Known as the Father of American Slovaks, Father Furdek immigrated from Hungary to America in 1882. In the mid-1880s, while serving as pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church, a primarily Bohemian parish, he organized and founded St. Ladislas parish to minister to Slovak immigrants. When the Magyar parishioners of St. Ladislas rioted in August 1891 and attempted to obtain control of the church, Father Furdek was instrumental in persuading the Cleveland Catholic diocese to award the church instead to its Slovak parishioners.
