St. Joseph Parish, Champion, Wisconsin
St. Joseph Church is located in Champion, Township of
Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin, U.S.A. From 1853 to 1862 the area was
called "Grez-Daem", after the Belgian Priest Father Daems, who is
said to be the founding influence of the Belgian Settlements in
Wisconsin. In 1862, the Community became known as "Aux Premiers
Belges" (the first belgians). The same area was also known as
Robinsonville. By 1900 the Community became known as Champion.
Because of hardships it took many years before a church could be built. In 1862 St. Joseph's Church was built. Called " the mother of all the Belgian Parishes of the Door Peninsula". St. Joseph's parish consisted of both Flemish and Walloon Belgians. Some of the names in the church Cemetery are:
ABTS; ARVEY; AUSLOOS; BADER; BERTRAND; BODART; BOURGUIGNON; BRISE; BRUNNER; COEL; CONARD; DE CHAMPS; DE GRAVE; DE PEAU; DEKASTER; DELVAUX; DEQUAINE; DESTICHE; DUCAT; DUCHATEAU; DUJARDIN; DUQUAINE; ERALEY; EVERARD; GOMAND; HENRY; HERMANS; HINNENDAELS; JACOBS; JADIN; JANDRIN; JEANQUINE; JENKINS; JONET; JOSSART; KASTER; LARDINOIS; LAURENT; LEFEVRE; LEGOIS; LIEGEOIS; MERCIER; MERTENS; MOHIMONT; NELLIS; NICKOLAI; PAQUE; PAYE; PREVOST; PROCESS; RENIER; ROMUALD; ROUTHIEAUX; SCHAYES; SCHULTZ; SERVAIS; SMITH; SOQUET; TILLARD; ULLMAN; VANESS; VAN LIESHOUT; VANDENACK; VANDRIES, VINCENT; WILLAME; WILLIAME
On May 28, 1877, the first log church burned down. A dispute then arose between the Flemish and the walloon, as to where the church should be built. The Flemish wanted to build the church halfway between "Aux Flamants", (the flemish settlement; also known as Martinsville and later became known as Tonet) and "Aux Premiers Belges". The Walloon wanted to rebuild on the original site. As a result St. Martin Catholic Church was built and established in Tonet, Township of Red River, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
On September 28, 1908; Rev. Milo P. Smits became pastor of St. Martin's and St. Joseph's. In 1922 a new priest's residence was built next to St. Joseph's Church. In 1936 St. Joseph's was remodeled. Only the two sidewalls from the 1877 Church remained. Rev. Smits did the landscaping himself. He built the grotto, which still stood until (2002) between the church and the rectory. The Grotto came down to make room for the new parish hall built between the church and Rectory. It is hoped that a new Grotto with the stone bearing Rev. Smits’ name can be rebuilt.
In March of 1951, after 43 years of service, Rev. Smits left the parish, and was succeeded by Rev. Eugene H. Berendsen.
In January of 1957, St. Odile Catholic Church located in Thiry Daems, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, U.S.A.; became a mission of St. Joseph's with Rev. John Righino as pastor.
In 1977 two priests arrived; Rev. Christian O'Brien, and Rev. William Donovan. Rev. O'Brien worked to get St. Joseph's more unified with it's mission parishes' St. Odiles, Thiry Daems; St. Martin's, Tonet; and St. Amand's, located in Walhain, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, U.S.A. The four parishes combined their Religious Education Programs and became known as the Inter-Parish Community, with Rev. O'Brien serving all four parishes. Rev. O'Brien left the Community in 1984, and Rev. Francis Kerscher was appointed pastor of the Inter-Parish Community.
On November 15, 1987 St. Joseph's Celebrated their 125th Anniversary. The church was remodeled and repainted, as it is today in 1999.
The Inter-Parish Community continued to grow together; until 1992 when St. Odiles, St. Martin's and St. Amand's were closed. The parishes were served by, Rev. Florian Resheske as pastor. In July of 1993 St. Joseph's was linked with St. Kilian's Catholic Church, located in New Franken, Brown County, Wisconsin, U.S.A.; under the leadership of Rev. Florian Resheske.
Rev. Resheske moved from St. Joseph's Rectory to St. Kilian's; and the rectory of St. Joseph's was converted into a parish center for Religious Education classes and meeting rooms.
