Armstrong - St. Mary

ARMSTRONG - St. Mary's Catholic Church in Armstrong began as a mission parish with a priest coming monthly from Forest City, starting in 1883. Masses were held in private homes and later in the school.

A church was built in 1895, and was ready for use on Sept. 24. A rectory was constructed in 1898, with two later additions. The first resident priest was Father F. Carroll.

The present brick structure replaced the first building, which was gutted by fire in 1918. The church was redecorated in 1992 during the time of father Allen Reicks.

In about 1976, Mr. and Mrs. John O'Neill donated a chair lift for the front steps to allow greater accessibility to the church for those who would have difficulty climbing the stairs.

St. Mary's Center, built in 1966, has a dining room and kitchen, along with parish education classrooms.

In 1975, the old rectory was moved to Ninth Street and is now a home. A new rectory, built at the east end of the church, serves as a home and office for the priest and is also used for counseling and some meetings.

Since about 1964, Masses have been celebrated in English instead of Latin. Additional cemetery land was added by Father Koster due to a shortage.

Many priests have served St. Mary's: Father J. Taken (1893-1896), Father F. Carroll (1896-1898), Father John Hasset (1898-1901), Father Francis Wrenn (1901-1903), Father Michael Bradley (1903-1905). Father J. G. Perrault (Jan-Aug 1905), Father S. P. Roth (1905-1912), Father J. C. Eckert (1912-1913), Father P. A. Quesnel (1913-1921), and Father Joseph Schultes (1921-1926).

Also, Father M. J. Hetherington (1926-1929), Father Joseph Wolf (1929-1935), Father Bernard Eischeif (1935-1951), Father L. J. Eisenbacher (1951-1959), Father E. Everette Apt (1959-1962), and Father Walter Bruch (1962-1969). Also, Father Jerome Degen (1969-1971), Father Eugene Schumacher (1971-1972), Father Jerome Coyle (1972-1974), Father Dale Koster (1974-1986), Father James Jandel (1986-1990), Father Allen Reicks (1990-1995), Father Tom Nash (1995-1999) and Father Jerome Cosgrove (1999-present.)