Crespi Carmelite High School Remembers Father Juan Crespi on His Birthday

There are many high schools with rich traditions named in honor of important people but none like the namesake for Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California. The Carmelite Brothers of the Province of the Most Pure Heart of Mary from Illinois established the school in 1959. They chose to name the school after Father Juan Crespi, a Franciscan missionary, diarist, and cartographer of the Portola expedition.

Father Juan Crespi was born on March 1, 1721, in Majorca, Spain. At a young age, he entered the Franciscan order and later joined Father Junipero Serra on the expedition led by Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola to form New Spain.  On August 5, 1769, the Portola expedition crossed the Sepulveda Pass. They were the first Europeans to enter the San Fernando Valley. Crespi’s diary detailed their visit to an Indian village. Today, this area is Los Encinos State Historic Park.

His travel and work with Father Serra resulted in the establishment of the first California missions of San Antonio de Padua, San Louis Obispo de Tolosa, San Gabriel Arcangel, and San Diego de Alcala. Traveling all over the state of California had an adverse effect on Father Crespi.  After arriving in Monterrey, California, Father Crespi became ill and died on January 1, 1782. The students of Crespi Carmelite High School remember the legacy of this prominent figure of California history and wish him a “Happy Birthday!”

– Dominic Stella, Class of 2012