In August of 1996 Rev. Resheske retired and Father Roger Zach was appointed Pastor of both parishes on January 15, 1997. At the age of 74, and suffering from inoperable stomach cancer; Fr. Roger set out to strengthen the two parishes. Forming new committees, and parish leaderships; and bringing the people closer to Jesus. Fr. Roger said " I felt that the people on the committees were too controlling, I wanted new people to be part of the finance, social and liturgy committees. Sometimes you have to shake things up for the better." Under his loving guidance the parishes grew in strength, size, and commitment. Fr. Roger said " I really like the people; I wanted to do something to give them a better vision for the future and they've responded. They are good people with strong faith." On January 24, 1999; because of his illness Father Roger retired. He died on March 11, 1999, at St. Lawrence Seminary, Mt. Calvary, WI. He is buried in the friars cemetery at St. Lawrence.
During this time the Diocese of Green Bay was making plans for the future of it's parishes, with the declining number of priests. In August of 1999, St. Kilian Church became linked with St. Thomas the Apostle, located in Sugarbush, Town of Humboldt, Brown County, Wisconsin, U.S.A.; with Rev. Dean Dombroski as pastor of both. St. Joseph Church was linked with St. Mary's Church, located in Luxemburg, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, U.S.A., with Rev. Milton Suess as pastor of both. The following is a list of Priests, or pastors serving St. Joseph Church. In January of 2005 St. Joseph’s became linked with St. Kilian, and St. Thomas the Apostle, with Rev. Dean Dombroski as pastor. St. Mary’s was linked with Holy Trinity Catholic Church, in Casco, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, with Rev. Milton Suess as their pastor.
Rev. G. Wilkens - Sept. 1862
Rev. M. Hens - Feb. 1864
Rev. Philip Crud - Nov. 1864
Rev. J. Gauche - Oct. 1870
Rev. J. P. Guillaume - Oct. 31, 1870 - Dec. 1870
Rev. Albert Wubbles - Dec. 24, 1870
Rev. Cajetan Delouw - June 8, 1873
Rev. Eramas Leccia - June 4, 1874 - May 25, 1877
Rev. Athanasius N. Buschle - May 19, 1881 - April 16, 1882
Rev. John A. Selbach - Oct. 1883 - April 1887
Rev. H. Bruns - April 1887
Rev. P. Rocagel - May 2, 1887 - Jan. 1888
Rev. Victor Deby - Nov. 4, 1891
Rev. P.J. Van Heyster - Feb. 28, 1892
Rev. P.H.B. Hoevermans - July 24, 1892 - March 2, 1893
Rev. A. Kikmans - March 25, 1893
Rev. Victor Schir - Oct. 15, 1893
Rev. Lambert Broens - May 20, 1894 - Sept. 1898
Rev. B. J. Schevers - Sept. 16, 1898 - Sept. 28, 1908
Rev. P.M. (Milo) Smits - Sept. 28, 1908 - March 1951
Rev. Eugene H. Berendsen - March 1951 - Sept. 11, 1956
Rev. John A. Righino - Sept. 11, 1956 - 1962
Rev. Hugh Mc Donnell - 1962 - 1969
Rev. Damien Weiber - 1969 - 1977
Rev. Christian O'Brien - Oct. 11, 1977 - June 17, 1978
Rev. Francis Kerscher - July 1, 1984 - Oct. 1989
Rev. Florian Resheske - Oct. 1989 - Aug. 1996
Rev. Dean Dombroski - (Temp. Administrator) Oct. 1996 - Jan. 15, 1999
Rev.
Roger Zach - Jan. 15, 1997 - Jan. 24, 1999
Rev. Dean Dombroski - (Temp. Administrator) Jan. 24, 1999 - Aug. 1, 1999
Rev. Milton Suess - Aug. 2, 1999 –
January 2005
Rev. Dean Dombroski - January 2005 -
Present
The majority of this information was obtained from the parish directory; authored by Pat Ratajczak. With a big thank you to the lovely Pat.
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The church records for St. Joseph's Church, Champion, St. Martin's Church, Tonet; St. Odile's Church, Thiry Daems; St. Amand's Church, Walhain; along with some of the records from the Chapel, Our Lady of Good Help, Robinsonville; are all located at St. Joseph's Church. Older records are on Microfilm at the Green Bay Diocese, Archives.
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Pictures from St. Joseph Church