History of St. Joseph Parish

History of St. Joseph Parish

Marshall, Texas

In 1874, Bishop C. M. Dubois of the Diocese of Galveston sent Father Thomas Loughery to Marshall, initiating the establishment of a Catholic parish in Marshall. Prior to this, the needs of the few Catholics in Marshall were met by occasional visits from missionary priests. In the beginning there was no church building and Mass was celebrated in the rectory. The parishioners consisted mainly of Irish and German railroad workers. Father Loughery was replaced by Father Thomas Hennessey, who served St. Joseph Parish from 1877-1878.

In 1878, Father Louis J. Granger, a native of France, replaced Father Loughery. Father Granger was born in St. Nizier D'Azergues, France on September 18, 1848. He was one of several students brought from France by the Vicar General of the Galveston Diocese, the Very Reverend Claude Jean Marie Chambodut and was ordained on March 25, 1871. Father Granger served as pastor until his death in 1918. Father Granger raised funds for the first church building for the parish, a gray frame structure with a steeple and beautiful art glass windows. This structure served the parish until the present red brick building was constructed in 1925.

Concerned about the educational needs of the children of the parish, Father Granger persuaded Mother Angela Gillespie, Mother Superior of the Sisters of the Holy Cross in Clarksville, Texas to send two of her nuns to Marshall to help in establishing a school. The lot south of the present church was purchased from a local attorney, James Turner, on August 20, 1879. The school opened with forty students. St. Mary's Academy grew rapidly and by December 1880, the faculty had grown to seven sisters and boarders were taken in at the school. St. Mary's was established as a school for girls. St. Joseph's Boys School was located behind the church.

The Marshall parish became part of the Diocese of Dallas when the diocese was organized in 1890. An industrial school for boys was established with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word as the teaching order for the school. The school was closed in the mid 1930's.

In 1911, due to increasing enrollment, a new three and one-half story school building was constructed to house St. Mary's Academy on the grounds next to the church. When the Boys School closed in the 1930's, the boys began attending St. Mary's Academy.

During the early part of the twentieth century, there existed a great deal of prejudice toward Catholics in Marshall fueled by periodicals with false information and individuals who came to the town and gave anti-Catholic lectures at public places in the city. In 1915, this resulted in an altercation between one of the itinerant speakers and some local members of the Knights of Columbus which resulted in the deaths of the speaker and of one of the Knights of Columbus members. Local law officers later put a stop to the anti-Catholic lectures by not allowing the individuals to come into town to speak.

The local Knights of Columbus Council # 1422 was chartered in 1909 with 49 men initiated into the order. The local Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court Santa Maria was established in 1913 with 26 members.

After the death of Father Granger, a young priest, Father James F. Burnes served as pastor from 1919 to 1923. During his time in Marshall Father Burnes began work to advance the dream of Father Granger, building a new church structure. This work was completed by Father James Schauf who became pastor in 1923. The new church was dedicated by Bishop Joseph P. Lynch on April 21, 1926.

In November 1929, Father Schauf was replaced by Father Lawrence Luekemeyer, known to most as Father Meyer. Father Meyer, the seventh of fifteen children, was born July 22, 1887 on a farm near St. Joseph, Missouri. When he was eight years old, he decided to study for the priesthood and entered Josephinum College in Worthington, Ohio in 1902 and was ordainded on May 25, 1918. Father Meyer touched the lives of many during his time as pastor of St. Joseph Parish. He had a great devotion to the parish and its parishioners, a love of children and a great devotion to the Faith. He was also a scholar and spoke seven languages. He was the author of three books on the work of the Holy Spirit and did extensive research on the Greek and Hebrew origins of the Bible. He built Holy Spirit Church in Marshall to serve the local black Catholic community, as well as St. William Church in Carthage and Holy Infant Church in Center, Texas.

Father Mike Kavanaugh, an assistant pastor to Father Meyer during the 1940's, along with a staff of parishioners developed and published a weekly newsletter “The Oracle”, the forerunner of the present-day parish bulletin.

