DICKEYVILLE — On Sunday, Dec. 8, the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the current building of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Dickeyville was celebrated with a 3 p.m. Mass with Fr. Bernard Rott, pastor, presiding, along with previous pastors Fr. David Flanagan and Msgr. James Gunn and son of the parish Fr. Randy Timmerman concelebrating. Deacon Larry Tranel also assisted at the Mass.
Music was furnished by three of the organists of the parish: Betty Kerkenbush, Janice Laufenberg, and Karen Reese, along with the Holy Ghost choir.
History of the church
Following the Mass, a potluck dinner was held in the adjoining school gym and a short presentation was given by Karen Reese on the church building through the past 100 years.
The cost to build the church in 1913 was $19,165. Expenses were listed as well as 24 picture displays of the interior and exterior changes over the years. The cornerstone of the church was opened and the contents found were also displayed at the dinner.
Contents of the time capsule included two newspapers, Der Wanderer published in St. Paul, Minn. (written completely in German) and The Catholic Tribune published in Dubuque, Iowa. Both newspapers were dated Thursday, June 12, 1913.
There was also a legal size paper written in Latin and signed by the pastor, Fr. Carl Rumpelhardt. This paper gave information on the church’s building dedication on June 15, 1913: Pope Leo X as head of the Church, Bishop Jacob Schwebach as Bishop of the La Crosse Diocese to which Dickeyville belonged at that time, Woodrow Wilson as the president of the United States, and Francis McGovern, governor of Wisconsin.
Priests that attended the original dedication were Fr. Peter Pape, Fr. Jacobs J. Maguire, Fr. Joseph Stettner, Fr. Joanne Ludovico Brudermanns, and Fr. A.J. Hauser.
These papers had been contained in a blue glass canning jar that had broken at some time over the years. It also contained three copper pennies (one new penny of 1913 and two 1907 Indian pennies).
Planned is an insertion from the 2013 celebration to be placed in the cornerstone when the weather permits.
Statistics of the parish over the past 100 years include 2,544 baptisms, 700 marriages, and 690 funerals.