Saint Alphonsus High School - Arrow Yearbook (Dearborn, MI)

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 4 Iphonsonian. TriWie to Our .Pioneers MR. MATTHIAS BERGER To Mr. Matthias Berger and Mrs. Anna Horger, whose pictures appear on this page, belong the distinction of being the only pioneers, still liv- ing in this parish, who saw the es- tablishment of St. Alphonsus Parish. Mr. Matthias Berger was born in Greenfield township, February 13, 1847, but was baptized in St. Mary’s Church, Detroit, Mich., which his father and mother at that time at- tended. In his early youth the little, old brick church was built and here he made his first Holy Communion June 11, 1857. In 1878 he was married to Philomena Siterlet and to this happy union were born ten children of whom eight are living while twenty-nine of his children’s children delight in calling h i m Grandpa.” Lives like Mr. Berger’s, busy, active and useful, form a splendid model for the young peo- ple of today whose opportunities are so much wider. Mrs. Anna Mary Horger was born October 4, 1848, on the East Side of Detroit which is now known as Grosse Point. Her parents mov- ed to St. Alphonsus Parish in the Spring of 1 850. In 18 57 she was placed in the care of relatives in Detroit and attended St. Joseph’s School, making her first Holy Com- munion in St. Joseph’s Church in 1861. She was married in 1866 to Anthony Horger, who died in 1917. During her married life the old St. Alphonsus School was built and also the Church on Warren Avenue and Schaefer Road. She is the mother of thirteen children, nine of whom are living. Fifty-four grandchildren and twenty-four great-grandchil- dren live in this and surrounding parishes where they reflect credit up- on the labors of this fine old pio- neer lady of whom St. Alphonsus is justly proud. MRS. ANNA MARY HORGER

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■yl I phon omaru at which time Right Reverend Bishop John S. Foley appointed as rector of this parish, Reverend A. J. Buechsenmann, under whom the Golden Jubilee of the Church was celebrated, October, nineteen hundred two. For twenty-three years Father Beuchsenmann labored zealously in building up this new country regardless of the many difficulties connected with his high calling, but love for God and zeal for souls overcame every obstacle. Knowing the necessity of education as the foundation and support of re- ligion a little log school house was built in eighteen forty-six on the farm just opposite the present church site. In this rude structure school was taught until eighteen sixty-two, when the old brick school, which still stands, was erected. The school was presided over by male teachers until eighteen eighty-one when the Sisters of St. Agnes were appointed as teachers. In eighteen ninety-seven these Sisters were replacd by the Sisters of St. Dominic of Adrian, Michigan. The Parish Cemetery was at the west side of the church until eighteen seventy-six when the grounds were laid out at the north end of the church prop- erty. In nineteen-four the present Rectory was built. Reverend Monsignore John S. Mies succeeded Reverend A. J. Beuchsenmann in nineteen twenty. He foresaw the inevitable growth of the parish and bent his influence and efforts toward the erection of the first unit of the present school structure, which was built in nineteen twenty-one and a High School Depart- ment was at once established. During his pastorate a vast amount of work was accomplished. Our present pastor, Reverend John A. Klich, succeeded Monsignor Mies in nineteen twenty-three, and under his direction a beautiful convent to accommo- date twenty-four Sisters was built in nineteen twenty-four and our splendid mod- ernly equipped school was completed in nineteen twenty-six. These stately edifices that adorn our parish today are monuments of his zeal. Thus has he sought the interests of even the least of his flock—has provided for the earlier as well as the maturer years, fashioning not only for what is best in this life, but for the eternal life to come. Seventy-five years, glorious years freighted with life’s full vigoi;, how mani- fold the labors in these seventy-five years as recorded in the Book of Life! Then ring out, ye Jubilee Chimes; ring out the glad tidings over all the city round; let every vale and mount and rill, that has witnessed the trials and triumphs of these seventy-five years, resound and re- verberate to the commingled har- mony of labor and success. Yes, the joy that so thrills our hearts today sheds a glory all about us and wells over to bathe in refresh- ing balm all the splendors of the jubilee morn. [9]

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' LyHE chimes of the “Great- er St. Alphonsus” are being intoned in many hearts; and from the Parish comes a sil- very echo — the Jubilee Vol- ume. It is Today’s little labor of love that links the tender memories of Yesterday with the eager hopes of Tomorrow. If it but makes St. Alphonsus better known, more deeply loved, it will not have been done in vain. [HI