St. Mary's Catholic Church of Bellevue: Centennial 1921-2021

St. Mary’s of Bellevue 2302 Crawford St. Bellevue, NE 68005 www.stmarysbellevue.com

First Edition ISBN: 978-1-7345923-7-5 Printed by Walsworth Publishing Co. Produced by the Omaha World-Herald. Copyright 2021 St. Mary’s of Bellevue. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior consent of the publisher, St. Mary’s of Bellevue

CENTENNIAL 1921-2021

St. Mary and St. Columban mosaics, St. Mark’s Hall exterior.

Front cover: Our Lady of the Runways.

Back cover: St. Mary’s school building exterior.

Title page: St. Mary’s original church, 2020.

CHAPTER 1 A TOWN EMERGES CHAPTER 2 FAITH TAKES ROOT CHAPTER 3 FORT CROOK RISES CHAPTER 4 A PARISH FLOURISHES CHAPTER 5 ARTISTRY IN GLASS CHAPTER 6 A SCHOOL COMES TRUE CHAPTER 7 DEVOTION BEYOND MEASURE CHAPTER 8 MINISTRIES THAT BIND CHAPTER 9 100 YEARS OF FAITH CHAPTER 10 A WELCOMING COMMUNITY CHAPTER 11 CALLED TO SERVE CHAPTER 12 REFLECTIONS

100 Years of Dauntless Faith

Bringing Christianity to the wild, uncharted lands west of the American colonies took more than courage. It took unwavering faith.

The first Catholic priest of record in middle America was Fr. Jacques Marquette. He navigated unknown waterways to evangelize in present-day Michigan in 1673. It would be nearly 50 years before a priest would reach the Nebraska Territory. But fate would not have Fr. Juan Minguez spreading the Word of God here. The Dominican priest was traveling with the Villasur Expedition, a Spanish military unit attacked by Pawnee and Otoe warriors near present-day Columbus, Nebraska, on or about Aug. 13, 1720. Fr. Minguez is said to have died on the battlefield, along with most of the expedition party. A tapestry commissioned by the Spanish government depicts him giving last rites to his fallen comrades. Bellevue, the “Plymouth Rock of Nebraska,” saw Catholicism take root in 1823 with the arrival of fur trader Peter Sarpy, a devout Catholic from St. Louis. Three years later, in 1826, Lucien Fontenelle would arrive and join Sarpy in settling the region. A boon to Catholicism came 12 years later, on May 31, 1838, when Jesuit missionary Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet arrived from St. Louis. He and Fr. Christian Hoecken founded the St. Joseph Mission just across the Missouri River from Bellevue in present-day Council Bluffs, Iowa. In a thread of historical luck, Fontenelle, Sarpy and Fr. De Smet became good friends.

Fr. De Smet baptized many, including Big Elk, the last full-blooded chief of the Omaha tribe, as well as Logan Fontenelle, the eldest of Lucien Fontenelle’s five children.

In 1854, as the Nebraska Territory opened to settlers, Bishop Jean Baptiste Miége, Vicar Apostolic of the Indian Territory, and Bishop James Myles O’Gorman, first Vicar Apostolic of Nebraska, laid the foundation for the first organized church in the area. Miége made a total of three trips to the Nebraska Territory during his service as Vicar Apostolic and later as Administrator of the Vicariate of Nebraska. His first was to Bellevue.

Other priests followed as the Catholic population grew across the wide-open prairie. Where buffalo once roamed, small villages popped up. Omaha came to be, as did the village of Fort Crook and the Army post of Fort Crook, now Offutt Air Force Base.

Archbishop Jeremiah J. Harty noted that the “spiritual needs of Bellevue, hitherto attended by the clergy of Papillion and of St. Agnes in South Omaha, were expanding” and officially established St. Mark’s parish April 25, 1921. He dispatched Fr. Marcian Ballou to serve Catholics in Fort Crook, La Platte, Avery, Gilmore and Bellevue. It’s long held that Fr. Ballou chose the parish name to coincide with the Feast Day of St. Mark.

