1709 Wyatt Avenue, Stevens Point, WI
St. Joseph
1884
UNTIL 1883 THE ORIGINAL ST. STEPHEN CHURCH
HAD ACCOMMODATED ALL CATHOLICS
OF ALL NATIONALITIES IN STEVENS POINT,
BUT SO RAPIDLY HAD THE CONGREGATION INCREASED
AND SO MIXED IN LANGUAGE WERE ITS MEMBERS
THAT FR. NICHOLAS JULY, THE PASTOR,
ADVISED THE GERMANS TO FORM
A CONGREGATION OF THEIR OWN.
A committee of German-speaking Catholics took the initiative and met in spring 1884 to form the new parish. St. Joseph Congregation was incorporated with Francis Xavier Krautbauer, Bishop of Green Bay as president.
Ground breaking took place on July 9, 1884. Fr. A. J. Abb, assistant to Fr. July at St. Stephen, was acting pastor of the new congregation. Dedication took place November 16, 1884 with Fr. July as celebrant.
On October 26, 1915, fire destroyed the church building. Work on a new church and rectory started in spring 1916. The cornerstone was laid on May 25, 1916 with formal dedication on December 17, 1916.
In the spring of 1940 enough funds were raised to build a new school.
In January of 1946, St. Joseph Parish became part of the La Crosse Diocese.
Msgr. Henry J. Ehr served as pastor from September 1902 to October 1957. He was succeeded by Fr. LeRoy Keegan (1957-1965).
Change came in a big way in 1965 with the arrival of Msgr. James P. Finucan. Change continued in the 1970s with four different pastors: Msgr. Finucan (until 1973, Fr. James Falconer (1973-1976), Fr. William Nikolai (1976-1979), and Fr. Lyle Schulte (1979-1996), who oversaw the construction of the Parish Family Center in 1994.
Fr. Alan Burkhardt (1996-2010) was pastor when the parish celebrated its 125th anniversary on November 22, 2009. Fr. Jerzy Rebacz followed as Pastor until 2019. Fr. Jeffrey Hennes was appointed Pastor in 2019.
St. Joseph Parish is a community of believers who are "Together in Faith" through faith, liturgy, sacraments, and service.
Pastors
Rev. Nicholas July
1884-1886
Rev. Joseph Meyerhofer
1888-1890
Rev. John Westkamp
1892-1896
Rev. Louis Starostzick
1897-1898
Msgr. Henry Ehr
1902-1957
Msgr. James P. Finucan
1965-1973
Rev. William Nikolai
1976-1979
Rev. Alan Burkhardt
1996-2010
Rev. Jeffrey Hennes
2019-
Rev. A. Dambacher
1886-1887
Rev. Francis X. Stemper
1890-1892
Rev. John J. Holzknecht
1896-1897
Rev. John Schemmer
1898-1902
Rev. LeRoy Keegan
1957-1965
Rev. James J. Falconer
1973-1976
Rev. Lyle Schulte
1979-1996
Rev. Jerzy Rebacz
2010-2019
