The History

• St. Mary Parish, Luxemburg, began in 1862 when Fr. F. X. Pfaller of Green Bay began making monthly visits to the area to offer Mass for the German settlers in a small schoolhouse.  He urged the settlers to build a church.  Nicholas Merens and John Kaut donated land on which a log church was built.
• About this time, Fr. Edward Daems came from Bay Settlement to meet with French-speaking Catholics.  He encourged the Canadian settlers to build and even helped provide some funds.  The new church was dedicated to the Sacred Heart.  Located in Scaraboro, about two miles east of Luxemburg, it served nearly 50 families.  Only open for 35 years, it closed in 1910.
• For a time, St. Mary Parish was served as a mission for New Franken.  A bell was purchased for the original church at a cost of $329.
• Fr. John Videnka began the first resident pastor in 1876.  In December 1881, Fr. Hugo Prasser was named pastor.  He established a parochial school and hired Miss Weiss as teacher.  In 1882, he was making plans for a new church and the original log church was moved and converted into a school building.  The School Sisters of St. Francis, Milwaukee, took charge of the school.  They moved into a house nearby that the parish purchased from Miss Weiss.
• The cornerstone for the new church was laid in 1883 and Bishop Francis Krautbauer consecrated it during a visit on September 29, 1885.  The congregation had been incorporated on March 13, 1884 as Immaculate Conception Parish, though it was known as St. Mary's.
• Bishop Sebastian Messmer blessed the church bells on April 28, 1892.  The larger bell, weighing 1,220 pounds, was blessed in honor of the Mother of God; the smaller one, weighing 385 pounds, in honor of St. Joseph.  The third bell, which was already in place, was blessed in honor of St. John the Baptist.
• About 1902, the Franciscans were replaced by the Salvatorian Sisters. For a short time, the Salvatorian Fathers took charge of the parish.  The school ran into some difficulties and closed for a year.  The Salvatorian Sisters left in 1906.  The School Sisters of St. Francis, Milwaukee, returned in 1908.  The would serve until 1975, when the school became staffed by all lay teachers.  When the sisters left, the convent was used by the Mission Ladies until it was razed for parking in 1988.  In 1990, the parish created a shrine with a statue of St. Francis to honor the sisters who had served.
• A new school was built in 1951.  It had six classrooms of different sizes, a hall and kitchen.  Two more classrooms were added in 1961.  The convent was expanded in 1959.
• An addition was added to the church in 1906, forming a cruciform building.  Since its beginning, the steeple was a landmark for early settlers and since 1883, an eye-catching symbol for St. Mary Parish.  A spacious hall was added to the church in 1998.