St Mary Central High School - Renard Yearbook (Menasha, WI)

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ZFUZ We, the Class of 1943, have chosen as our theme for the 1943 Renarci', the famous canticle of Mary immaculate, H-ll'lE MAGNlFlCAT. ln this immortal hymn, the Virgin Mother of God sang the praises of her Creator. Her sinless, beautiful soul was inundated with celestial joy and gratitude and in sublime ecstasy Mary uttered the inspired words: My soul doth magnify the Lord And my spirit rejoiced in God, my Saviorf, As Mary hurried eagerly over the hill countryi' to render loving service to her cousin Elizabethmso we, too, journeyed over the hill country in this our loved Alma Mater to receive a complete education developing our spiritual, mental, and physical abilities. It was here in dear St. Mary's that the divine law and precepts were inculcated into our youthful hearts!it was here, in this hallowed spot that we were trained to meet the severe problems of our lives!here our hearts, minds and wills were disciplined under the masterhand of Truth, Virtue, and Beauty. And now, stand- ing at the cross-roads, we with grateful hearts join in Mary's beautiful anthem, saying: HOur souls do magnify the l.orc'l, For f-'le hath done great things unto us. Yes, we go forth into the war-torn world to worlt out our salvation. But not alone. For there is the ever shining Star, Mary, that guides us on-and under her protection we go forth to do our partfto live our lives and render sweet service to all men. Through the untiring interest of our school we learnt to love and cherish high ideals and in this way we will malce that world of ours a better place to live in, because through sacrifice and service we bring down upon us the mercy of God- His mercy-from generation to generation unto them that fear i-lim. Page 8

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e icaiion io the courageous pioneers who were the first to traverse this land oi Wisconsin, to those who planted the seed of iaith in this hallowed spotf to those hardy men and women of yesteryears who sacrificed all for God and countryf to those generous parishioners who at the present foster Catholic education so that our American youth may iive Christ-iii4e, Mary-like . . . to aiil we dedicate our Renard,

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The History of St. Mary Parish Upon the advice of Right Reverend M. Henni, Bishop of Milwaulcee, the German-spealcing Catholics of Menasha separated from St. Charles Congrega- tion now lcnown as St. Patricle Church and organized a parish of their own under the leadership of Reverend Father William Wilkens. At once they bought a church building with adjoining property from the Congregational Church of Menasha. After malcing the necessary repairs, the building was blessed by the bishop and dedicated to Our Blessed Lady. This was in the spring of 1867. The first resi- dent pastor of this beautiful new Church was the Reverend F. Uhlemeyer. The German Catholics, who now were in the possession of a sacred edifice in which to serve God, realized the need of a Catholic education. lmmediately they made plans to erect a parochial school and under the direction of the Reverend Father Uhlemeyer the First Catholic school was built in Menasha. It was placed in charge of the Fran- ciscan Sisters. ln 1871 Reverend Father Uhlemeyer left Menasha to be succeeded by Reverend Joseph Nussbaum. During his pastorate of eighteen months, Reverend Nussbaum organized the St. Joseph Society which is still in existence and now affiliated with the Central Society. Reverend J. Jaster became the pastor of the parish and in September 1874, he called the School Sisters of Notre Dame to talce charge of the school. These Sisters have been a great factor in building up the parish, both spiritually and intellectually. The death of Father Jaster in March 1875, brought to Menasha Reverend Father Andrew Seubert, a priest whose faith can be seen in the worlcs he left behind, a man universally beloved and whose coun- sel was often sought by bishops and priests. Little St. Mary Church was destroyed by fire on Ash Wednesday, 1883. Financially this disaster was a great blow to the people, most of whom were poor laborers. But this did not discourage Reverend Father Seubert. ln three days he had 514,000 sub- scribed towards a new Church and Bishop Kraut- bauer dedicated the newly constructed building in November of the same year. This present St. Mary Church with its well-proportioned steeple is an architectural ornament of the city. A splendid speci- Page 9 men of Gothic structure, it was designed by Archi- tect Druiding of Chicago. During the course of time a large sacristy was added to it which in by-gone days has often served as a chapel. ln 1893 Reverend Father Seubert built a new school with eight class rooms and a spacious hall. Again, the pioneers of St. Mary's showed a spirit of sacrifice and generosity. Soon, through the immigration of Polish-spealcing Catholics, St. Mary's became a mixed Congregation. Not being able to spealc Polish, Reverend Father Seubert built a combination Church and school for the Polish-spealcing members of his floclc. Thus it was that St. John Parish came into existence. By 1888, the names of seventy-five families appeared on the roster of St. John. ln March 1901, due to failing health, Reverend Father Seubert resigned as pastor of St. Mary's and retired to St. Elizabeth Hospital at Appleton. Reverend Herman Rogier, a Salvatorian priest, had charge of St. Mary Congregation until a resident pastor was appointed. Reverend N. Hens was then transferred from Kaulcauna to Menasha in November of the same year. After finding the pastoral duties rather arduous he was given an assistant, an able man in the person of Reverend Father V. C. Hugo. ln July 1905, responsibilities of the pastorate still being too great, he laid the pastoral staff into the hands of Reverend Peter Schmitz. The latter labored in the parish until the time of his death September 1914. Reverend Father John Hummel, then Rector of the Cathedral in Green Bay, suc- ceeded the late Father Schmitz. From the very be- ginning he has enjoyed the confidence of his people and they have helped him to build up the parish. The pastorate of Right Reverend Monsignor Hummel marlcs a glorious record in the history of St. Mary Parish. Present new school building was completed in 1920 Final addition was made in 1996 The Gymnasium was erected in 1930-1931 New Rectory in 1937 New Vestibule and entrance in 1940 Marble Wainscoating in 1941