St. Francis de Sales Church
Ossian, Iowa

        The creative hand of God etched out the fertile and scenic land embraced in our parish community. Animals feasting on the bounty of the land witnessed the coming of the Mound Builders who have left only their mound graves with remnants of burial ritual and their artifacts. Successive tribes of Indians followed the Mound Builders living on and migrating though this area to their settlements near the Mississippi River. These inhabitants were surprised in 1673, when looking over the “Father of Waters” they saw two canoes of White men guided by the French missionary, Jacques Marquette, S.J. and his French explorer companion, Louis Joliet. French Canadian fur traders and explorers traveled the area engaged in fur trade with the Indians. Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, was established before 1800, but White settlers were not legal west of the Mississippi River before 1834. The first documented settlement of White people, in 1835, was in connection with the government Yellow River Indian Mission, which was closed in 1840 and moved near present Festina and Fort Atkinson.
        John Ossian Porter, in 1850, was the first White settler in present Military township. Two years later settlers of French (Alsace-Lorraine) and Irish descent were attracted by the fertile soil to build their homes in this area.  Ossian was established as a town in 1855 with a post office and the town named after its first postmaster, John Ossian Porter. Later families of German descent from Festina and St. Lucas settled here in large number.
        Many of the early area Catholics walked or rode buggies to Festina or Clermont for Sunday Mass, as they did not have their own place of worship. On occasion beginning in 1868 priests from neighboring parishes celebrated Mass in the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Depot or in the home of John Collins, Esquire.
       Father James Harding of Cresco, in 1868, was the first priest to offer Mass in Ossian. At that time he accepted donation of land from Captain Brooks, a non-Catholic, as the site for the first church in Ossian. The frame church eighty feet long and 31 feet wide with seating for about two hundred fifty was constructed, where the altar area of the present church is located, with dedication as St. Francis de Sales Church in 1869. Land behind the church was also donated by Captain Brooks for the cemetery. The cemetery was later enlarged with the acquisition and donation of additional land from Andrew Meyer and the donation of land by Al and Shirley Kuennen for the current new cemetery section.
            Father James Brady became the first resident pastor in 1873. He also ministered to the Catholics in Postville and Monona. Father Daniel H. Murphy followed him as pastor from 1876 to 1879. During his pastorate a large 2600-pound bell of superior metal was purchased in St. Louis. A frame was made near the frame church for ringing the bell which was later enclosed in a belfry attached to the back of the church. This bell later rang for over a hundred years from the belfry of the gothic brick church. It now rings from the free-standing tower erected near the present church in the Jubilee Year 2000.
        In 1879, the newly ordained Father Patrick A. R. Tierney from Waucoma was appointed pastor. He immediately initiated renovation and improvement of the church.
        Education was important to the Catholics in Ossian. Christina Wictor, later Mrs. Theodore Wiltgen, was in charge of the school from 1871-1880. Father Tierney took an active role in the school conducted by Christina Wictor and in 1880 engaged the Franciscan Sisters from La Crosse, Wisconsin (the first three Sisters: Seraphina, Petronella, and Rosalia) to teach in the school in a rented building. In 1883 he directed the building of a combination two-story frame school, chapel, and residence for the Sisters. The La Crosse Franciscans withdrew after two years and the Dubuque Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family assumed leadership of the school for over a hundred years. The De Sales faculty were sisters and priests until 1957 when Art Huinker became lay teacher and coach.
        In 1890 Father Michael W. McCarthy came as pastor of St. Francis de Sales parish.  The growing parish membership crowded the original church. Plans were then initiated in 1895 for building a large brick veneer Gothic church. The architect was Fridolin (Fred) Heer and Sons, Dubuque. On August 27, 1895, the cornerstone was laid (which is now the base for the Statue of St. Francis de Sales in the gathering area of the current church). The Gothic church, measuring one hundred thirty-three feet long and fifty-two feet wide with a spire one hundred fifty feet high and a seating capacity of 700, was built for a contract price of $22,000.00 west of the old frame church, about where the gathering area of the present church is located. Dedication of the church by Archbishop John J. Hennessy was celebrated on August 26, 1896.
        Failing health in 1899 forced Father McCarthy’s retirement. Father Theodore Warning came from St. Joseph College (now Loras College) as pastor to 1901. During his pastorate he directed the building of a three-story brick school with five large classrooms, a chapel and living quarters for the Sisters. This school was razed in 1976.