In 1949, due to low enrollment, threatening the loss of accreditation, the 9th through 12th grade classes were discontinued at St. Mary's Academy.

In November 1958, at the age of 71, Father Meyer retired as pastor of St. Joseph's Parish after 29 years to become the chaplain at Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler.

Father Robert Rehkemper became pastor after the retirement of Father Meyer. Father Rehkemper completed several major projects during his time as pastor, including the remodeling of the church and the building of a new school on South Garrett Street. The construction of the new school was completed in 1961 and the old St.Mary's Academy building was demolished. During the church remodeling project the drop-style ceiling fixtures were replaced by fluorescent lights, the tile was added to the wall behind the altar, the pews were replaced and the speaker system was installed. The confessional was also moved to the northwest corner of the building and the cry room was added.

In August 1964, Father John Fowler succeeded Father Rehkemper as pastor. During his three years as pastor Father Fowler integrated St. Joseph School. Father Fowler initiated meetings at the school with Catholic and non-Catholic participants. Study groups were started to study changes brought about by Vatican II. Father Fowler also formed a Parish Financial Advisory Board the forerunner of today's Pastoral and Finance Councils, to get the laity more actively involved in the running of the parish. Father Fowler joined with the pastors of Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Trinity Episcopal Church in participating in ecumenical services involving the pastors and congregations of all three churches.

In August 1967, Father Richard Sokolski replaced Father Fowler as pastor of St. Joseph Parish. Father Sokolski attended St. Mary's Seminary and was ordained in 1947 by Bishop Lynch in Dallas. He served six years at parishes in the Dallas area and taught at the University of Dallas.

In 1968, after 88 years, the Sisters of the Holy Cross withdrew from Marshall. The school was closed for one year. The following year, Holy Spirit School and St. Joseph's School merged. The Sisters of the Holy Family came to Marshall and were the main faculty at the school.

During Father Sokolski's time as pastor much of the real estate owned by the parish was sold and a portion of the money was used to pay off the remaining debt on the school. The remainder of the money was invested, later to be used as a partial payment on a new parish hall.

Also during the period that Father Sokolski served in Marshall, the original central altar and the two side altars were removed and a new table-type altar was installed to allow the celebrant to face the congregation, a wooden backdrop was installed on the wall behind the altar and the statue of the risen Christ was placed on the wall. The baptismal font was moved from the northern alcove to the right side of the altar and the alcove became the confessional.

When the Diocese of Dallas activated the permanent diaconate program, Ben Comisky entered the program and was later ordained as St. Joseph's first deacon.

In 1971, St. Joseph Parish and Holy Spirit Parish became were united into one parish.

In 1974, St. Joseph Parish celebrated its 100th anniversary with a dinner which Bishop

Thomas Tshoepe of Dallas attended.

In 1976, Father Robert Curran was named pastor of St. Joseph's. During Father Curran's time as pastor, the church parking lot was paved, the rectory parlor was remodeled into offices for the church secretary and pastor and enclosed garages for the rectory and for the convent were constructed.

Father Gerald Priest arrived at St. Joseph's in February 1978, replacing Father Curran. Father Priest became very active as a chaplain for the local law enforcement agencies.

In 1979, Adrian Roden was ordained as a deacon for the parish.

Father Priest, along with about hundred Catholic lay people in the Waskom area, successfully undertook a movement to establish a new parish in Waskom. A parish hall, dedicated in February 1982 by Bishop Tshoepe, was built to be used for Masses and for parish events.

In the early 1980's, Father Priest formed the St. Joseph's Guild, an organization to promote social activities in the parish,such as St. Joseph's Day and the Senior Citizens Lunch and game day.