A year later, Fr. Nicholas Zabalza, an Augustinian friar from Holy Ghost

parish in Omaha, was appointed pastor. Fr. Francis Werthman arrived in 1924.

In March 1927, Bishop Francis Beckman committed the parish to the direction of the Columban Fathers with the Very Rev. Edward J. McCarthy as acting pastor. He had just 15 families whom he could count on for support, yet he devised plans for the Missionstyle church building now called St. Mark’s Hall on the church grounds.

On July 14, 1933, Columban Fr. Richard Ahern became pastor and oversaw the laying of the cornerstone — and the renaming of the parish to St. Mary’s to “honor the Queen of Heaven and thank her for all she has done for the parish.”

The Columbans served St. Mary’s until Fr. Ernest Graham’s arrival in 1942. Fr. Robert Garvey came in 1945; he and parishioner Dave Adams would raise the funds for the current church building.

St. Mary’s School also was built during Fr. Garvey’s 24-year tenure — in large part through the generosity of George Rushart, who donated 11 of the 12 lots for the school’s footprint. The building opened in September 1948 with 96 children from the parish served by three Dominican Sisters from Kentucky.

In 1954, Irvin Kouba Jr. built, with financial support from Maj. Gerard Ianacone, the iconic and beloved Our Lady of the Runways shrine on the church grounds.

Through the decades, the parish has welcomed families from the area and all branches of the military as well as refugees and immigrants worldwide. Native sons and daughters have become priests, nuns and missionaries. Since April 26, 1953, many favors have been granted through Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

‘Reaping the fruits of courage and example’

As St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Bellevue, celebrates “100 Years of Faith” in 2021, consider the words attributed to Fr. Edward J. McCarthy on Jan. 16, 1934, marking 80 years since establishment of the Nebraska Territory in 1854.

“On this historic occasion to commemorate the beginnings of our history … and to pay tribute to the memory of those fearless pioneers who blazed the trail into the west and laid the foundation of a new civilization … I feel particularly privileged to be present at such a function, because as we know from history, the Church has always stood at the cradle of every Christian civilization and guided its baby steps. My thoughts go back today to those dauntless pioneer priests, Father Hoecken and Father De Smet, who stood by the cradle of this, our civilization ….

“As we look fondly upon the past, we look forward to the future with hope and confidence that the same spirit of courage and faith that dominated those gallant pioneers will bring our people safe through our days of anxiety and that the children of the future will reap the fruits of our courage and example as we have reaped the fruits of the courage of those who have gone before us.

“Therefore, we pray Thee, O God, Eternal Father, that as our forefathers looked to Thee for their courage and strength and to Thy Church for their consolations, so too may future generations of this community always recognize Thy bounty and Thy goodness, and in deep humility of soul and thankfulness of heart recall that they are Thy creatures always sustained by Thy Omnipotent power. Grant, O Lord, that we may pass on to them that torch of liberty and faith which is our treasured inheritance, together with that true patriotism that bids men to love and serve their country because it is Thy will.”

Faith, Service and Community

Our parish traces its beginning to the Feast of St. Mark on April 25, 1921, when Archbishop Jeremiah J. Harty established St. Mark’s parish — renamed St. Mary’s in 1933 — to serve the communities of Gilmore, Avery, Fort Crook, Bellevue and La Platte. From our first pastor, Fr. Marcian “Mark” Ballou in 1921, through the 15 pastors who have followed to date, St. Mary’s has grown and thrived, thanks to a strong foundation.

I am privileged and overjoyed to serve the parish community as it begins its second century. While the spring floods of 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic were especially difficult, the hardships brought us closer together and helped us recognize faith, family and community as our most-valued possessions.

The St. Mary’s Centennial Committee worked tirelessly to assemble a complete history of our parish. Bits and pieces had been known, but the committee dug deep and discovered more. Thank you to everyone who provided anecdotes, photographs and documents related to our first 100 years. We have a rich past that will guide us into a future of continued faith, service and evangelization.

