| Summary: | vice president, Mrs. J. D. Baas; secretary, Mrs. H. Neevel; treasurer, Mrs. B. Duven. The following members joined at the first meeting: Mrs. J. D. Baas, Mrs. J. H. Boom, Mrs. H. Neevel, Mrs. B. Duven, Mrs. P. Roorda, Mrs. H. Hoekstra, Mrs. J. Outman, Mrs. J. DeVries, and Mrs. R. Van Oosting. New members joined from time to time. The name of the Ladies Aid Society was changed to Guild for Christian Service and was completely reorganized. Two circles were organized but later joined together. There are 25 members at the present time. St. Francis of Assisi Church ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH The same church that was painstakingly constructed by twelve families 58 years ago stands today as a tribute to the faith of those early pioneers and is still used for worship of the more than 30 families who today make up the parish. It was in 1917 that the small number of Catholic families in the Marion area decided to build their own church. For years, Sunday Mass had been celebrated in homes or halls, wherever it was convenient. With hope in the Lord and faith in the future, families of German, Irish, Polish, Luxembourg and Belgian descent began building their church. Some of those families included Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Hurley, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Melanson, Mr. and Mrs. N. W. Schommer, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sarbaum, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kronebusch, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Leuthe, Fred St. Francis of Assisi Parsonage Leuthe, Mr. and Mrs. Archie Leibrecht, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kramer, Mr. and Mrs. Leo Wagner, Mrs. Dwyer, Mr. and Mrs. J. O'Leary and Mrs. A. W. Meyer. The building committee was headed by J. R. Hurley and Archie Leibrecht. The church was a 30x60 foot structure that was built at a cost of $7,000. Many of the furnishings were personal gifts of various families. The first Mass was celebrated in the new church the following spring by all the families with Father William C. Schimmel officiating. Father Schimmel was the pastor of St. Ann's Church at Litchville. He would now begin also having Sunday Mass at the new Marion church — named after St. Francis of Assisi, a young Frenchman of the 13th Century who devoted his life to the poor and needy. On May 18,1918 ladies of the parish gathered at the home of Mrs. Henry Sarbaum and organized the Altar Society. Mrs, J. R. Hurley became the' first president. In July of that year the group planned its first ice cream social and lawn party. The day the social was to take place a case of infantile paralysis was discovered in Marion and the community was quarantined so all activities were cancelled. On May 19, 1919, an organ was purchased from the Greenland school and on July 23 of that year a choir was organized under the direction of Mrs. L. W. Meyers. The first wedding in the church took place on June 29, 1920 when Martha Sarbaum married James Hallinan of Pomerey, Iowa. Bertha DeCramer and Fred Sarbaum were the attendants. St. Francis Church was dedicated by Bishop James O'Reilly on October 8, 1920 after which a class of seventeen were confirmed. Father G. J. George became resident pastor at Litchville on April 26, 1922 and he also served Marion. The first funeral to be held at St. Francis church was that of Mrs. Karl Leopold on March 12,1923. She was the first person to be buried in the Catholic cemetery. On June 12, 1924 Father Leo Dworschak officiated at the funeral of Henry Sarbaum. Years later Father Dworschak became bishop of the Diocese of Fargo. A three-day bazaar was held in Woodman Hall in November, 1925. Young people of the church and community presented the play, "Windmills of Holland" before a packed house each evening. Father Hubert Van Meer directed the play and H. W. Flugga's band with Mrs. H. H. Behlmer at the piano furnished the music. Father Van Meer left the parish because of ill health in 1926 and Father Owen P. O'Neill succeeded him as pastor of St. Ann's at Litchville, serving also St. Francis parish, until 1934 when St. Ann's parish was closed. 35 Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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