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To fully appreciate the beauty of the St. Mary's Catholic Church
and
its surroundings, one should have an understanding of the history
of
the parish and how it originated.
A group of six families
en-route to Omaha were introduced to
John and Catherine Neligh. The
Nelighs' picturesque description of
the fertile valley at West Point
convinced these families to end their
journey and travel to West
Point. The six families involved in this
journey were the Fred
Grovijohns, Anton Fischers, Frank Gavers,
Schmuechers, Joseph Kaups
and Fred Kaups.
The first
Catholic Services were held in the Fred Grovijohn
home by the
Benedictine fathers who visited four times a year. As the
settlement
grew; the early settlers and immigrants, mainly German,
realized the
need for a Catholic Church in the area. Mr. James B. Hulse
and Mr.
Thomas King donated a site for the church and the families
began to
raise money for the building. The new church was dedicated
on August
15, 1875, the Reverend Frederick Uhing from St. Charles
presided.
On October 29,1877, Reverend
Nicholas Horn was assigned
as the first resident pastor at St.
Mary's Church. Father Horn recognized
the need for a Catholic school
for the children of the parish and in 1883
construction of the new
school began. Father Horn was stricken with
typhoid pneumonia and
died on May 10, 1884. Because of Father
Horn's untimely death,
the task of completion of the school was left to
Msgr. Joseph
Ruesing.
Four nuns
from the Franciscan Sisters arrived from
Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and
were on staff as Guardian Angels
School opened on March 5, 1885,
with an enrollment of 90 pupils.
This was the first Catholic
coeducational school in Nebraska.
Members of the Franciscan Sisters
are still teaching pupils at the school.
As the
West Point settlement grew, Msgr. Reusing realized the
need for a
larger church. The spiritual and generous response he
received
from parishioners resulted in a beautiful new church of
Gothic
architecture, 132 feet long,54 feet wide and 48 feet high.
Not one
cent of debt was incurred for this project. Dedication
services in English, German and Bohemian were conducted by
Bishop
Scannel on November 8, 1892. A brick rectory was
constructed
on the north side of the church in 1903 and in 1905
electric lights
were installed.
The cost
of the construction of the main altar and its
stations was $1,000
and was raised by contributions of one cent
a day from members of
the congregation. One of the most
spectacular pieces of
artwork added to the church was a six
feet high and four feet wide
needlepoint embroidery reproduction
of a painting representing
"The Descent from the Cross". This
artwork,
containing 248,000 stitches, was completed in 1899,
took ten months
to complete and was made by Mrs. Elizabeth
Askey; age 85, of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
During his tenure Msgr. Ruesing
was the founder of
St. Joseph's Home for the Aged and the local
hospital. Both
facilities are operated by the Franciscan
Sisters of Charity:
Upon retirement Msgr. Ruesing served as
chaplain at
St. Joseph's Home until his death on March 13,1933.
Msgr. Ferdinand Peitz assumed
the pastoral duties of the
parish and under his direction the first
church was razed for
the construction of the Guardian Angels School.
Dedication
of the new Guardian Angels School was held September
1,1918.
It had an enrollment of 222 pupils, grades 1-12, and
the first
graduate was Stephen Cejda in 1921.
Expansion
and redecoration of the church began in 1928.
Large hand
painted murals were shipped from Germany; fourteen
statues were
added and a wood-carved Christmas Crib, made in
Tirol, Austria was
added for the Christmas Season. In 1942 a
pipe organ was
donated and in 1981 rebuilt.
Following
the death of Msgr. Peitz in 1931 Msgr. Joseph
Bosheck became the
pastor. He led the parish through the
depression years and
World War II. Upon retirement on January 4, 1951
Msgr. Bosheck
assumed the duties of chaplain at Memorial
Hospital in West Point.
The old gym in the Guardian
Angels School was converted
into six modern classrooms and a new
auditorium was constructed
under the guidance of Msgr. Herman J.
Kaup. The auditorium was
dedicated on April 15, 1955.
In 1958
plans were being made for a new high school. It
was decided to
raze the original Guardian Angels School, which
was being used as
quarters for the sisters, and build a new high
school on this
site. During this time a plan for the construction
of a new
convent was under way.
The land
for the site of St. Mary's Convent was purchased
in 1958 and the
convent was completed in 1960.
Central Catholic High School was completed in 1963 through
the joint
efforts of the surrounding parishes, St. Boniface, Monterey;
St. Aloysius, Aloys; St. Anthony, St. Charles; Holy Cross, Beemer
and St. Mary's. It provides education to students from
all of
these parishes.
During the 1960s the interior
of St. Mary's Church was repainted,
carpet was installed, pews were
replaced and an altar facing the
congregation was added. In
1967 a parish council was formed to
alleviate some responsibilities
of the pastor in the daily operations
of the parish. The
council consists of the pastor, assistant pastor,
Guardian Angels
principal, Christian Mother's president,
St. Mary's Guild president,
and nine members, who serve
three-year terms and who are elected at
large by the parish.
Msgr. Kaup became chaplain at
St. Francis Memorial
Hospital in 1970. Msgr. Herman J.Kaup died on
September 14, 1981.
He was born and raised in Cuming County;
Nebraska, and it was
at the home of his maternal grandparents, the
Fred Grovijohns,
where the first Catholic Services were held.
Reverend Godfrey Meiergerd
assumed the pastoral duties.
The Family Centered Religious
Education (C.C.D.) program
was initiated in our parish in 1974 and
is offered to pupils
from kindergarten through high school who do
not attend the
catholic school.
The old rectory was razed in
1977 and, pending completion
of the new rectory; temporary quarters
were provided for the priests.
The new rectory was completed
in June of 1978.
A
kindergarten grade was added to the Guardian Angels
School in the
fall of 1981 with an initial enrollment of 34 students.
In accordance with suggestions
from the Vatican II Council
substantial changes were made to the
altar during 1982. The base
supporting the altar and the altar
were extended 25 feet to the south
and the pews were moved and
transferred to the transept area.
Pews in the transept area presently face the relocated altar.
The
hand-carved communion rail was removed and portions of the rail
were used to build the base for the altar table, altar chair, ambo,
cantor's stand and the altar candle holders.
Reverend Jerome H. Dickes was
assigned pastor of our
parish in June, 1983. It was through
his efforts that new windows
were installed in the Guardian Angels
School. The beautification
project of St. Michael's Cemetery
was also implemented by Reverend
Dickes. In June, 1988
Reverend Jerome Dickes was assigned to a
nearby parish and Reverend
Gary L. Ostrander assumed the pastoral duties.
During Reverend Gary Ostrander's time at St. Mary's, the
Guardian Angels School Board was formed in 1989. In 1990, the
restoration of the stained glass windows, interior steeple and clock
were done. The GA/CC Activity Center was also planned and
built
during his pasotate. Fr. Gary was pastor until 1998. In 1998, Reverend James Ryberg
started Perpetual Adoration.
Under his pastorate the painting of the
church and remodeling was planned. Reverend Gerald Gonderinger
was named pastor in January
in 2003 after a 6 month sabbatical
studying Spanish for Hispanic ministry.
The church was
repainted and carpeted that same year. |