Best wishes for health, happiness and faith in God our Creator.

Sincerely yours in Christ, The Rev. Lydell T. Lape St. Mary’s of Bellevue Pastor since 2016

Fr. Lydell T. Lape, pastor

“The core of our Christian faith is dying to self and rising again to new life.”

Centennial Prayer

Heavenly Father,

You entrusted to the Blessed Virgin Mary your only Son, whom she nurtured with never-ending love. Likewise, our parish family has been watched over by this same Holy Mother.

We are grateful for the 100 years of faith that have been lived and passed on through our parishioners.

Thank you for the witness shown by our Priests, Deacons and Religious who have served at St. Mary’s. Guided by the Holy Spirit, may our faith community continue to be blessed as we strive to be fruitful followers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

— The Rev. Lydell Lape, Pastor

Fur Trading, Missionaries and Tribal Connections

The first known people to occupy eastern Nebraska were Native Americans, namely the Otoe and Omaha tribes. The state, in fact, derives its name from the Omaha word for “broad flat water.”

The “Old Trading House,” Bellevue, Nebraska Territory, from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated, 1858.

SARPY COUNTY MUSEUM

Historians believe that the Omaha were the first to encounter a white man on the Missouri River in the early 1700s. The establishment of the Louisiana Territory would lure waves of opportunity-seeking Spanish and French explorers and fur traders. James MacKay was among them. He reached the present site of

Bellevue on Oct. 14, 1795, and established a trading post with the Otoe tribe.

American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark reached Bellevue in July 1804 on their epic expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The Corps of Discovery based overnight at White Catfish Camp, so named for the catch of the day — an unusual albino catfish. Their historic council with Native Americans was held near present-day Fort Atkinson, just north of Omaha in Washington County. On the explorers’ return to St. Louis in September 1806, they briefly stayed in the area again.

It is believed that the first permanent fur post in Nebraska was established in Bellevue in 1810 by John Jacob Astor and his Pacific Fur Company. Bellevue’s Washington Park features a monument, erected June 23, 1910, commemorating Astor’s contribution to the founding of Bellevue. But the town owes its name to the lore of fur trader Manuel Lisa, who climbed Elk Hill for a view of the Missouri River Valley and exclaimed “La Belle Vue” or “beautiful view” in the early 1800s.

Manuel Lisa

A view of the Missouri River from Bellevue in 1898. At right, the steeple rises from First Presbyterian Church. At far left, a long, white picket fence marks the home of the church’s minister, the Rev. William Hamilton. The house still stands today. COURTESY OF DEAN JUNGERS

Bellevue land claim certificate signed by Peter Sarpy. SARPY COUNTY MUSEUM

From Frontier Fort to Strategic Air Command

Platte headquartered in Omaha.

Fort Crook became home to the 22nd U.S. Infantry Regiment under the command of Col. James S. Casey on June 28, 1896.

Gen.

Crook COURTESY OF OFFUTT HISTORIAN

In the late 1880s, Fort Omaha had nowhere to expand with the city of Omaha growing up around it. In response to the dilemma, President Benjamin Harrison directed a new fort be built on a 546-acre site about 10 miles south of Omaha near Bellevue. The post, constructed between 1891 and 1894, was named in honor of the late Maj. Gen. George Crook, a West Point graduate and 38-year veteran of the U.S. Army who had fought in the Civil War and American Indian Wars. He also oversaw the Oregon Trail as commander of the Department of the

Several infantry units, motor transport companies and even a U.S. Coast Guard battalion called the fort home over the next 22 years. In 1918, the 61st Balloon Company out of Fort Omaha became the first air unit to command the post. By the time it was trained for enemy observation missions, the Armistice had been signed and World War I was over.

Maj.

George

Fort Crook, 1912.

