Madrid - St. Malachy

MADRID - St. Malachy's Catholic Church in Madrid dates back to 1885, when Father Smith offered Mass in a room over a saloon. There were only two Catholics in Madrid.

In 1923, a 30' by 50' frame church was built from donated lumber. It had a garage attached for the pastor's car. The finished basement was nine feet high, with a seating capacity of 130. Father A. J. Nuel of Ogden held the first Mass in the basement chapel on Sunday, December 16, 1923. The pews were purchased from St. John's Lutheran Church in Madrid.

The Catholic Extension Society of Chicago donated $1,000 toward the church, with the promise that it be given the name "St. Malachy's." The society made it a point to call on people to suggest that instead of erecting costly but useless monuments, they give the money toward the erection of a church in some needy place. Bishop Edmond Heelan of Sioux City also helped with a donation of $500.

Between 1927 and 1933, the congregation paid off the mortgage, purchased a rectory and enlarged the church because of the steady growth in the parish. The parishioners donated $2,278.40 for the purchase of a Hammond electric organ. St. Malachy's choir was known to be one of the finest in the area.

A fund drive for a much-needed building program was begun and the first steps toward building were made with the purchase of ten acres in the northeast section of Madrid. In the spring of 1960, the groundbreaking ceremonies for the new church were held.

In 1962, the new rectory was built south of the church. When money was scarce in the parish treasury, the priest traded the church bell to Ira Hockenberg of Des Moines for silverware and dishes.

The pastor of St. Malachy was also named pastor of St. John of God Parish at the Woodward State Hospital School in 1964.

During the 1980s, many remodeling projects were accomplished along with a drive to build a new church, which was dedicated in October 1985. The parish hall was formally renamed "Hansen Hall" in honor of the late Father Karl P. Hansen in 1995.

In 1995, the old bell, originally owned by the parish and given away, was brought back to St. Malachy by the parish priest. Many parishioners helped erect the beautiful bell tower.

The first resident pastor of St. Malachy's was Father Neuman Flanagan (1927-1933). Other pastors to serve Madrid were: Father Arthur Poeckes (1933-1940), Father Louis J. Lynch (1940-1943), Father A. J. Huewe (1943-1950), Father James A. Kane (1950-1957), Father John Doherty (1957-1959), Father Karl P. Hansen (1959-1969), Father John F. Cain (1969-1980), Father J. Charles Yetmar (1980-1987), Father Edmund Tiedeman (1987-1993), Msgr. Louis Kollasch (1993-1998) and Father Marvin J. Boes (1998-2001). Currently, the pastor is Father Brian Danner.

The parish has had three women enter religious life: Sister Mary Hornick, Sister Mary Ann O'Deay and Sister Kathy Cairns.