Annunciation Church

HISTORY OF ANNUNICATION CHURCH, COON RAPIDS, IOWA

The first Holy Mass in Coon Rapids was celebrated by Father Pape in a room of the hotel owned by H.J.P. Mueller and Albert and Almira Brutsche.  The exact date is not known but it was probably about the year 1880.  This area was considered a mission of the Catholic Church in Templeton.  Father Bernard A. Schulte of Templeton attended the Coon Rapids Mission for several years.  Coon Rapids, under the direction of the Dubuque Diocese in 1885, built a small wood framed church at a cost of $1,850.  The church had a seating capacity of 100 people and not have a sacristy as the priest vested behind the altar.

Among the names of some of the original members of the Annunciation Parish church were the families of H.J.P. Mueller, Albert Brutsche, Patrick Carroll, Peter Vanderloo, Michael Moylan, John Kennedy, William Campbell, John and Patrick Doran, Dennis Brannan, and J. Murphy.

The first baptism in the church was Mary Stevens on February 4, 1885, by Father Schulte.  The first marriage recorded in the newly formed parish was O.W. Paslay and Marie Seidl.  The first mission ever held by the church was from March 13-25, 1891, which concluded with a dedication of the church on the Feast of the Annunciation.  The church was named Annunciation Catholic Church with the first resident priest Father James Brady.  During the pastorate of Father J. M. McAuliffe, the church was enlarged and a sacristy was added.  At that time Dedham was also attended by the Coon Rapids priest.  Father J. S. Shanahan followed Father McAuliffe as pastor, and he installed a new main altar and stained glass windows in 1905.  The altar is now in an Indian mission in South Dakota.  Father George Wessling became pastor in 1914 and served nine years.  During his pastorate, a brick school was built.  On July 25, 1915, the cornerstone was formally blessed and was laid by Father Erdman of Templeton, who was delegated to preside over the ceremonies.  Father Kuemper of Carroll preached the sermon.  The school was finished and formally opened in January 1916 with two lay teachers:  Nellie Martin and Mary Schueller.  Some of the first Sisters to teach at the school included Sister Mary Eileen, Sister Mary Theophilla, Sister Mary Emma and Sister Mary Hilaria.  The school opened with 28 boarder students with the last boarders staying in 1937.  The school closed in 1970 due to lack of enrollment. 
        
Following the pastorate of Father Wessling, several priests followed and served the parish:  Fathers Hugh O’Brien, H. B. Kramer, Edward J. Haynes, James A. Kane, C. J. Ives, B. H. Loeffelholz, Charles O’Malley, and Louis J. Savage.  In 1946 Father Thomas M. Parle was appointed pastor, and in his two years of service installed a new heating system in the church and school.  Both the exterior and interior of the church were renovated and redecorated. 
         
Father Louis B. Anthofer was pastor from 1949 to 1952.  He was succeeded by Father Otto Dentlinger, who was pastor until August 1954 when he was assigned as chaplain of St. Ann’s Hospital in Algona.  Father Robert Dougherty came to Coon Rapids in August 1954.  He immediately endeavored to carry out the plans of the two former pastors in the construction of the new church.  He supervised the financial campaign and the new construction.  The church was dedicated on March 25, 1957.  In 1965 the convent was built, which today serves as the parish rectory.  Father Harold Cooper served as pastor from 1966 to 1969.  Father Edward Carpenter served the parish from August 1969 through 1987 when he retired.  Father Carpenter supervised the demolition of the old school and rectory, which was sold and moved; and also supervised the construction of the Parish Center in 1977.   

Following Fr. Carpenter, Father Robert Fangman, Father Paul Kelly, Father Anthony Pick, and Father Andrew Hoffmann served the parish.  In the latter part of this period in the parish history, Annunciation shared its Pastor or clustered with St. Joseph in Dedham and St. Elizabeth Seton in Glidden. 

In 2010-11 the church completed a renovation of the entrance, installed new altar floor covering, as well as finished the installation of new stained-glass windows throughout the church.    

In 2017, the Diocese of Sioux City placed all the parishes of Carroll County, including Annunciation Parish, under a team of priests who would serve the county:   Fr. Kevin Richter was named the Pastor, and the parochial vicars were Fr. Brian Feller, Fr. John Gerald, Fr. Shinoj Jose, and Fr. Mark Stoll.   Fr. Timothy Schott also assisted this team as a retired priest.   At that time, Fr. John Gerald had his residence in the rectory in Coon Rapids.

In 2018, The Diocese decided to split the county into two groupings.  A “western” group of parishes (Arcadia, Breda, Halbur, Mount Carmel, Templeton, and Glidden) was served by Fr. Mark Stoll as the Pastor, along with Fr. Tim Schott as an assistant.   In the “eastern” group of parishes, Holy Spirit Church and St. Lawrence Church were merged to form St. John Paul II Parish.   This newly formed parish, along with Coon Rapids, Dedham, and Willey, was served by Fr. Kevin Richter as the Pastor, and Fr. Brian Feller and Fr. Shinoj Jose as parochial vicars.  With the priests now having their residence in Carroll, Annunciation parish no longer had a resident priest. 

Also at that time, due to the shortage of active priests available to serve in the diocese, and declining population throughout the rural communities of the Diocese of Sioux City, Holy Angels parish in Roselle officially went to church building status (meaning that there would not be regular daily or weekend masses, but the church building would be maintained for special occasions such as weddings and funerals), and Holy Family parish in Lidderdale closed (with the church building and parish hall being sold).  

In 2019, Fr. Tim Friedrichsen became the Pastor of the “western” parishes, with Fr. Tim Pick serving as the parochial vicar. 
Fr. Kevin Richter remained the Pastor of the “eastern” parishes, with Fr. Patrick Behm and Fr. Shinoj Jose serving as the parochial vicars.

In 2021, further changes were made, going from five active priests serving the county to three.  In the “western grouping of parishes, St. John’s Church in Arcadia, St. Bernard’s Church in Breda, and Sacred Heart Church in Templeton were merged to become Good Shepherd Parish.  St. Augustine Church in Halbur and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Mount Carmel were changed to church building status.   Fr. Tim Friedrichsen continued as the Pastor of Good Shepherd Parish.  In the “eastern” grouping, Annunciation Church in Coon Rapids, St. Joseph Church in Dedham and St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Glidden were merged into St. John Paul II Parish in Carroll.  St. Mary’s Church in Willey was changed to church building status. Fr. Kevin Richter continued as the Pastor of St. John Paul II Parish, with Fr. Patrick Behm serving as the parochial vicar.