Three years later, the first airplanes arrived. But first, 260 acres of land had to be turned into runways. It was no easy task. A former staff sergeant recalled how it was done in an Aug. 1, 1957, article in the Sarpy County Gazette: “After getting the go ahead from Capt. (Ira) Rader, I borrowed a couple of curved rails from the railroad, put a team of mules on each end and had soldiers lead them. After clearing the corn stalks from the field, farm discs were borrowed from nearby farmers and a tractor was borrowed from the Corps of Engineers to turn the ground over. … The landing field consisted of two runways, one north and south about 507 yards long, the other southwest and northeast about a half-mile long.”

Postcard of the Hospital in Fort Crook, Nebraska. Below: Fort Crook parade grounds, with General’s Row in the distance. Look closely and you can see horse stables attached to the houses.

Strong Leaders Stay the Course

In the mid-1800s, Bishop John Baptist Miége, Nebraska’s first Catholic bishop, was tackling a huge problem.

“Many Catholics are settling in the two new territories,” he wrote, “and I have no priests to give them.”

According to “The Catholic Background of Bellevue,” Miége was recruiting missionaries from Europe to serve the earliest settlers and Native Americans. As priests replaced those early missionaries, they were spread thin serving the faithful across the prairie.

The first steps in establishing a parish came in about 1914, when a Knights of Columbus council built a military service club at Fort Crook. It was a place of worship for a dozen or so Catholic families being served by priests traveling from Papillion and South Omaha.

Archbishop Jeremiah J. Harty of Omaha recognized the need and established an organized parish on the Feast Day of St. Mark, April 25, 1921. Its pastor, Fr. Marcian Ballou, would serve parish families in Bellevue, Fort Crook, La Platte, Avery and Gilmore. Plans were ambitious, with the parish purchasing land for a church and a priest’s

house in its first year. The $7,330 debt, however, was far beyond the parish’s means. In April 1922, Fr. Nicholas Zabalza of the Augustinian community at Holy Ghost parish replaced Ballou as pastor. He sold part of the property on the advice of the bishop and brought the debt down to $4,000. Although parishioners were donating and raising money through various activities, they could only chip away at the remaining debt. Meanwhile, the property was depreciating. The debt stood at $3,500 in 1924 when Fr. Francis Werthman arrived. Again, on the advice of the bishop, the remaining property was sold.

Meanwhile, a saving grace was in the offing. The Columban Fathers of the Chinese Mission Society were establishing a seminary “on the hill.”

Columban Fathers to the Rescue Fr. Edward J. McCarthy and the Columban Fathers assumed temporary care of St. Mark’s parish in March 1927 upon Fr. Werthman’s appointment as director for the propagation of faith for the Omaha diocese.

Archbishop Jeremiah J. Harty

First group of Columban priests to China.

Bishop Edward J. Galvin, co-founder of the Society of St. Columban.

While St. Mark’s was no longer in debt, parish membership had only grown to about 30 families.

In his financial report to Bishop Joseph Rummel, dated Feb. 5, 1929, Fr. McCarthy listed vestments and a few benches as the church’s only property.

“During the year 1928, Sunday collection reached $482.47, out of which the pastor in charge received $270.01,” McCarthy wrote. “During the same year, the grand total receipts amounted to $774.24, which included special collections.” From this meager amount, the parish was able to cobble together a tiny building fund of $257.85.

“Only 33 families contributed anything, and of these, 15 families contributed fairly regularly,” he wrote of Sunday collections.

“The others gave only on special occasions, like Christmas and Easter. Many of these are families of mixed marriages where one is a non-Catholic, and they are not able, consequently, to contribute very much,” McCarthy wrote in his annual report in 1929 to Bishop Rummel.

Despite the hurdles, Fr. McCarthy was determined for the parish to have a church. He drew up plans for a Mission-style structure and placed a cap on his salary to encourage the start of a building fund. It worked. Collections picked up, and within four months, another $239 was added to the fund.

Twelve lots making up Block 324 soon would be acquired by the Chinese Mission Society (a.k.a. the Society of St. Columban) for a future church. The first nine lots were purchased April 12, 1929, for $900; the remaining three were acquired Sept. 11, 1929, for $300.

