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Parish With A Rich
Heritage"
Too, Father Jacob assumed
charge of the "Sendbote," a German language
periodical dedicated to the Sacred Heart. . His
superiors granted him permission to use the
proceeds from the publication toward the
reduction of the church debt.
Time and overwork took it's
toll on Father Jacob, and St. Bonaventure's
founder died June 20, 1881.
Between 1881 and 1938 St.
Bonaventure's had only eight pastors. Parish
records note ten, but Fathers Leonard Nurre,
O.F.M. and Odoric Lehmkuhle, O.F.M. each werved
twice: Father Leonard, 1885-1888 and 1915-1919:
Father Ordoric, 1907-1914 and
1919-1938.
It
was Father Odoric who, during his first
pastorate in 1907, organized a school building
fund for the purpose of constructing a new
school to accommodate the ever-growing young
population of the parish.
In
July, 1908, ground was broken for a modern
three-story structure, executed in Tudor style
and consisting of twelve large
rooms.
Dedicated in August 1908, the
school reached a total enrollment of 600
children by 1909. (The change in the
composition of the parish can be noted when
compared with the 1968 statistics that listed a
school enrollment of 261 children.).
When Father Odoric was
reappointed pastor in February, 1919, he at
once made extensive preparations for the
approaching Golden Jubilee of the
parish. His aim was to build a new sanctuary,
for the one in use was in unsafe condition, due
mainly to the settling of the foundation and
the erosion of the adjoining hill.
Plans were drawn up for a new
sanctuary by architect John Sheblessy, and the
foundations of the old sanctuary were
demolished in May. 1919.
A full year of the work of
remodeling continued until Easter Sunday, 1920,
when services were held in the new sanctuary, a
truly wonderful beginning for a new era that
Golden Jubilee Year. The eight-year period
between 1922 and 1929 saw a series of
improvements to parish property.
Most notable of these was the
purchase of a property across the street from
the school. There construction was begun on a
three story brick house that would serve as a
residence for the Franciscan Sisters who, since
1882, had served St. Bonaventure so faithfully.
Today the parish still is of one accord in the
conviction that nothing could really repay the
beloved sisters who gave of themselves so
unstintingly for love of God and His children.
Not to be forgotten in the long honor roll of
these teachers was the school's first
principal, Sister Sophia, who held that post
for twenty-eight years, Sister Teresa, Sister
Reparata, Sister Viola, Sister Charitina,
Sister Aurelia, Sister Elise, Sister Bernard,
Sister Marita Rose, and Sister Mary Albert. The
present faculty consists of Sister m. Veronica
Frederick, Sister Marlene Kochert, Sister Alice
Retzner, Sister Marilyn Ruther, plus lay
teachers Edward Lansing Brown, Thomas R.
Deschu, Antoinette Deschu and Robert A.
Pahlen.
On Sunday, August 26,
1923, the new residence was solemnly blessed by
Father Odoric who was assisted by two
Franciscan students for the priesthood who were
sons of the parish, Friars Theodore
Hesselbrock, O.F.M., and Neinrad Issler,
O.F.M.
The next year it was decided to
build an addition to the school building
because of the continued increase of the parish
population and the consequently large number of
children attending the parochial school.
The first improvement, the new
school hall, was officially opened in September
, 1925, and helped to accomodate the large
number of friends , who attended Father
Odoric's Silver Jubilee, which was celebrated
on December 13, 1925.
By September , 1926, the new
school building was ready for occupancy.
Erected at a cost of $205,000, the school was
blessed by the Most Reverend Archbishop John T.
McNicholas, O.P., who was at the same time
paying the first visit to the parish.
On the following Sunday six
bowling alleys, which had been installed
in the basement of the building, were solemnly
blessed by the Right Reverend Sylvester
Espelage, O.F.M., a son of the parish who was
destined to become a bishop and Vicar
Apolstolic of Wuchang, China.
St. Bonaventure/s Bowling lanes
are still in excellent condition despite their
venerable age of forty three years. Sanctioned
by the American Bowling Congress, they host six
sanctioned leagues every week.
The halcyon years came to an
abrupt end when the depression struck in 1929
and the parish was caught with a debt of over
$250,000.
The formidable sum was not to
be paid off for may years to come.
Through the dismal years of the
depression, the parish clung tenaciously to the
faith that had sustained it through so many
other crises, but the future looked bleak
indeed.
Some help came in July, 1936
when the Reverend Gration Meyer, O.F.M. , was
appointed Guardian of the Monastery and
assistant in the parish.
Father Gratian received
permission from Father Odoric to introduce
Bingo into the parish, and although the game
did not meet with the same success at St.
Bonaventure's that it had in other parishes,
the parish debt was reduced $93,450 during the
years between 1937 and 1944.
The years of the depression and
the heavy parish debt did not spare Father
Odoric. His health broken, the good and
faithful pastor died on February 10, 1938.
Father Gratian, who was
destined to serve at St. Bonaventure for twenty
two years, was then appointed pastor. Father
Gratian centered his efforts on lowering
the parish debt, as had his predecessor.
These efforts were hampered by
the advent of World War II, and it was not
until the spring of 1943, with the approach of
the Diamond Jubilee, that Father Gratian
considered the urgent need for repairs to the
church. He then contracted for a new slate roof
for the entire church.
The war, when it came to this
country, found St. Bonaventure's ready to do
more than it's share. Parishioners, young and
old alike, banded together to ease the burden
of the more than 700 boys and girls of the
parish who had entered the various
services.
Parishioners worked tirelessly
with the U.S.O. and the Red Cross and the Holy
Name Society supplied each service man and
woman with a religious kit.
"St Bonnies's Service Club"
wrote newsletters, mailed Christmas packages,
and generally worked to keep up service
morale.
During its eight years of
existence, the Service Club and its newsletters
brought a little bit of home to those so far
away and when the club disbanded in December,
1946, the $100 left in the treasury was used to
buy a chalice in memory of those who served
their country so well.
The Service Club again
reorganized in January, 1952, for those serving
during the Korean War, and disbanded in
November, 1955.
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