St. Joseph Church

HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH CHURCH, DEDHAM, IOWA

The first steps to establish St. Joseph’s Parish were made in the fall of 1891 with the purchase of a little over 2 acres from J. Hutter. A building committee was formed and  the first church was erected in 1892. It was a frame structure 40’ x 24’ and about 16’ high. There was also a spacious gallery constructed in the rear of the church. This was for the choir and a school room.

The first priest attending St. Joseph’s was Fr. Bernard Schulte, the pastor of Templeton, who at that time also had charge of St. Mary’s-Annunciation, Coon Rapids. The first Mass was celebrated in St. Joseph Church in the fall of 1892. Fr. Bernard Schulte then continued to attend St. Joseph regularly once a month. In the fall of 1894 the parochial school was opened. The first teacher was Mary Herzog, of Dubuque, IA.

In October 1894, Rt. Rev. Bishop J. Hennessey of Dubuque appointed Rev. James Brady as pastor of St. Mary’s-Annunciation at Coon Rapids and St. Joseph Church at Dedham. Since St. Mary’s was the older and larger of the two parishes the rectory was built at Coon Rapids and St. Joseph’s became the out-mission. It remained so until the autumn of 1904. St. Joseph’s then enjoyed the privilege of Holy Mass every Sunday in summer and every two weeks in winter. In 1895, Fr. James Brady was succeeded by Fr. J. F. McCaffrey who ministered to the two parishes until 1899 when Fr. J. McAuliff was appointed in his place.

The parish of St. Joseph had not been making progress, but neither the pastor nor the parishioners would be blamed. The parishioners at Dedham, almost without exception, were Germans who had arrived from Germany not many years previously and had little knowledge of the English language while the pastors had no knowledge of the German language. Finally in 1902, after an investigation, Bishop Hennessey of Dubuque appointed Fr. H. Eckert as pastor of St. Mary’s-Annunciation and of St. Joseph’s since he could speak German. The little church was once again filled to capacity and the parishioners realized that a larger and better church was needed.

Their plans materialized the same year when a larger frame church was erected. This building was 98’ long and 44’ wide, included a sanctuary, two sacristies and a bell tower. Mr. Pexa of Templeton was contracted to erect the building for $5000.00. While the building was under construction, lightning struck the building and caused considerable damage, and increasing the price to $8000.00. Fortunately the building was insured. All except $1500.00 was paid before Fr. Eckert’s service came to an end in 1904 with the appointment of a resident pastor for Dedham. After the completion of the new church, the old church was used as a parochial school. Miss Elizabeth Koenig became the first teacher and held the position until July 1911.

In 1904 Rt. Rev. Bishop P.J. Garrigan appointed Rev. H. Dries as the first resident pastor of St. Joseph Church, Dedham. Until arrangements could be made to rent a house, Fr. Dries lived with Fr. Eckert at Coon Rapids and in 1906 the parish built a two story frame rectory at a cost of $5000.00.

The first baptism recorded in the church records was Leo Henrious Hagen, born December 20, 1904 and baptized January 15, 1905. Parents: August and Philomena (Balk) Hagen. The first weddings recorded by Fr. Dries were: George Renze and Caroline Meyer on January 16, 1906 and Michael Peter and Agnes Seidl on January 24, 1906. In 1907 new pews for the church were purchased from Mr. Egid Hackner of LaCrosse, Wisconsin at a cost of $800.00

In 1911 Fr. Christopher Huelshorst was appointed as successor of Fr. Dries. At this time the parish had grown to 68 families. In the autumn of 1912 under the leadership of Fr. Huelshorst, the parish decided to erect a new parochial school. On January 20, 2013 the contract for the new school was given to R.H. Fisher of Cedar Rapids at a cost of $13,943.00. The plans called for a two-story brick building 70’ x 48’ with a basement. The parish at this time numbered 85 families.

In September 1913, three Franciscan Sisters of LaCrosse Wisconsin arrived to take charge of the new St. Joseph school. For several years high school classes were held 1923 to 1930. When the new school opened the nuns accepted boarders, for a fee of $1.50 per week. Boys and girls lived upstairs in the school with a partition dividing the room. The nuns lived on the east side of the building with the dining room and the kitchen in the basement and a chapel in the southwest corner.