Fr. McCarthy was struggling to find new donors when a $1,000 gift arrived from Rt. Rev. William D. O’Brien, president of the Catholic Church Extension Society of the United States of America, in Chicago. The time was right to build. Or was it?

The stock market crashed, sending the country and the world into the Great Depression. Unemployment climbed. City soup lines grew, and to add insult to injury, crops failed in record drought.

Maybe people just wanted to escape the misery of the day, and so the parish’s annual lawn social on the St. Columbans grounds was a rousing success. The True Voice wrote in July 1931 that “the lawn social always attracts a large crowd from the city. This year it will be bigger and better than ever.” Admission was just 25 cents. Raffle tickets went for 25 cents each, too.

“Somebody will drive home from St. Mark’s parish lawn social, the proud owner of a fine davenport (sofa),” The True Voice article continued. “And it will cost him exactly twenty-five cents. Somebody else will have two tons of winter coal already to his credits — also for twenty-five cents. Twenty-five dollars in gold will fall to another and an electric percolator will be somebody else’s surprise for Thursday morning’s breakfast. Each for twenty-five cents.”

By Aug. 17, 1931, St. Mark’s began incorporating with Bishop Rummel as president, Fr. McCarthy as treasurer and A.H. Hood as secretary.

Four months later — in a gracious, benevolent act — the Chinese Mission Society sold the church property to St. Mark’s parish for a dollar.

Building, Remodeling Projects

1933: The first church called St. Mary’s is built.

1945: The sanctuary of St. Mark’s is remodeled.

1948: The school is built; additions follow in 1954 and 1962.

1956: The current church is built.

1957: The new St. Mary’s is dedicated.

1959: The rectory is built.

1960: The original church is adapted for classrooms. A part of the church basement also is adapted for classroom space.

1969: The rectory is remodeled to add a small conference room and an office for the parish secretary.

1985: The convent and original church are remodeled into classrooms and meeting areas. The convent becomes the Dominican Center to recognize the nuns who educated the children of the parish. The original church becomes St. Mark’s Hall to recognize the name of the parish in 1921 through 1933. Additional work is done in St. Mark’s Hall. A kitchen is installed in the area of the old sanctuary; the old sacristy becomes restrooms. The main body of the church is left open as a meeting space.

The sanctuary, Advent 2020.

The choir loft is closed in, but upstairs access remains via an original staircase.

1994: The gym/ multipurpose room is finished; the parish center is remodeled.

1998: The Religious Ed offices in the Dominican Center are combined to make an art room for the school. A new use for the rectory is announced. A house is purchased three blocks away on Madison Street as a pastor’s residence.

2003: The rectory is remodeled. The living space is modified into a pastor’s office and large conference room. This frees up two offices on the north side of the rectory for the business manager and associate pastor.

2005: The Youth Minister’s office moves to St. Mark’s Hall; youth ministry activities are held here.

2008: St. Mark’s Hall is remodeled a second time. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program moves into the space. The Catholic Daughters, Scouts and other ministries meet here as well.

Discipleship, Devotion Rendered in Stained Glass

St. Mary’s stained-glass windows are closely tied to both the history of the Catholic Church in Bellevue and the founding of the parish.

The windows, created with prismatic glass, one-inch thick at the border, were made in Rennes, France, by master artists Andre and Paul Rault, and acquired through the Burns-Hanley Company in Saskatchewan, Canada. Fr. Robert Garvey wanted the windows to reflect a message of discipleship but also convey the parish’s devotion to the Holy Rosary and Perpetual Adoration.

A folder in the church archives is filled with letters passed between Burns-Hanley, the Rault brothers and Fr. Garvey. The earliest letter is dated March 23, 1954 — validation that Fr. Garvey was planning for stainedglass windows a couple of years prior to the launch of the capital campaign for a new church.

The 1954 letter from Wilfred Burns of Burns-Hanley said the Rault brothers were awaiting Father’s approval of the “maquette” — the stained-glass blueprint. Those original maquettes are framed in the parish center.

