Before
1907 Catholics living in Green Lake had to
travel to a neighboring town in order
to attend mass or
receive the sacraments. In July, 1907, Fr. Thomas J.
Cosgrove, pastor of St. Patrick
church in Ripon,
celebrated the first Holy Mass in this
area in the cottage
of Dennis McCarthy. Archbishop Sebastian G. Messmer of
Milwaukee laid the corner stone of a
parish church on Aug.
28, 1908. The first official meeting of the parish was
held Oct. 27, 1908, at the home of
John Broder. Thomas
Collins was elected secretary and
Matthew DeMoss treasurer.
On Sunday, Jan. 10, 1909, the
original church was dedicated
to God under the patronage of the
Immaculate Virgin Mary
with the specific title of "Our
Lady of the Lake." The
parish was established as a mission
of St. Patrick church
in Ripon.
In
1923 the administration of the parish was
transferred to the Capuchin Fathers
of St. Francis Seminary
at Mt. Calvary who continued to serve
as pastors until 1944
when the parish became a mission of
St. Michael church in
Berlin. In 1945 Fr. Stephen Szczerbiak was appointed
resident pastor. The parish rectory was then built. Fr.
Roger Idzikowski succeeded Fr. Steve
as pastor, and Fr.
Francis S. Karwata succeeded Fr.
Roger. Fr. Carl J. Wagner
became the pastor in January,
1960. A new church was built
and dedicated to God on June 4,
1961. The original church
then became the church hall.
In
June, 1978, Fr. Lawrence Clark became pastor.
The
new church was remodeled creating a
parish hall within the
church building, and activities
ceased being held in the
original church. In November, 1981, Fr. Leo A. Joyce was
assigned as pastor. During his pastorate the stained glass
windows of the old church were
installed in the newer
church, the east entrance was added,
the old entrance was
remodeled into a chapel, the Learning
Center-office
addition was built, and the Prayer
Garden was developed.
Upon
Fr. Leo's retirement in June, 1993, Fr. John R.
Dowd was assigned as pastor.
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