In the Spring of 1947, on two consecutive Sunday mornings, at Sacred Heart Parish and St. John’s Parish in Marshfield, a young priest gave the homily. This young priest was Fr. Walter Dillenburg, who introduced himself and announced that he had been appointed by the Most Rev. Alexander McGavick, then Bishop of LaCrosse Diocese, to be pastor of the newly formed Catholic Parish in Marshfield. This appointment to be effective April 17, 1947. Father Dillenburg was better known by the people of St. John’s Parish, having served there as an assistant pastor before being called to serve as Chaplain in the United States Army.

Twenty acres of land, located in the 1300 and 1400 blocks of West Fifth Street had been purchased from the John Schmidt farm in 1946 by the Diocese of LaCrosse. This twenty acres is now the site of Columbus High School, the Convent on Columbus Avenue and Our Lady of Peace school and gymnasium, rectory and church on West Fifth Street.

The first parish meeting was held at the New Armory building on South Oak Avenue on July 2, 1947. At this meeting officers, advisory board members, trustees and a panel of ushers were elected. Father Dillenburg informed the 125 parish members present that the new parish would consist of 102 families from Sacred Heart and about 150 families from St. John’s. He urged everyone living within the boundaries of the newly formed parish to support and attend all services.

On July 7^th the Advisory Board met and accepted an offer from the Knights of Columbus to hold mass and other services in their hall on West Second Street. The Knights of Columbus Hall was upstairs in the Old Armory Building. This hall has now been razed and in its place we find a parking lot across from the Post Office. This was no place for weak-kneed Christians as there were many steps to climb. Having been a member of Sacred Heart Parish and having to climb three flights of stairs for more years than we care to remember, we felt our just reward on the completion of the new church at ground level. Now once again we began the big climb up the steps. We also learned to get to Mass plenty early and pick our seats so as not to do a balancing act during Mass on the almost all damaged chairs and benches. A portable confessional was set up on Saturdays.

Our first Mass was said on July 27, 1947 in the Knights of Columbus Hall. All Masses and services were held here until February 20, 1949.

On July 28, 1947 a meeting for all the young ladies and married women of the parish was held at the Knights of Columbus Hall. It was decided that this organization would be known as the "Rosary Society". On August 18^th a second meeting was held and a slate of officers was presented and officers were elected. It was agreed that the Rosary Society would have a concession stand at the Central Wisconsin State Fair.

The women were not idle between these two meetings. Small meetings were held three times a week. Starting with three women and adding three more each time we met until we had ten women. The object was to form ten circles with chairwomen and co-chair-women; to pick names of Saints for the circles and to get ready for the up-coming meeting and election of officers. These preparation meetings were held at Father Dillenburg’s temporary residence in a private home on South Oak Avenue. His quarters consisted of a very small bedroom, combination office and sitting room, with a small chapel that seated no more than ten or twelve people. He said his daily Mass here and asked his parishioners to attend. Our little get-togethers, as we called them, were held in the downstairs living room. We will never forget these meetings, it must have been the hottest summer in history and we all looked like we were returning from a Turkish bath, not an organization meeting.

We began to see why Father wanted to get the women organized. They were the motors, and after you get the motor started there is nothing left but to go---and GO we did.

The first project was to have a food stand at the Central Wisconsin State Fair. Well, how do you handle and sell food when you don’t even have a pot, pan or dish? You try to borrow these essentials from your former parish. Try it some time---you won’t like it. The lady officers we went to looked at us as if they had never seen us before and acted as if we were starting a new cult. But then there are always the good Pastors and in a short time the cupboards were unlocked and we got what we needed. Now that we got the equipment, our next step was to move it all to the fairgrounds. We filled wash tubs and hauled them down three flights of stairs into the trunk of the car and away to the fairgrounds we went. This was repeated until we had all the necessary equipment to the fairgrounds. Next was setting up a business we knew very little about. With lots of prayers and God’s help we did quite well with our hamburgers, hotdogs, toasted cheese and egg sandwiches along with chili, homemade pies and cakes. After a few years we began serving complete meals. By this time the school and basement had been completed and hot lunches were being served to the school children, therefore we had all the necessary equipment in our basement. Of course each year we still faced the same moving project: stoves, tables, chairs, cooking equipment, and dishes were hauled to the fairgrounds and on the last day of the fair everything had to be returned to the school basement. Lucky for us we had parish members who owned dray lines and generously gave of their time and trucks. Many men worked most of the night getting the kitchen in order so school lunch could be served the following day. Each circle was assigned a shift and had to donate pies. The men of the parish were also asked to help with frying hamburgers and washing dishes. Many hard hours were put in at the fairgrounds but much fun was also had and a common bond was formed between parishioners. The parish discontinued operating the stand in 1979 after serving the public for 32 years.

