Early - Sacred Heart

EARLY - One hundred and nineteen years ago, Catholic pioneer ancestors in the Early vicinity welcomed the first visiting priest to their midst and Holy Mass was offered for the first time. Before the year 1875, there had been no parish. Mass was celebrated occasionally by Father Slattery of Fort Dodge. Father Fendrick of Mt. Carmel and Father Gaffney of Storm Lake would celebrate Mass in the homes of George and Mary Ann Drey and John and Elizabeth McCormick. Mass was sometimes held in the old Early schoolhouse, the present-day site of the Reis Bros. Station.

By 1882, the 22 Catholic families living in the area began to plan their first church. In the spring of 1883, Joseph and Catherine Drey donated five acres of land upon which the Sacred Heart Cemetery and the parish buildings now stand. In the fall of 1883, the first frame church was built.

A petition was sent to Bishop Hennessey of Dubuque for the establishment of a parish and the appointment of a parish priest. In 1884, Father W. J. Halpin was appointed as the first pastor of Sacred Heart Parish. He lived in the Engler Hotel until the first parochial residence was built in 1885. It was a wooden structure.

Father Halpin served his small parish in Early, but also a large surrounding area including Sac City, Schaller, Holstein, Kingsley, Correctionville and Moville. In 1889, Father Halpin left by order of the bishop and the people of Early depended on pastors from Odebolt and Storm Lake for spiritual aid.

In December 1891, Father P. M. Costello was appointed pastor of Early, Sac City and Schaller. In 1892, the first Catholic school was constructed. It was donated by Mary Determan and for the next 15 years it was staffed by lay teachers and pastors.

In 1899, the church was deemed too small for the growing parish and a new church was constructed. Father Costello directed the construction of the present brick church. The approximate cost was $15,000. It was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on July 30, 1899.

Father John Anler (1903-1913) succeeded Father Costello and spent a lot of time beautifying the parish grounds. He planted many cedars, spruce, lindens and weeping birch trees.

Father P. Quesnel, assistant to Father Anler, had the walls of the church frescoed for the first time in 1913. He also began to work to fulfill Father Anler's cherished hope to reopen the parochial school by raising funds.

Father M. J. Hetherington (1913-1915), Father John J. Ryan (1915-1917), Father J. T. Finnegan (1917-1924) and Father Joseph Wolf (1924-1926) all served Sacred Heart Parish.

A brick school building was erected in 1913 at a cost of $14,000. The school offered a 12-year course and the Sisters of Mercy from Wilkes-Barre, Penn., came to teach and lived in the living quarters on the third floor of the school.

During Father Wolf's pastorate, the church was redecorated and the wooden tabernacle was replaced by a steel burglar-proof tabernacle.

Father Joseph J. Dalhoff (1926-1940), Father George O'Brien (1940), Father P. P. Gearen (1940-1948), Father Leo C. Schumacher (1948-1951) and Father R. J. O'Reilly (1951-1959) served their pastorate at Early.

A new parochial residence was erected in 1928. It still serves as the pastor's residence and was built at a cost of $13,000.

A temporary high school was built in 1943, while a fund was started for the erection of a high school. It was finally built in the spring of 1951. Total cost was $85,000.

Father O'Reilly had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother and the rosary. Every time a child lost a tooth, it was added to his collection and the child received a tiny statue of Mary and a homily about the holy family.

Other priests to serve the parish were: Father Edward Carpenter (1959-1964), Father Paul Alvey (1964-1967), Father R. E. Nemmers (1967-1968), Father Gerald Lyon (1968-1973), Father J. Charles Yetmar (1973-1974), Msgr. John C. Doherty (1974-1986), Father John Vakulskas, Jr. (1986-1993), Father Mervin Hood (1993-1998) and Father Patrick O'Kane (1998-present).

The sister's quarters and chapel in the grade school building were remodeled during Father Carpenter's pastorate. In addition, the sanctuary was renovated and a new altar installed while Father Alvey was at Early. The high school had a large addition built at a cost of $254,550. The high school was discontinued in 1967. A home near church property was purchased for the sister's home for $20,000.

The old school building was razed in 1967. The pastoral residence received a complete interior refurbishing in 1973. A new room was built in the back of the church for the new rite of Reconciliation for $13,000 during Msgr. Doherty's pastorate.

Three men from Sacred Heart Parish have become priests. Sixteen girls entered the Sisterhood.

In 1985, the seventh- and eighth-grade classes were discontinued. Sacred Heart School was closed in 1990 and the church was remodeled in 1991 at a cost of $197,000.