Columbus Catholic High School - Compass Yearbook (Marshfield, WI)

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4' rf R Sevencty-'jeigtllt years ggoxpuly, UISZA--tge V - ifftfl a i everen . ernin, o isconsin api s, 3-.tag , .X ,Nhg X--sgrcbfm. . .- celebrated the first Holy Mass in the Marsh- - ' ,' 'i . 3 X, h Qi ffX'Yf W' f' ' f field area. A shanty belonging to Louis ' ,'. , J' , ...NN - ' hfk' If .J . Rivers of Marshfield served as church. During -fr , 1 .3 'f U ,P 1 , N X the next four years only occasionally did a 1-'Q 'X , A , , H . - 3 priest visit Marshfield to celebrate Mass and 1' ' -Lf, ' ,ff XN'l - ,jf . , D Stix administer the Sacraments. A,i3ff'Q'!jJ,,' 1 fwfr: ...Li vjigiiif From l878 to 1880, the Reverend A. T. j, H- , ,Q fit Xl Schuettelhoefer of Medford cared for the r -24.4, il ' ' . . XX .X Marshfield mission, saying Mass in a'public ' A -'- -:-'-- . if N i schoolhouse while the church was being V: ,fx x in . ,ii , , XX built. Late in l88O, he was appointed fiist C as-4 'N 1 , , 3' If ' 6 YQ resident pastor of Marshfield, he was trans- ff! 3 A A . J Q ferred before the church was completed. His successor, the Reverend Ignatius Schaller, built a modest rectory and directed the work of finishing the church which was finally blessed and dedicated on July 27, 1882, by the Most Reverend Kilian C. Flasch, Bishop of La Crosse. ln the same year, a small frame building was erected, where the first Catholic school in the area was opened, in November, with an enrollment of eighty-six pupils. ln charge of the new school were the School Sisters of Notre Dame from Milwau- kee. Six years later when the increased enrollment necessitated more room, a four- room brick building was erected. The old school was remodeled for the Sisters' convent. The Reverend Paul Geyer succeeded Father Schaller as pastor in l889. Within three years he was transferred to La Crosse, the Reverend 'W 55 s it .f Rev. Eugene A. Comiskey Assistant -wg.: 1 ,f I Q .4 J . A I St. John John Eisen was appointed his successor. Father Eisen immediately laid plans for the building of the present St. John the Baptist Church which was completed and blessed in l894. Since the school enrollment had increased to four hundred, a new and larger school was built in 1897. Q ILM i vin, ,'. 1 . 5... l lu.. ..' u ,w s the Baptist Church

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SEVENTY - FIVE YE H5 K God wants the whole globe to be given back to Him by men, thought Columbus. Sargent, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS And so the faith came, seventy-five years ago, to the meld OPEC .... .... 'LC tw ..,.-avi' .1 .Eg

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iff-f MARSHFIELD ln 1903, the grateful congregation built the present rectory for their pastor, while he was visiting his home in Bavaria. Upon the death, in 1907, of Father Eisen, who had served the parish for fifteen years, the Rev- erend Joseph F. Volz was appointed pastor of St. John's Church. lt was during his pastorate of nineteen years, that a new con- vent was built for the growing community of teachers, and a central heating plant in- stalled. Upon the death of Father Volz in 1926, the Right Reverend A. J. Dorrenbach became pastor. Father Dorrenbach was made a Domestic Prelate in 1930 by His Holiness, Pope Pius Xl. His first plans con- cerned the expanding of St. John's School. A new building was erected in 1928 to accommodate the upper grades and two years of high school, a spacious gymnasium- auditorium was included. The Reverend Augustine Frisch succeeded Monsignor Dor- renbach, who died in 1941. During his short pastorate of two years, St. John's elementary school was gutted by tire. When the Very Rev. Michael J. Kelnhofer became pastor in 1943, his first task was the rebuilding of the Grade School. Before long a spacious, modern, attractive building stood on the corner of Blodgett and Walnut Streets. The present pastor, the Very Reverend Hugh J. Deeny, who succeeded Father Keln- hofer in 1949, has continued and expanded the program of progress established at St. John's. His first work, the redecorating of the parish church, was followed by the ex- panding of the two-year high school into a four-year high, 1950 to 1951. This expan- we , Rev Bernard G. Schreiber Assistant Very Rev Hugh J Deeny Pastor sion made more space and equipment a necessity if the large number of Catholic youth in the Marshfield area were to have the benefit of a Catholic education. At the word of His Excellency, the Most Reverend John Patrick Treacy, Bishop of La Crosse Father Deeny undertook the tremendous pro iect now nearing completion - the planning and building of Columbus High School Assisting Father Deeny in parish and school are the Reverend Eugene A. Comiskey and the Reverend Bernard G. Schreiber. Beyond all this growth and expansion and vastly more important, is the spiritual health of the parish, attested to, not only by the flourishing organizations for men and wo- men, but above all, by the throngs at the altar rail.