The first bazaar was held at the Marshfield Armory on November 7, 1949. Parishioners were very active and busy. Parties, bingo games, basket socials, raffles, picnics, barbecue chicken dinners, bazaars and many other activities were held to raise the much-needed cash. Through these projects people had a chance to mix and get to know their fellow parishioners.

Every year the Holy Name Society hosts a stag wild game dinner. The last few years an Oriental dinner has been served with many new members getting involved. Every other year an Antique Show is sponsored by the women of the parish. All of these have proved very fruitful.

At last we are making progress. At times we felt our best friends were crossing the street when they saw us come. We always had some kind of tickets to sell. However, I really don’t believe this as all the people of Marshfield were very helpful and generous, many offering to help or make a donation.

Blessing and breaking of the ground for our temporary church and school was held on May 18, 1948. On August 1, 1949 the cornerstone was laid. Now we felt we were moving right along. Money was borrowed from individuals at the rate of 2½%. Many people donated articles to be used in the church and had the donor’s names inscribed on them. The last such article being the large crucifix hanging behind the altar of our present church replacing a large bare ebony cross. This crucifix arrived a few days before Father Dillenburg passed away. Father never saw it hanging in its proper place.

Our temporary church was not completely finished when we had our first Mass there on February 20, 1949. Hallelujah and praise God---with all the spit and polish we are ready for the dedication, which is scheduled for June 12, 1949. The Most Rev. J. P. Treacy, Bishop of LaCrosse Diocese, blessed the building and presided at the Pontifical High Mass. What a surprise to hear that Bishop Sheen, the internationally known church dignitary, would participate in the dedication.

While we were preparing the dedication dinner Father Dillenburg asked if we would like to hear Bishop Sheen speak. Having filled the ovens and electric roasters with meat we felt confident we could let the ovens take over. What we didn’t know was that the kitchen was not wired for so heavy a load. On returning to the kitchen we found our beef as raw as when it came from the animal. We had blown a fuse and almost blew the dinner. Despite the old saying , "A watched kettle never boils", we did learn to keep our eyes on the ovens after this. We learn by doing---and we sure did. The Lord was with us and the dedication dinner went very well.

August 21, 1949 was another day for rejoicing as the Notre Dame Sisters arrived at the new school. These Sisters occupied living quarters in the three south rooms of the school. These rooms are now being used as classrooms. School officially opened on September 7, 1949 with 176 children and five Nuns. A school bus was purchased by the parish to enable all children of the parish to attend Catholic school.

Father Dillenburg also moved into the school building on August 30, 1949. He occupied the three rooms next to the church.

The officers of the parish and Father Dillenburg decided to purchase an additional twenty acres of land, adjoining the church property, and have it plotted into lots. The lots were to sell between three hundred and three hundred-fifty dollars each. This is the land that lies west of the rectory and the athletic field. Boundaries are Schmidt Avenue on the east, Eighth Street on the south, Lincoln Avenue on the west, and Fifth Street on the north. Yes, we even dabbled in real estate.

We also operated a root beer stand once but we do not mention this much. We sold root beer for five cents a glass and gave a free ride on Amos (the burro). Amos was given to Father by a friend from Father’s hometown. The root beer stand turned out to be a DUD, but I guess that after all these years we were entitled to one dud. Amos had a pretty good life after we got rid of the root beer stand. He was a guest at different farms and only worked at Christmastime. He was in several parades and also in the living Nativity Pantomine on the lawn in front of the church. Many parishioners were involved in this Nativity Pantomine.

April 23, 1950 was another day of rejoicing for parishioners of Our Lady of Peace Parish. Father Dillenburg turned over the first spadeful of earth marking the beginning of the new parish rectory. The rectory was completed in December 1951 and on January 6, 1952 an open house was held for the public. Our pastor now has a home but the growth of the parish must continue.

In April when ground was broken for the construction of the new rectory, ground was also turned for the construction of Columbus High School. After many years of being crowded at St. John’s, students were finally to have the advantages of large, light, airy, well-planned classrooms, a spacious library, sound proof music room, a large gymnasium and their own chapel and cafeteria.

