BY FRANK X. ELLIS

CARROLLTON--It is not known exactly what happened to the l936 Chevy, but the priest who drove it to Georgia in 1950 has stayed for 46 years.

"I drove the '36 Chevy from Philadelphia to Savannah," said Msgr. Michael J. Regan, seated at his desk at Our Lady Of Perpetual Help Church. "I had driven first to tell my parents in West Philadelphia. They were brokenhearted upon learning of my going to Georgia, but I was only expecting to be here no more than 18 months."

But God had other plans. The 18-month assignment has turned into 46 years in Georgia.

Ordained May 30, 1946, Msgr. Regan was in the last class of priests ordained by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty of Philadelphia, just one year after the close of World War II.

He was then sent to Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where his studies led to a doctorate in canon law.

"I was teaching at Southeast Catholic High School for Boys in South Philadelphia, teaching religion and world history, when I got a phone call on March 15, 1950," he recalled. "It was from the archdiocesan chancery office with a request for a priest to go to Savannah. It seems a (priest) there had been injured severely in an auto accident and since he was handling the Savannah Diocese's marriage court, they needed someone with my training in church law to fill in for about 18 months."

"While I was seeking further information, I was told, 'His Eminence (Cardinal Dougherty) is awaiting an answer,' so I knew I best give a quick response."

"On March 25, I left for Georgia in that Chevy."

Msgr. Regan had met Bishop Francis Hyland of Savannah earlier as Hyland, too, was a Philadelphia priest prior to his Georgia appointment. At that time, the entire state of Georgia was one Catholic diocese. Only later was Atlanta split from Savannah with Bishop Hyland and Msgr. Regan coming to the northern part of the state.

While working in the marriage tribunal of the Savannah Diocese, Msgr. Regan was able to use his pastoral talents as well.

"I was able to start a mission in Richmond Hill (a Savannah suburb) in Bryan County. We used a county building, but eventually Gilbert Verney, a textile manufacturer of Manchester, New Hampshire, whom I had met in New York City, agreed to give us the Martha-Mary Chapel which Henry Ford had built in memory of his grandmothers. Verney had come into possession of it and even though he was not a Catholic, he came to services."

In 1956 the Atlanta Diocese was separated from Savannah with Bishop Hyland coming to the capital. Msgr. Regan accompanied him and two years later was officially incardinated as a priest of the Atlanta Diocese.

Msgr. Regan lived in the Brookhaven section of Atlanta with the bishop. The home was eventually disposed of and a new residence acquired on West Wesley Road near Christ the King Cathedral.

While appointed Officialis of the Atlanta marriage court, Msgr. Regan also served the Catholic community in Roswell from 1957 to 1961. He was given the rank of monsignor by Pope John XXIII during this time.

In 1960, Msgr. Regan was named pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. In his 11 years there the parish grew to over 1,200 families with a school enrollment of 460 students.

The priest, who is 74, was named pastor of OLPH in 1972.

"This parish measures 50 miles by 50 miles by 50 miles by 50 miles," Msgr. Regan explained. "It covers all of Carroll County and all of Haralson County and the nearest Catholic church west of us is in Anniston, so we get lots of people attending our church from eastern Alabama."

When he arrived almost 25 years ago, "we had between 100 to 125 families. Today we have over 700 families," he remarked.

The pastor spoke lovingly of the Carrollton parish he's headed for a quarter of a century.

"There is a lot of history connected with this parish," he began. "Of course, there's the connection with Eaton Chalkley and his wife, Susan Hayward."

He was referring to the December 1958 occasion in which the Roman Catholic congregation (then in a building in Carrollton which had housed the Episcopal church of St. Margaret of Scotland) began to think about a new, larger church.

The Atlanta Diocese was offered land by Eaton and Susan Hayward Chalkley on Old Center Point Road. The offer was acceptable because the location, directly across the road from the Chalkley ranch, was near the then-projected Interstate 20 highway as well as being in a central location for the parishioners in both Carroll and Haralson counties.

The new church was dedicated on March 25, 1962 and in June 1965, the parish was officially founded with Father Richard Morrow as first pastor.

The Catholic community in the Carrollton and Carroll County area dates to the 1890s when Czechoslovakian and Hungarian coal miners came from Wilkes-Barre, Penn., to plant vineyards and make wine under the auspices of a missionary Catholic priest and local land developer.

In addition to the archdiocesan jubilee Mass, the parish hosted a golden jubilee celebration for Msgr. Regan and he was in Philadelphia at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook for a reunion and celebration of Mass with the remaining members of his 1946 ordination class.

Frank X. Ellis is a journalist in Carroll County and member of St. Theresa's Church, Douglasville.