St. Mary Parish
Office Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 8:00am-4:30pm
225 S. Hartwell Ave. Waukesha WI 53186-6402
262-922-9285
Save The Date: St. Mary Parish Festival June 21-23
Our History
Under the leadership of Archbishop Moses E. Kiley and Monsignor Edward J. Rodenkirch, Catholic Memorial HIgh School (CMH) was built, and enrolled its first class in September 1949. Prior to this date, the Catholic population of Waukesha had begun to outgrow St. Joseph Church. This, with the completion of the CMH Chapel, Our Lady of Fatima, parishioners living in the south region of St. Joseph Parish began attending Mass at the Chapel in June 1949. It was from this nucleus of parishioners that St. Mary Parish, the second catholic church in Waukesha, was born. In September 1949, the parish was officially established as "St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Parish" with Reverend John Voelker serving as the first pastor. It was also at this time that St. Mary Grade School began operations, using classrooms at Catholic Memorial High School. The fall of 1950 saw the first board of trustees established, and the school enrolled 229 students. 1951 was an important year of changes for St. Mary Parish. Prior to this date, Reverend Voelker served as both pastor and school principal, but in June 1951, the parish received permission to build a ten room grade school, living quarters for the nuns, as well as a hall and gymnasium.
Construction began in 1952, and the fall of 1953 saw 401 students enrolled in the new school. Archbishop Albert Meyer officiated at the dedication of the building on October 24, 1953. With construction completed, parishioners began attending Mass in the gymnasium. In August of 1959, then Monsignor Voelker was appointed pastor of St. Catherine Parish in Milwaukee, and Reverend Robert Enders was appointed pastor at St. Mary Parish, ushering in a new decade of growth and change.
During the Summer of 1960, construction of six additional school classrooms and the parish rectory was completed. Both the rectory and school addition were dedicated by Archbishop William E. Cousins on October 9, 1960. It was in the fall of 1960 that St. Mary held its first Fall festival.
In the Spring of 1963, Reverend Enders established committees of Finance, Building and Building Fund Drive. This board of consultants was charged with planning the church building. In July 1963, final plans were approved by the Archdiocese and on Festival Day, September 15, 1963, the sketches of the new church were displayed for parishioners.
As plans for the new building continued through the fall, a parish-wide fund drive took place to raise pledges and donations for the construction project. Gifts and pledges of over $245,000 were collected, and this culminated with the ground breaking for St. Mary Church as we know it on December 8, 1963, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
1964 was a year of construction at St. Mary Parish and in September of that year, Monsignor Voekler returned to participate in the laying of the cornerstone. On January 14, 1965, with construction for the church completed, Auxiliary Bishop Roman R. Atkilski consecrated the marble altar and on January 24, Archbishop William Cousins celebrated the Dedication Mass in the new church.
In September 1965, four additional classrooms were constructed in the lower level of the church to accommodate the growing population of St. Mary School. In May 1966, St. Mary School established its first school board. It was at the conclusion of the second decade of St. Mary Parish that the first Saturday evening Mass to fulfill the Sunday Mass obligation was celebrated.
In October 1970, the first Parish Council was formed. This time in parish history also brought into being the Family Singers, the group that is now the Spirit Singers, representing more contemporary music in liturgy, and breaking tradition by singing at the front of the church as opposed to the choir loft.
In February 1974, St. Mary Parish celebrated its 25th anniversary, marking the occasion with a special Mass celebrated by Reverend Enders. During the first 25 years of her history, St. Mary Parish celebrated 3274 baptisms, 711 marriages, and worshiped with nearly 1700 contributing members.
The Summer of 1978 marked another time of change. After nineteen years of faithful leadership, Reverend Enders retired from the pastorate and Reverend John Twomey was appointed pastor.
In May of 1984, Reverend Neil Zinthefer became pastor until 1989 when he accepted a position at a parish in Fredonia. Reverend Ronald Bandle, St. Mary associate pastor also left for another position, leaving St. Mary Parish without both of its pastoral leaders.
It was during this period of change, that the parish welcomed its new pastor, Reverend Michael Newman, on July 1, 1989, marking his first opportunity to serve as pastor of a parish. Reverend Mike faced his first year as pastor with no named associate, although Reverend Thomas Mlodzik helped with weekend Masses during the summer of 1989, Fr. Tom was assigned as associate pastor 1990-1993. By 1993, Fr. John Hemsing joined the staff as associate pastor.
Beginning of 1993, St. Mary's began a long term planning project, and in 1994 formed seven different committees to analyze parish needs. A Parish Building Master Plan and Capital Fund Feasibility study was in turn presented to the council in January of 1996.
In February of 1996, an informational meetin was held for parishioners regarding a new building plan, and it was also at this time that Fr. Mike began his second term as parish priest. The decision was made to hold a capital fund campaign beginning in the Spring of 1997. After a successful campaign to raise 1 million dollars in pledges and gifts, ground was broken for the new church addition on March 29, 1998.
Fr. Gordon Weber came to St. Mary's in June 1996 as part-time associate pastor, replacing Fr. Heming, who accepted a position as pastor for a parish in Wind Lake. Fr. Gordon's leadership was integral for forming the Small Christian Communities, a movement that has been very successful.
After a year of construction and planning, St. Mary's community dedicated the new facility, including school renovations, a new Narthex and South entrance, a new community room and a new north entrance with elevator access to the new Narthex, on May 23, 1999. On January 23, 2000, the faithful people of St. Mary's celebrated the 50th anniversary of our parish with a mass officiated by Archbishop Rembert G. Weakland.
In June 2000, Fr. Mike was reassigned and Fr. Brian Mason became St. Mary's Pastor. Fr. Brian took on a second capital campaign to retire the debt. The parish responded generously and paid off the debt early. In June 2005, Fr. Brian was reassigned as the Associate Vicar for Clergy.
In June 2005, Fr. Jim Volkert was named Pastor of St.Mary. Fr. Jim, during his time at St. Mary's led a pilgrimage to Italy and also in December of 2006 Fr. Jim was reassigned to St. Mary's in Burlington.
In June of 2010, Fr. Howard Haase was named Pastor of St. Mary's. Fr. Howard was part of the team of priest who started working on the new cluster staff to serve the Catholic Community of Waukesha. In June of 2016, Fr. Howard was granted a second term at St. Mary's and continued working on a cluster plan which would, by June 30, 2017, have a team of priests assigned to all 4 parishes in Waukesha, serving the entire Catholic Community of Waukesha. Our current pastor is Fr. Matthew Widder.
