| The Parish of Our Lady of Peace is but the
latest phase of the religious development which has marked the history of Marshfield since
1874. Steadily, keeping sure pace with the growth of the community, the Church grew and
prospered throughout the years. The thousands of souls who have experienced the benefits
of its divine mission now pay tribute to the foresight, the determination and the energy
of its ordained leaders and devoted laity. The
first of these leaders was the Rev. P. Pernin who, coming from what is now Wisconsin
Rapids, said the first Mass in what is now the city of Marshfield, at the home of its
first permanent resident, Louis Rivers, in 1874. A second was the Rev. A. Schuettelhofer,
Marshfield’s first regular pastor. Another was the Rev. Ignatius Schaller who
supervised completion of Marshfield’s Catholic Church, and in 1888 built the first
substantial Catholic School in the area.
 The Reverend John Eisen came to Marshfield in 1892,
and immediately laid plans for the building of the present St. John the Baptist Church,
which was completed and blessed in January 1894. By 1897, Father Eisen had also seen to
completion a new and larger school. This grade school was staffed on November 18, 1882, by
the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who from that day forward have constantly served our
schools with diligence and devotion. To further attest the energy and zeal of Father
Eisen, by 1902 the parish was entirely free of debt for the first time in its history. In
1903, the present rectory was completed. In 1907, broken in health by his labors in the
vineyard of his Beloved Master, Father Eisen, mourned not only in his community, but
throughout the area, was called to his reward.
Father Eisen was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph F. Volz, the
first resident of LaCrosse to be ordained a priest. During his pastorate Father Volz made
the addition of the sisters’ convent to St. John’s properties and supervised the
decoration of the church. To this day, the colorful murals and the dignified bas-relief
Stations of the Cross recall his appreciation of the arts.
In 1915, Father Volz’s assistant, the Rev. Hubert J.
Stehling, was commissioned to organize a new parish in Marshfield, with 150 families from
St. John’s as a nucleus. This was the beginning of Sacred Heart Parish.
The Rev. A. J. Dorrenbach succeeded Father Volz at St.
John’s, the latter dying on May 26, 1926. Within a year an institution to accommodate
students of the first two years of high school was begun, together with a combination
gymnasium and auditorium. This building was completed by 1928 as part of St. John’s
Parish.
During the short pastorate of the Rev. Augustine Frisch, who
succeeded Father Dorrenbach in 1941, the outstanding event was the gutting by fire of the
St. John’s elementary school. The complete rebuilding and renovation of this
institution was the first task of the Very Rev. Father Michael J. Kelnhofer, who followed
Fr. Frisch in 1943.
 Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, since its inception
in 1915, has flourished under the leadership of its pastors. The Rev. Stehling, its first
pastor, said the first Mass in the new combination church-school building on Christmas of
1916, and the school was formally opened in the fall of the following year. A separate
rectory was erected at this time with a convent following in 1924. Fr. Stehling did not
live to see the completion of this latter project. He died on Christmas Eve, 1922.
The Rev. H. P. Toeller succeeded Fr. Stehling in 1923. He saw
to the completion of St. Hubert’s Convent. He then began laying plans for the present
church, a fine example of Tudor Gothic architecture, finally completed and blessed in
1932.
 This then was the status of the Catholic church and school system in
Marshfield until the spring of 1947 when the late Most Reverend John P. Treacy, D.D.,
Bishop of LaCrosse Diocese established the boundaries of Marshfield’s third parish,
to be known as Our Lady of Peace, and appointed Rev. Walter J. Dillenburg its first
pastor.
We must recognize that the many years of service of the
pastors, nuns and laity of the area have laid a strong and deep foundation for the
Catholic community in the Marshfield area. |
