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By the fall of 1906, Holy Trinity Parish increased to about sixty families who felt they could support a resident pastor. They requested that Fr. Herberichs discuss the matter with Bishop Thomas F. Lillis, who was bishop of the diocese at that time. Permission was granted and Fr. Herberichs was appointed as first resident pastor. A pastor’s house was soon built at a nominal cost.
In 1907 a two-acre cemetery site was purchased 3½ blocks north of the church. Father John Anthony Haefele and a committee of three parishioners named John (John Boehm, John Schweiger and John Baumgartner) were working on this cemetery, which had not been named. On Fr. John’s suggestion, the cemetery was named “St. John’s” after these hard-working committee members.
In 1909, Fr. Herberichs, owing to illness, went to his homeland of Holland to visit family and regain his health. Fr. A.J. Blaufuss took charge of the parish in his absence. Fr. Herberichs passed away in October 1909.
Due to the growth of the parish at this time, the little white frame church was becoming too small. The decision was made to build a stone church in 1910. The excavation work was done by the parishioners in order to keep the cost to a minimum. Max and Mary Ann Zahner donated the stone from a quarry on their farm, which they had established in 1902. The men of the parish used their teams and wagons to haul the rock to the building site. They hauled approximately 2.8 million pounds of rock.
In the spring of 1911, the cornerstone was laid by Bishop John Ward. The church was completed in the fall of 1911 at the cost of $16,000. The interior of the church was not as ornate as it is today; that change came several years later. The new stone church was dedicated by Bishop Ward on Thanksgiving Day of that year.
Following the dedication services, a turkey dinner was served to the bishop, visiting clergy and parishioners in the basement of the church.
Next: The School is Built
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