In 1983, Father Priest was named as pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Jefferson in addition to his being pastor of St. Joseph's in Marshall and St. Lawrence Church in Waskom. Father Thomas Speiser was assigned as assistant pastor and resided in the Jefferson rectory while also serving the parish in Waskom and celebrating Mass at St. Joseph's one weekend a month. In October of 1984, Father Speiser was replaced by Father Bill Lambe.

St. Joseph's Parish Hall was completed in 1985 and the rectory basement was converted into a nursery.

In 1987, St. Joseph Parish became part of the newly-formed Diocese of Tyler, with Bishop Charles Herzig presiding over the diocese.

In early 1988, Father Lambe was transferred from St. Joseph's to St. Anthony Parish in Longview and Father Priest was relieved of his duties as pastor of the Waskom and Jefferson

parishes. He later was named pastor of St. William Parish in Carthage while remaining pastor of St. Joseph's.

In 1989, Deacon Frank “Jack” Knaresborough was ordained a priest for the Tyler Diocese and was initially assigned to St. Joseph Parish. In June 1991, Father Knaresborough was appointed temporary administrator of St. Anthony's Parish in Longview when Father Lambe was given a leave of absence due to health reasons.

On June 8, 1991, Bishop Herzig ordained Christopher Shackelford a priest for the Diocese of Tyler. Father Shackelford was assigned as associate pastor of St. Joseph's and St. William's in Carthage.

St. Joseph's Parish, as well as the rest of the diocese, was saddened at the death of Bishop Herzig on September 7, 1991. The diocese was without a bishop for eight months. On May 25, 1992, Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio, Edmund Carmody, a native of Ireland, was installed as the second bishop of the Diocese of Tyler.

On October 1, 1992, Father Priest was assigned pastor of St. Anthony Church in Longview and Father Shackelford was named vocation director for the Tyler Diocese. Father Ron Diegel, a priest for the Diocese of San Jose, California was named administrator of St. Joseph Parish. He had been serving as administrator of St. Jude Parish in Henderson since 1989. Under the direction of Father Diegel, the St. Joseph Parish Council was renamed the Pastoral Council and by a vote of the Pastoral Council $50,000 was borrowed from the Diocese for repairs to the church and rectory. The interior of the rectory was remodeled and the church office was moved from the first floor of the rectory to the basement. In accordance with Canon law, a nine-member Finance Council was formed and finance and property maintenance was transferred from the Pastoral Council to the Finance Council. In 1993, the church received a new roof and the exterior brick on the church was re-mortared and weather-sealed. The interior of the church was painted and the eaves and gutters on the rectory were repaired. An ornamental iron fence was erected on the north side of the church property, a sprinkler system was installed and the landscaping was revised.

The 1980's saw an increase in the number of parishioners of Hispanic origin and by 1993 the Hispanic community comprised about 20% of the parish membership. Santiago Suarez and Felipe Pena became the first parishioners of Hispanic origin to begin training as deacons.

In September, 2002, Father Denzil Vithanage became pastor of St. Joseph Parish. Father Denzil is from Kandana, Sri Lanka. He received his higher education in Math and Computer Science and taught Mathematics and worked in the computer industry before entering the consecrated life of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation in Sri Lanka. He attended the National Regional Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka and was ordained September 11, 1983. Bishop Edmund Carmody invited Father Denzil to the Diocese of Tyler in October 1999. He was appointed Parochial Vicar of St. Mary's in Longview. He was transferred to St. Joseph's in Marshall as Parish Administrator on September 4, 2002. Father Denzil became a U.S. Citizen on December 18, 2009.

Assistant pastors that were under Father Denzil: Father Cristian Zelaya, Father Luis Roncancio, Father Rene Ramirez, Father Jesse Arroyave and Father Carlos Rangel. There were three deacons that were ordained during this time: John Sargent, Magdaleno Aguirre, and Juan Gonzalez. We have also had three seminarians assigned to our parish: Patrick Fenton, Matthew Stehling, and Rosalio Fuentes. During Father Denzil’s tenure 12 men were instituted as Acolytes and 16 members of the parish have become members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepluchre.