillot, had built a small house nearby, at the corner of Caruth and the Katy Railroad (now the Dallas North Tollway). They would become one of 250 founding families of Christ the King, whose first structure was a simple, white frame building. This was not the first time that the Guillot family had played a foundational role in the development of the Catholic Church in Dallas. L.E. Guillot’s great grandfather and pioneer wagon maker, Maxime Guillot, hosted the first Catholic Mass in Dallas in his home. The Guillots are deceased, but the family’s legacy continues, with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren who  attend Christ the King. One Guillot daughter, Andree Hawkins, is a lector and a Eucharistic minister who serves on the Altar Guild. She remembers with a smile growing up in the church. “My siblings and I all went to Christ the King School, and my parents were involved — my mother was on the Altar Guild, and my parents were both in charge of carnivals — fundraisers for the school,” Hawkins said. “One year, my father brought home a golf cart, one of the rides for the carnival. We all played on it!” she laughed. Her father, she said, also raised funds for the new church building. She recalled growing up knowing the priests. “My parents invited the priests over for dinner a lot,” she said, adding that they were holy men who were also fun and had a great sense of humor. A family connection For Hawkins’ son, Matt, the school was an important “hook” that has kept him and his own family at Christ the King. He attended from kindergarten through sixth grade, and now his daughter is in third grade. He said he appreciates the sacramental education intertwined with the purely academic. “Every Friday morning, the children attend Mass at 8 a.m., and there’s this great connection between the school and the church,” he said. Each May, students crown a statue of Mary with a garland of flowers in a ceremony called May Court that has taken place at Christ the King dating back to the 1950s. Last May, Matt Hawkins said, his daughter Kendrick read at Mass. The students sang ‘Mary we crown you with roses today’ and ‘Ave Maria,’ songs he also sang as a boy during May Court, he remembered. Andree Hawkins, who was in one of the first classes to be in the new church built in 1955, said that the building is another tremendous draw. “The majesty of that church [building] exudes reverence, makes you pause and feel you are in the presence of God … Of course, the people are the church,” she said, noting that she and her husband, Jim, have enjoyed friends at Christ the King for 35 years. Spiritual involvement Matt Hawkins remembered that when the church was renovated some years ago, Msgr. Donald Zimmerman went to painstaking detail to make few changes — its beauty and majesty remain.  Some changes he does appreciate, however, are those that reflect Vatican II. “It’s non-judgmental here, and I appreciate that,” he said. Today, out of four generations of Guillots, no one has been more involved in Christ the King on a spiritual level, perhaps, than Andree Hawkins. She became a lector when, after reading at her father’s funeral, a friend came up and encouraged her to read regularly at Mass. She became a Eucharistic minister at the same time. She was hesitant, she said, because she didn’t feel worthy. Then, she thought, Jesus ate with sinners! “I am humbled to be able to give the Body of Christ to people and touch the children who are too young to receive,” she said.   Linda Faulkner of Highland Park is a regular contributor to The Texas Catholic.