THE NATIVITY, CENTERPIECE OF THE NAVE

The main façade window depicts the Nativity. All elements of the Christmas story are present. The Archangel Gabriel holds the Star of the East, the Nativity Star flanked by Mary and Joseph. Beneath is the Christ Child lying in a manger. Trumpets represent the angels’ call to the shepherds whose sheep of various hues stand at the foot of the crib. Draped within the trumpets are grapes and pomegranates that symbolize Christ to the Eucharist. Three crowns represent the Three Kings who followed the Star of the East. Beneath the crowns is a jar of burning incense in homage to the Newborn King.

Donor: The Charles M. Garvey Family

STAINED GLASS INFORMATION PROVIDED BY MARY JANE TWEEDY.

Parishioner

seeing crates of windows in the church parking lot as a child attending St. Mary’s School in the current St. Mark’s Hall.

At the dedication of the new church April 14, 1957, only two of the windows were in place. The installation wouldn’t be completed until Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 1959.

In a letter dated May 14, 1955, it appears that some of Fr. Garvey’s plans were not carried out completely. The letter mentions that “two small windows for the main doors and two small windows in the confessional and on the choir stairs will be supplied free of charge with the other windows noted above.”

These windows do not exist in today’s church; nor are there photos in the archives showing them at any time. One theory is that the windows were never installed. Another is that they were removed in early renovations.

In a June 18, 1956, letter, Fr. Garvey expressed disappointment with the sketch of the Baptistry. He also noted: “Please stress this fact with M. Rault that I do not want a dark church, but light and bright. The 16 sanctuary windows (small size) should be light in colors — no dark tones — for the symbolism of the Litany of Loreto.”

The archives contain a variety of cost quotes and receipts for the windows. An initial Burns-Hanley letter dated

THE BAPTISTRY, A WELCOMING PRESENCE

This dramatic window displays St. John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River. The scene includes a peacock as a symbol of immortality and two stags drinking from the fount of life. The dove of the Holy Spirit hovers above John. During 2020-2021 renovations, the Baptistry window was removed to be cleaned and re-sealed, then relocated as the centerpiece of the new narthex on the east side of the church.

Donors: E. Rosser, R. Jungers, the R.D. Slagle Family, the Dr. C.A. Longo Family

April 26, 1956, has the following prices: façade Nativity window, $5,400; six nave windows, $16,200; Baptistry window, $3,000. Six months later, the nave windows dropped to $14,400 and the 16 sanctuary windows, $4,600. Later, the price rose on the sanctuary windows to $5,280. Receipts in the archives show the final cost of the Nativity window to be $4,750; the Baptistry window, $2,700; and the sanctuary windows, $4,650.

The Rault brothers guaranteed the materials and their workmanship for five years from the date of installation. With periodic maintenance, the lifespan is expected to be about 100 years.

Joli Redding Munch remembers

BUILDERS OF FAITH, LINING THE NAVE

South wall

Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet

Born in 1801 in Belgium, the widely known Jesuit missionary came to Bellevue from St. Louis to work among the Native Americans. Roses and a Bible lay at the foot of Fr. De Smet. A mission church in the pines represents his work in Idaho and Oregon. A teepee, arrows and a headdress stand for his Bellevue missions and work among the natives. A cross above the Native American mask represents his work among the Flathead and Nez Perce tribes of the Pacific Northwest. Thorns symbolize the sufferings that united him with Christ as he tirelessly worked to bring the Word of God to the expanding West.

Donors: George E. Rushart and Bertha Mueller

St. Pius X

Pope Pius was born in 1835 and is depicted in his papal attire. He set forth the Decree on Frequent Communion of 1904, which gave children the privilege of receiving their First Communion at age 7. Pius X was well-known for his love of the Holy Eucharist. Thus, a cluster of grapes and grape leaves are in his window. Eucharistic symbols include the chalice and host along with shocks of bundled wheat. The window is dedicated in honor of St. Mary’s Perpetual Adoration established in April 1953 by Fr. Robert Garvey.

Pope Pius died in 1914 and was canonized May 29, 1954.