Fr. Huelshorst continued to grow the parish and blueprints for a new church were drawn. The J.T. Schroeder Construction Company of Dedham was hired to erect the present church. The old church was moved west of the rectory to be used while the new church was being built. Frank Irlbeck and Leo Stangl helped run the fresno scraper to excavate the basement. Farmers brought their tractors to town to help in grading the site. Frank Schwaller dug the pipelines by hand through solid clay. The new brick church was built and completed in 1939-1940 at a cost of $55,000.00. At the time of the dedication, the church was debt free, attesting to the parishioners faith in the future.

The large brick building was 125’ x 51’ with a basement under the entire structure. The hall had a seating capacity of 600. The church had a seating capacity of 520 persons. The first service was held January 21, 1940 with Fr. Huelshorst realizing his dream. At this time there were 140 families listed in the church book. The church was formally dedicated on October 1, 1940 by the Most Reverend Bishop Edmond Heelan of the Diocese of Sioux City. The Mass centered around the large, main, marble altar, a gift from Fr. Huelshorst to his people. Following the Mass a class of 48 were confirmed.

At the time of the dedication, since Fr. Huelshorst was in failing health, Fr. Norbert Boes was serving as assistant pastor. Fr. Christopher Huelshorst died at the rectory on June 21, 1941 after a long illness with coronary thrombosis. Burial was in St. Joseph Cemetery.

In July 1941, Fr. Henry Pick was appointed as pastor. He enclosed the front porch of the rectory and completely renovated the interior. The school building was repaired and a heating system was installed. In 1947 the church’s interior was redecorated with a beautiful set of Stations of the Cross and a pipe organ costing $7000.00 and a set of carillon bells were installed.

In 1954, St. Joseph’s parishioners joined with other surrounding parishes to build Kuemper Catholic High School in Carroll. It replaced St. Angela’s Academy an all girls’ school. Now both boys and girls could receive a catholic education.
Under Fr. Henry Pick a new convent was built north of the school in 1958. The project was completed by Fr. Henry Meyer at a cost of $65,000.00. It was a one story brick and tile building, including private rooms for the sisters, a large parlor, chapel, dining room and kitchen.

Fr. Henry Meyer was a native of Dedham and served St. Joseph Parish as their pastor for 23 years. From July of 1958 to July of 1981. Many renovations to the school and church were completed during Fr. Meyer’s appointment including removing the communion rail and turning the altar towards the people. Latin was discontinued and the Mass was in English.

In 1968 St. Joseph Parish and St. Mary Parish consolidated their grade schools. Grades 1-4 attended Willey and Grades 5-8 attended Dedham. The school system was known as Dedham-Willey Schools.

Assistant priests assigned to St. Joseph’s with teaching duties at Kuemper during this time were: Fr. P. Brown (1964-1969), Fr. Anthony Pick (1969), Fr. Cleo Seuntjens (1970-1974), Fr. Bruce LeFebvre (1974-1978), and Fr. John Kurzak (1978). Fr. Henry Meyer retired in 1981.

Fr. Walter Bruch was appointed as pastor in the summer of 1981. All buildings were reinsulated with the parish men doing the work. A mother’s room was constructed in the southeast corner of the church and an outside ramp and new door was added for the handicapped. Padded kneelers were installed. The exterior of the church was cleaned and tuckpointed. The two lots east of the church were sold. In 1982, St. Joseph Parish had 185 families and a membership of 555 people.

In 1984, Fr. Donald Slaven became St. Joseph’s new pastor. Under Fr. Slaven’s leadership. St. Joseph’s had one of the most successful Renew Programs in the diocese with over 100 members. He was very active in bringing other faiths together with St. Joseph’s activities. He was instrumental in keeping lay teacher’s salaries comparable to other parish’s salaries.

In 1988 Fr. Dale Reiff was appointed as pastor. In 1989 Montgomery Specialties of Carroll was hired to completely renovate the church interior.