        Father C. B. (baptized Carl Bernard and sometimes called Clem) Lechtenberg was pastor from 1901 to his death from cancer in 1910. De Sales Central High School opened in a new school building in September, 1902. The first graduating class members were Mary Cavanaugh, Rose Fleischer, and Arthalinda Meyer. Sister Mary De Sales, O.S.F.  was the first De Sales High School teacher. Father Lechtenberg completed the interior of the new church with purchase of a pipe organ, stations of the cross, and ornate altars (the furnishings of the present new church were fabricated from those altars by Conrad Schmitt Studios, New Berlin, Wisconsin, and Riehle Decorating Company, Cresco). In 1903 Father Lechtenberg oversaw the construction of a two-story brick gothic rectory. Donation of land by Andrew Meyer enabled the enlargement of the cemetery and school playground while he was pastor.
        St. Francis de Sales Parish had six pastors from 1873-1910.  The next pastor, Rev. Msgr. Michael J. Thiltgen, was pastor for 46 years during which he provided strong spiritual leadership in the parish and schools. During his tenure the Knights of Columbus were established as Court #2073 in 1921; the Catholic Daughters of America as Court # 983 in 1925, and Davis Assembly Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus in 1954.  Msgr. Thiltgen was ably assisted in his later years by Father Ed Frost, who was administrator for building and operating the De Sales High School. Under Msgr. Thiltgen, St. Francis de Sales Church enjoyed great growth, especially in the years after World War II.
        Msgr. Vernon J. Peters was also a long-time pastor here, serving from 1956 to 1978. De Sales CentralHigh School was expanded as an inter-parochial Central Catholic High School in 1956 serving, in addition to St. Francis De Sales Parish Ossian, the students from St. Aloysius, Calmar, St. Peter, Clermont, St. Benedict, Decorah, Our Lady of Seven Dolors, Festina, and St. Bridget, Postville. Msgr. Peters had great talent in electronics and communication and added those skills to the De Sales curriculum, enabling many of the graduates to seek successful careers in those fields. For many years the international shortwave communication system, enabling contact with missionaries throughout the world, was a communication network originating from Ossian. He was also a pioneer in video production and communication for classroom resource. For Christmas 1958 de Sales Parish presented the Franciscan Sisters their new convent. Msgr. Peters, in his usual fatherly concern, purchased the materials, supervised the work, and himself gave long hours of clerical and manual work.
        Increasing enrollment in the elementary school crowded the building. When the Sisters moved to the new convent, their living quarters in the elementary building were remodeled into two classrooms and a new library. 
        Msgr. V.J. Peters organized community members in founding the Ossian Senior Hospice nursing home, supervising construction and donating considerable project work. The Ossian Senior Hospice has had three subsequent additions and has proved a valuable community asset.
        With the closing of the De Sales Central Catholic High School in 1969, the majority of the students attended South Winneshiek High School. Msgr. Peters and the pastors of St. Aloysius, Calmar, Our Lady of Seven Dolors, Festina, and St. Wenceslaus, Spillville organized the Christian Family School of Religion for released time classes at St. Aloysius Center, Calmar, in conjunction with South Winneshiek High School. Father Ed Lange was the first director of CFSR.
        Following the retirement of Msgr. Peters, Msgr. Kenneth Ryan served a pastor 1978-80. With his appointment as pastor, the parish was without an Assistant Pastor for the first time since 1935. This staff reduction involved greater assistance of lay persons for functioning of the parish. An adult men's choir was formed in the spring of 1979. The choir was reorganized as an adult choir of men and women the following year. Prior to Vatican II De Sales had a long tradition of liturgical music. For many years Bernice Werner was organist and choir director. The Parish Festival on October 4, 1980 served 1582 dinners with a net profit of $11,065.88. Msgr. Ryan resigned in 1980 to become pastor of the parishes at Eagle Center and Blessing.
