Catholic Parish Rises and Falls in Maple Grove

The racing season at Road America begins in June. Each year I eagerly watch for a good riding day in May and head down to the track to pick up my new identification card. It's an opportunity for a ride and a chance to see what improvements Road America management has made. This year the weather was not very cooperative, but finally it cleared and I was on my way.

It is about a 50 mile ride on the back roads out of De Pere to Elkhart Lake, the home of Road America. While there are not a lot of curves, it goes past a nice park and some beautiful farmland. Farther south the route enters the flat land of Collins Marsh. The marsh was created by dams erected the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources many years ago. This was part of an effort to attract some of the migrating geese from the over crowded Horicon Marsh.

On this day, prior to reaching the marsh, there was a detour. There was some work being done on County W and I was forced east on County K. The detour turned south at County G and led into the little town of Maple Grove. I saw the old church and school and guided my BMW R 1200 GSA into the worn parking lot.

St. Patrick Church in Maple Grove

Thirty years ago I was teaching middle school at the Catholic school in Brillion, which is about ten miles to the west. At that time all of the little towns along US Highway 10 had a Catholic school. In addition to Brillion, they were in Holland, Reedsville, Whitelaw, Clarks Mills, St. Nazianz and Maple Grove. By the late 1980's the Maple Grove school had been closed, but the parish supported the school in Reedsville.

How many students passed through this entrance?

After a few years of teaching I began my work on a Master's degree in Educational Administration. The principal's position at St. Mary Reedsville/St. Patrick Maple Grove came open. A co-worker and I both interviewed for job and she was selected. I took a principal's position at a different Catholic school later that spring, this one on the far east end of US 10 in Francis Creek.

Plaque provides a history of the parish and school.

I had never been to the Maple Grove campus and found it interesting to walk around the site. The plaque in front of the church provided a history of the church and school. The Irish immigrants in the area started the parish and the church was built in 1868. The school was built in 1912 and educated students all the way through high school up until 1956. The school closed in 1981. The church continued through the turn of the century and the last Mass was celebrated on March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, in 2002.

As I walked around I could imagine all of the families and their children who had been Baptized, celebrated First Communions, Confirmations, graduations, weddings and finally burials on these grounds. Descendants of the first settlers purchased the convent and the church and have established a tree park. It is a very beautiful and peaceful site.

The history of the school was not all what it seems. Although I did not get the principal's position at the school, I kept in touch with my co worker through diocesan meetings and professional development sessions. Each of these little schools had their own stories and mysteries, and this one was no different. Most of them are closed now. Brillion combined with Reedsville and there are students there. Clarks Mills has a few students and continues to operate. The St. Nazianz school just closed within the past year. The others are gone, but on a quiet spring day it is still possible to imagine the families that spent the arc of their lives within the confines of these old parishes