The next project for Our Lady of Peace was housing for the nuns, who have really been a joy to work with---always happy although their quarters were confining and lacking many conveniences. The convent would be a duplex, housing both Our Lady of Peace Sisters and Columbus High School Sisters. Our Lady of Peace was to provide one-third of the cost of the structure in addition to joining with the other two city parishes to finance the remaining amount. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Sister’s Convent was held on April 23, 1954. The building project moved right along and the building was completed in time for the Sisters to celebrate Christmas in their new quarters. Previous to this Columbus High School Sisters had resided at St. John’s Convent and Our Lady of Peace Sisters had resided in our school.

Just as all construction seemed to be completed and the parish could rest and pursue the fruits of its labors; a fire was accidentally started in the Christmas crèche on January 5, 1960. Our church was badly burned---the interior was extensively damaged and many pews charred by tile and insulation falling from the ceiling. Smoke and water damage was considerable and many windows were broken from the intense heat. It was impossible to use the church. Again we needed a place to worship. This time Columbus High School offered us the auditorium. By February 28^th we were again attending Mass in our completely redecorated church. During the repair of the church daily Masses were read in the Convent Chapel and parishioners were invited to attend.

The "RED LETTER DAY" was finally here. In 1963 the final payment was made for our school and temporary church as well as the parish share of the Columbus High School debt. At the Parish meeting on January 28, 1964 the mortgage was formally burned. This same day, a vote was taken on building a new church and was passed by an overwhelming majority.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new church were held on May 2, 1965, with Father Dillenburg lifting the first shovelful of dirt. On Mother’s Day, May 8, 1966, Father Dillenburg laid the cornerstone. This same day Father Dillenburg, Monsignor Schuh and Father Timmerman blessed their respective bells. The largest bell weighs 1,879 pounds and is dedicated to Our Lady of Peace Parish. The second bell weighs 880 pounds and is dedicated to St. John’s Parish. The third bell weighs 530 pounds and is dedicated to Sacred Heart Parish. Each bell is inscribed with the name of the parish to which it is dedicated. These bells are unlike most modern bells in which only the hammer moves; these bells will swing. The church moved right along, and on May 9 windows were being installed. The theme of the windows is PEACE. Because this is Our Lady of Peace Church, it is to her that the facade window is dedicated.

Finally the day that everyone has been waiting for is here---THE DEDICATION OF OUR LADY OF PEACE CHURCH. How great and good our Lord is in leaving Father Dillenburg with us to see his labor completed before calling him home to his eternal reward. He left us doing his life’s work; trying to save souls he passed into eternal life in the confessional. We are sure he would not have asked for a better way to leave us on that never to be forgotten day, January 12, 1980.

Father Dillenburg was a great humanitarian. No child of our parish ever missed school for lack of shoes or jeans, and no one will ever know how many free lunches were given to the less fortunate from his meager income. He also was a man of great stamina. Being raised on a farm he had great love and respect for the good earth and he never seemed to tire. There were times when we were hoping he would when we were trying to follow him on a job. He took much ribbing about his clumsy rusty looking old tractor. A standing joke was; guess we’ll do something nice for Father, let’s make him a needlepoint cushion for his tractor. He cut lawns, plowed snow, patched driveways, did repair work around the buildings and if you didn’t have an appointment and wanted to see or talk to him you would have to call him off the tractor. When there was no one to drive the school bus he took the route.

Father Ball was appointed administrator after Father’s death. He remained in this position until a new pastor could be appointed, and he did a superb job.

On March 12, 1980 Father Francis Wavra was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Peace Parish. He was formally installed on March 23, 1980 by Rev. Donald Berg. Work never ends---Fr. Wavra has his task cut out for him with the soaring cost of operation and the many badly needed repairs along with pastoral duties, as we are no longer a small parish. From 252 families in 1947 we have grown to 1100 families.

It is hard to think back on the long, hard hours of work to get our parish where it is today. All this is overshadowed by remembering and reminiscing the good times we had together. The friends we have made in Our Lady of Peace are for a lifetime, and what a loving family we have here at Our Lady of Peace. Everytime we see a new face or family at church it brings more joy because we know we are growing, as a family should.

With new members moving into Our Lady of Peace Parish new ideas are also born. In joining Our Lady of Peace Parish you automatically become a member of the Rosary Society or the Holy Name Society.

Remember the parable of the vineyard. The last worker received the same pay as the first. Only at Our Lady of Peace we have no complaint---only praise and support.

It has been said: If you want to really know a person get him on the golf course, but we say if you really want to know and love your fellow man get him rubbing elbows working on a worthy project with you such as for your parish.

Good Lord Jesus, keep helping us as we need you.
  

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