Parishioners support St.

Ladislaus for 125 years

BY KATE ZDROIK The Rosholt Record Named after a Polish patron saint, St. Ladislaus Catholic Church was formed by residents of the Pike Lake area in Marathon County over 125 years ago. The area was settled primarily by Polish immigrants and was later separated into the towns of Reid and Bevent. Though the first church was built in 1882, the parish wasnt officially recognized until March 15, 1886 by Father Grabowski. The first church structure and parsonage were built in 1882. However, the parish membership grew quickly and it was replaced by a woodframe church in 1986, located on the highest point in the area. The lumber for this church, as with the earlier church, was hewn by the parishioners and hauled to the site from the local woods. The labor of the parishioners own hands allowed the costs to be kept to $15,000. For a while, the original church was used as a parochial school and later became a grocery store. Many upgrades have been completed on the current church over the years. A brick veneer was added in 1926 and, in 1951, a number of renovations to the floor, altars, pews, lighting fixtures, sacristies and Stations of the Cross were made, including removal of the wallboard and plastering the walls. During Father Bernard Nowaks tenure, which began in 1968 and spanned 22 years, the church building saw numerous additional improvements and alterations. These changes included removal of the communion railing, updated lighting, an addition with a handicap ramp, parking lot paving, church hall paneling, rectory remodeling and enhancement of the grounds and cemetery. In keeping with tradition, parishioners pitched in to complete much of the renovation work and improvements around the church grounds.

Above is the original church built for St. Ladislaus Parish in 1882. The buliding later became Andys Grocery Store. Photo from St. Ladislaus Jubliee book

Simple improvements continued to take place throughout the history of the church; however, between 1996 and 2011 some significant changes and additions were initiated. The new church addition included an elevator and handicap entrances, the church kitchen was renovated, the cemetery was expanded, a new altar was built and the church hall was given a facelift. After 115 years, St. Ladislaus Church is still in beautiful condition thanks to the attention it has received from the parishioners. Priests/Leadership St. Ladislaus has been served by 25 priests over its 125-year history. The exact years of the first six is not known, however, the first priest of record was Fr. Grabowski. From 1895 until present time, the priests assigned to St. Ladislaus are well-recorded and can be viewed in the book that was created for the churchs Jubilee Celebration this year. The Second Vatican Council, which ended in 1965, brought about a number of changes in mass rituals and the role of laity in the parish. Fr. Nowak was the priest who oversaw those

changes. After the sudden death of Father Marmurowicz, who resigned on October 3, 1968 due to a prolonged illness and only eight days before his death, Fr. Nowak came to Bevent. Among the changes that resulted from the Second Vatican Council, was the increased role of laity in church ministries as well as the modernization of the mass and scripture, allowing both practicing and writing in languages other than Latin. Fr. Nowaks retirement in 1990 ushered in a new era of pastoral leadership for St. Ladislaus. Due to a shortage of priests in the La Crosse Diocese, St. Ladislaus began to share a priest with St. Joseph Catholic Church in Galloway. Fr. Herbert Zoromski, a native of Galloway, was appointed to care for both churches and would live in Galloway. Sr. Mary Ellen Diermeier was appointed to assist Fr. Zoromski as the resident Pastoral Associate at St. Ladislaus. Sr. Diermeiers appointment was a pioneering venture for the Catholic Church in the 1990s, as the pastoral leadership role traditionally had been filled only by priests. Fr. Zoromski and Sr. Diermeier lead St. Ladislaus through the implementation of many changes recommended by the La Crosse Dioceses 1986 Fourth Synod, which included the initiation of the Parish Advisory and Financial Councils and their Committees. Additionally, religious education was expanded to include all ages preschool through adults and all parishioners were called upon to more fully participate in the Liturgy and parish life activities. Recently, St. Ladislaus had another change of hands with the retirement of Fr. Rex Zimmerman and the appointment of Fr. Gus Bentil. Fr. Bentil took on the parish responsibilities in July of this year. Sr. Mary Ellen still serves the parish faithfully and enthusiastically. School History The first school, a four-room structure, was built next to St. Ladislaus and opened its doors in 1913. At the time, there were no religious

personnel available to staff the school, so the parishioners taught the children for the first 19 years. Enrollment was apparently low, in part due to the lack of the religious influence of the nuns. Father Francis Brzostowicz, pastor at that time, addressed the matter by appealing to the Congregation of Felician Sisters. He asked the well-established Sisters from Polonia to send nuns to educate the children of St. Ladislaus Parish. In 1932, three Sisters were sent to Bevent to run the school. Nearly 100 children were enrolled that year, and they were split into two classrooms. One room held grades one through four and one room housed grades five through eight. Many of the supplies for the school came from the Felician Sisters in Chicago in the early days. The first year in which the Felician Sisters operated the school, it became accredited by the county inspectors. In 1938, with hope of increasing the number of children served in the school, Fr. Peter Rombalski added a ninth grade and in 1939 he added a 10th grade. It was a struggle convincing parents to enroll their children into these grades of higher education for a number of reasons. The main reason being their labor was needed on the farm. And some families feared their more educated children would be drawn away from the farm in the spirit of progress. Though St. Ladislaus parish had a parochial school, many children of the parish attended public school and received their religious instruction on Fridays, aka Religion Day. At one point, approximately 186 children were enrolled in the Friday religious education classes. The children were divided into three groups, with the nuns teaching two sections and the pastor teaching the third. By 1956 to 1957 there were only 12 students registered in the high school, so Fr. Florian Marmurowicz received permission from the Diocese to close the high school program. Due to the continued decline in enrollment at St. Ladislaus School, the school was closed on June 9, 1969. The school was then remodeled and the Religious Education Program was expanded to accommodate the increased number of students in need of religious instruction. Though many things have evolved at St. Ladislaus Catholic Church over the course of

125 years, including human changes of leadership, physical updates to the property and program changes offered to parishioners, the willingness of the members to serve the church and one another has remained as strong as ever.