In June 1989, Fr. Harry McAlpine became the new pastor and the renovation was completed under his supervision. The Jake and Anna Duevall Estate funded the renovation at a cost of $70,000.00. Fr. McAlpine encouraged parish members to take a more active part in their church’s management and daily tasks. A Finance Council was formed and met for the first time August 30, 1989 with Dale Sporrer as chairman, Vernis Sporrer as vice-chairman and Linda Sporrer as secretary. At this time Gaylord Stangl and Don Mikkelsen were parish directors. A parish census was conducted and registered 570 members and 194 families. After much discussion and fact-finding it was decided to consolidate Dedham-Willey School with Holy Spirit School in Carroll. In the fall of 1990, Dedham-Willey students attended Holy Spirit School. In 1990, the stained glass windows were installed in the church. Fr. McAlpine researched and Odell Prather from Winona, Minnesota designed and installed the windows. On September 1, 1991 St. Joseph Parish Centennial was officially opened with an evening Sunday Mass.

In 1992, Fr. Terry Roder became pastor of St. Joseph. Fr. Roder was involved in most of the St. Joseph Parish Centennial events. At this time too, St. Joseph Parish was helping to raise money for the Kuemper Catholic High School and Fr. Roder joined in the fun at the Kuemper Ball Kickoff.

In 1999, Fr. Anthony Pick was appointed pastor of St. Joseph. At this time the Diocese of Sioux City began to cluster parishes, so St. Joseph Parish was clustered with Annunciation, Coon Rapids and St. Mary’s, Willey. So all parishes had to share the weekend Masses. In 2002 the sacristy was remodeled and in 2003 the church was tuck-pointed and the roof was repaired. In 2004 there was lightning damage to the carillon bells and they needed to be repaired. Montgomery Specialities repainted the interior of the church and the cemetery road was graveled. In 2006, it was decided to construct a parish office in the church and Pella windows were installed. In 2008 a concrete parking lot was installed.

In 2008 St. Mary’s, Willey was  joined with Holy Spirit and the cluster changed again to include St. Joseph Parish-Dedham, Annunciation Parish-Coon Rapids and St. Elizabeth Seton Parish-Glidden.

In 2011, Fr. Andrew Hoffman became pastor. A cemetery storage shed was built for the lawnmower and in 2014, it was decided to purchase the External Insulation and Finishing System (EIFS) Stucco for the front of the church and bell tower.

In 2017, The cemetery fence was installed and 6 new trees were planted.   Also, new carpet was laid in the church and the tabernacle was refinished.

Also in 2017, the Diocese of Sioux City placed all the parishes of Carroll County, including St. Joseph Parish, under one Pastor, Fr. Kevin Richter, along with a team of priests who would serve the county: Fr. Brian Feller, Fr. John Gerald, Fr. Tim Schott, Fr. Shinoj Jose, and Fr. Mark Stoll.  

In 2018, it was 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. The “eastern” group of parishes (Carroll – Holy Spirit and St. Lawrence, Coon Rapids, Dedham, Lidderdale, and Willey), was served by Fr. Kevin Richter as the Pastor, and Fr. Brian Feller and Fr. Shinoj Jose as assistants.

In July 2018, 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, further changes were made. 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). 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 2020, further changes were made, going from five active priests serving the county to three. Fr. Tim Friedrichsen continued as the Pastor of the “western” parishes of the county: Arcadia, Breda, and Templeton. St. Augustine parish in Halbur and Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Mount Carmel both were changed to church building status. The parishes in the “eastern” grouping now included Carroll (Holy Spirit and St. Lawrence, now officially merged as St. John Paul II Parish), Coon Rapids, Dedham, and Glidden. St. Mary’s Parish in Willey was changed to church building status. Fr. Kevin Richter continued as the Pastor, with Fr. Patrick Behm serving as the parochial vicar.    Also in 2020, more External Insulation and Finishing System (EIFS) Stucco was applied to the west end of the church.

In 2021, while all the sites remained open, the “western” parishes were formally merged to create Good Shepherd Parish, and the “eastern” parishes were formally merged into St. John Paul II Parish.

In 2022, the parish hall in the church basement received extensive remodeling, with drywall being attached to the walls, and new ceiling tiles installed.