St. Joseph Parish, St Johns at 109 Linden Street, St. Johns, MI 48879 US - Our Parish History

The first Mass in the village of St. Johns was celebrated in 1857 in the home of Jeremiah Dooling by Fr. George Godez who was passing through from his parish in Westphalia to the St. Johns train depot. Later, services were held in the village school which was situated on the corner of Walker and Mead Streets. By 1859, the Catholic community in St. Johns had grown enough to become a mission attached to Assumption Parish in Corunna. Ground was broken for the first Catholic church building in the spring of 1866. The frame structure for the sixty active Catholic families was built on the southeast corner of Whittemore and Railroad Streets. On May 7, 1871, Bishop of Detroit, Caspar A. Borgess, named the new parish "St. Joseph." The present St. Joseph Church was dedicated on October 25, 1908. Solemn High Mass was celebrated by Fr. Andrew Dooling (son of Jeremiah Dooling and the only St. Joseph parishioner at the time to have received Holy Orders). The parish experienced steady growth through the years with 335 registered families in 1950, 500 families in 1957, 800 families in the late 1960s and 1100 families in 1981. This growth necessitated an addition to the church building in 1982. Currently we have over 1500 registered families and 5000 members. Our Catholic elementary school opened on September 8, 1924, with 70 students in eight grades. They learned under the direction of the Sisters of St. Joseph from Marquette, MI. Through the years, two large additions have been added to the school and enrollment has grown to 300 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Resident Pastors and Administrators: Rev. Fr. Joseph Kraemer (1870 - 1877) Rev. Fr. Bernard Holthaus (1882 - 1884) Rev. Fr. Henry Koenig (1886 - 1892) Rev. Fr. Matthias Auer (1893 - 1899) Rev. Fr. Anton Krams (1899-1906) Rev. Fr. John T. Lynch (1906 - 1919) Rev. Fr. Thomas Carey (1919 - 1923) Rev. Msgr. Vincent Hankerd (1924 - 1927) Rev. Fr. G. Warren Peek (1927 -1930) Rev. Fr. Archibald Soest (1931) Rev. Fr. H.W. Rosebrook (1932 -1936) Rev. Fr. William G. Bath (1936 -1940) Rev. Fr. Vincent F. Alfes (1940 -1942) Rev. Fr. Lewis Dion (1942 - 1945) Rev. Fr. Albert Schmitt (Adm.) (1945 - 1946) Rev. Fr. Joseph Whelan (1946 - 1949) Rev. Fr. Justin M. Hermes (1949 -1957) Rev. Msgr. M. Joseph Green (1957 - 1966)* Rev. Fr. William G. Hankerd (1966 - 1987) Rev. Msgr. Robert D. Lunsford (1987 - 1999) Rev. Fr. Timothy D. Krzyzaniak (1999 - 2001) Rev. Fr. Eoin Murphy (Adm.) (2001 - present) *Monsignor Green was consecrated 28 August 1962 as Titular Bishop of Trisipa and Auxillary Bishop of Lansing; appointed Bishop of Reno, Nevada 10 March 1967; resigned 6 December 1974; died 31 August 1982. History information is taken from A History of St. Joseph Parish by Jean Martin. Copyright 1984.

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