        Father Philip McDermott was appointed pastor of St. Francis de Sales effective December 3, 1980. A diagnosis of brain tumor in 1987 shortened his time as pastor. His illness terminated in his death in May 1988. Early in his pastorate he implemented the negotiation of Msgr. Ryan for merging the De Sales 7th and 8th grade sport teams with South Winn. In conjunction with this move the De Sales School Board voted to accept the South Winneshiek proposal for the upper grade physical education to be held at South Winneshiek School in Ossian.  In 1981 contract was entered with Reinhart Glass Studio to renovate the church stained glass windows for $16,970.00. Most of the stained glass was later incorporated into the new church. Faced with deficit spending to maintain the parish and school Father McDermott organized Companion Care in which parishioners invested money for De Sales Parish and paid the interest to the parish each year as additional income. This was well received.
        Following the incapacitating sickness of Father McDermott, Father Marvin Salz, pastor of Our Lady of Seven Dolors, Festina, and director of the Christian Family School of Religion, was assigned as the new pastor through 1990. He was very active in involving the laity in the functioning of all phases of parish life and liturgy.
        Father Richard Kuhn, who had been a U.S. Navy Chaplain, served as pastor from 1990 to 1999, when he was named pastor of St. John the Baptist, Peosta, and Holy Family, New Melleray. During his time as pastor he directed the remodeling of the downstairs of the rectory, made much planning for renovating the church and having it connected to the rectory. These plans were thwarted by torrential rains in 1993 and tornadic proportion winds in the spring of 1994 which fractured the supporting timbers in the gothic attic resulting in separation of the east wall of the church to the extent that repair was not cost effective. The church was held up by supporting light poles until plans and financing for the new church could be arranged. The last Mass in this church was celebrated January 27, 1996. Masses were held in the De Sales School Gym until the new church was built.
        Archbishop Jerome Hanus, OSB, blessed and dedicated the new Church on March 28, 1998. Long hours of planning and meetings of the Parish Council and Building Committee resulted in the modern plan incorporating much from the gothic church into the new church. Father Giles Brom, a native of the parish was liturgical consultant. Before ordination to the Priesthood in 1996, he was a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers, teaching art for many years at St. Mary College, Winona, Minnesota, and St. Mary College, Moraga, California, and serving as a liturgical consultant.  The generosity of parishioners and several timely bequests enabled the dedication of the new church debt free.
        During the pastorate of Father Kuhn, Kindergarten was added to the De Sales School program. The school operation also added a preschool program and the Child Care Center for infants, and toddlers.  The convent building was renovated as a child care center under the supervision of Mae Becker, principal, and the direction of Art Hemesath. A ribbon cutting and open house for the new Ossian-De Sales Child Care Center was celebrated on June 6, 1999.
        Rev. Msgr. Cletus J. Hawes next served as pastor from 1999 to 2015. He had a prior association with De Sales as a faculty member of De Sales High School when he was pastor of St. Bridget Church, Postville. He was also pastor of Our Lady of Seven Dolors, Festina, and coordinator for the Christian Family School of Religion for released time classes for high school students at South Winneshiek in Calmar. Msgr. Hawes assisted in the erection of the free-standing bell tower adjacent to the current church and utilization of stained glass from the old church in the upper portion of the dividing wall between the sanctuary and gathering area. In April, 2002 the parish hosted an impressive Golden Jubilee celebration in observance of his Fiftieth Ordination Anniversary.
        The parking lot surface was completed with portland cement in the spring of 2005 Parish volunteers provided the labor with materials supplied by Robert and Catherine Reilly and Reilly Construction.
        In the fall of 2016, it being determined the two-story brick structure was no longer serviceable, the rectory of St. Francis de Sales was razed, the work being successfully completed almost exclusively with volunteer labor coordinated by Dennis “Red” and Alvin Hageman. A parking lot now marks the space between the church and the child care center.
        Rev. G. Robert Gross was assigned as pastor of St. Francis de Sales, Ossian; Our Lady of Seven Dolors, Festina; St. Aloysius, Calmar; and St. Wenceslaus, Spillville in 2015 and presently serves the four linked parishes. During his tenure, De Sales and CFS Schools were consolidated to become St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic School for the 2019-20 school year, with locations in Ossian and Spillville.
        St. Francis de Sales Parish has reached out in service throughout its history. Fourteen men from the parish accepted the call to Ordination to the Priesthood and forty-three young women of the parish were professed in religious life. The service of priests and religious has been augmented by the great number of men and women who have served the parish or have left here for membership and leadership in other parishes. A solid faith foundation enables the parish to flourish for future generations.