ST. MARY'S HISTORY

In the year 1898, the matter of contructing a Catholic church in Bloomington was approved by the archbishop. A meeting of Catholics in the vicinity was called and the whole undertaking was placed under the special protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The newly formed congregation voted to erect their church under the title of "The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary". Building operations began in the spring of 1899, with the site of our first church being located where our present gym stands. On July 14, 1899, Father Nicholas Hanert arrived in Bloomington to serve as the first resident pastor of St. Mary's. The first mass was celebrated in the new church on December 10, 1899. The rectory at that time is currently the Tom and Marlene Kluesner home.

In 1913, the first effort to establish a school was made by Father Ruppechter. The congregation purchased a house across from the church to serve as temporary rectory. The original Parish House was used for our first school. Two rooms downstairs were used for schooling, with living quarters provided for the teaching Sisters on the second floor.

Father Adam Arentz came to Bloomington in 1918 and immediately began planning the erection of a new Parochial School. Excavation began in the spring of 1919. Work progressed rapindly, with the interior being finished during the winter months. In the spring of 1920, Bishop Schwebach came to dedicate the school. The building contained three classrooms and living quarters for Sisters and facilities for boarding pupils.

In October of 1928, Father Gray came and was instrumental in securing the Convent home, with its spacious grounds and pine grove. This house is presently owned by Allen and Dorothy Taylor.

In May 1936, Father William Braun became pastor. The parish was growing so rapidly that expansion was in order. In 1941, a committee was appointed to work on plans for a new church. On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1942, the new church was dedicated. Seventy thousand dollars was spent, but this was not a complete amount when all the donated work was accounted for. Thousands of hours of labor were donated by parishioners.

In 1954, Father Braun moved to Lancaster after serving St. Mary's Parish eighteen years. He was succeeded by Father Dwyer. Student enrollment was increasing, and so; with instructions from Bishop O'Conner, demolition of the old church took place. Contruction soon began, with plans for four classrooms, lobby, kitchen, lunch room and auditorium. On April, 1958, the teachers and students moved to the new classrooms.

The mid-60's brought about changes following Vatican 11. Masses could now be said in English, rather than Latin. In 1979, Father Meier had the responsibility of overseeing the redecoration and reroofing of the church. While this work was being done, services were held in the church basement.

St. Mary's was fortunate to have Sisters serve the Parish for many years. Due to shortages of teaching Sisters, the nuns left St. Mary's in 1985. We have had lay teachers since that time.

Father David Timmerman arrived in December of 1995 to serve our Parish. In 1996, air conditioning was installed in the church, and the church basement was redecorated. In honor of our 100th Anniversary of our Parish, we began planning the redecoration of the Church in 1997.

May we fully appreciate the pioneer work done by St. Mary's first congregation, while we continue the commitment and growth of our Parish Faith Community.