Donors: Dr. Joseph A. Troia and the David Adams Family

Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ first appeared to St. Margaret Mary in 1673 in Paray-le-Monial in eastern France. After several apparitions, the nun began devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Christ’s words were those of protest: “Behold the heart which has loved men so much and in return is loved so little.” Represented in stained glass are the triumphant heart with the crown and scepter; the suffering heart encircled by the crown of thorns and pierced with the lance and nails; the universal heart of love shown on the cross anchored in the Earth; and the chapel of Paray-le-Monial.

Donor: Irvin E. Kouba Family

Our Lady of Fatima Sometimes referred to as Mary, Queen of the Rosary, it depicts the Mother of Jesus holding a rosary as she stands on a bed of roses. Beneath her feet is the black-and-white shield which bears the crest of St. Dominic who founded the Dominican Order. Tradition holds that in 1214 Mary gave St. Dominic the rosary in a vision. The Dominican shield also recognizes the Dominican Sisters who taught at St. Mary’s School. The window depicts the Joyful Mysteries in the Lamb of God below the Star of the Nativity. The Crown of Thorns encircling the crucifixion nails represent the Sorrowful Mysteries. The Glorious Mysteries are represented by the lily or fleur-de-lis, surrounded by five stars that represent the Five Wounds of Christ. The lily is surrounded by the wings of a dove to depict a soul’s release to heaven.

Donor: St. Mary’s Guild

The French Catholic priest, born in 1786, is the patron saint of parish priests. People from all over Europe came to him in the village of Ars for the sacrament of Confession. St. John Vianney is shown standing on a serpent, in reference to attacks made on him by the devil. Other symbols are the cross and stole with three stars symbolizing priests acting “in persona Christ” during the sacrament of Confession; the traditional screen of the confessional; and a holy water sprinkler, candle and Bible.

Donor: A Friend of the parish

St. Joseph of Cupertino St. Joseph, the patron saint of pilots, was born in 1603 and became a Franciscan monk. So lofty was his gift of prayer that he had been suspended in mid-air and known to levitate. Thus, this window was donated by members of the U.S. Air Force. St. Joseph, in a traditional Franciscan monk’s robe, is holding a rosary and standing on a bed of lilies. Next to him is a heart with a cross surrounded by flames representing his great love of God. A jar and loaf, representing the Eucharist, are surrounded by thorns, chains and cat o’nine tail — objects of self-mortification. A fighter jet is a nod to the window’s donors.

Donors: Air Force Families — E. Behr, M. Burke, J. Goodreau, G. Ianacone, J. Jones, J. Kelly, R. Morris, R. Papania, R. Rehwaldt, J. Sedlacek, J. Sheridan, A. Swetz, E. Leahy

St. John Baptiste Marie Vianney, Cure of Ars

North wall

A Parish School Comes True

Afew months after Fr. Robert Garvey became pastor of St. Mary’s, 25 men of the parish presented a proposal for a school. It was 1945 and the number of Catholic families in Bellevue was climbing. The Government Health Center was available, and the men wanted to explore remodeling it into a school and chapel. The assessment wasn’t what they had hoped; the parish would need to invest an estimated $30,000 to make it work. The location was abandoned, but the idea of having a parish school was not.

A fund drive, launched in early 1946, asked each parish family to contribute $100. Leo A. Daly, who would design the new St. Mary’s Church, was chosen to design a Spanish mission-style school consisting of four spacious classrooms, one of which would be used as a chapel. There would be a large gym-auditorium with a locker room, a community kitchen and a convent with living quarters for four nuns.

Parishioners Ray Jungers, Ed Wessling and a few other men had visited parishioner

Margaret Gouger and Gerald Fitzgerald, the first graduates of St. Mary School, 1948-49.

George Rushart, who owned land northwest of the church. The men inquired about buying the entire block. Generously, Rushart said he would sell only one lot to St. Mary’s, but donate the other 11.

Westcott & Laugel Construction Co. was the contractor on what initially was thought to be a $35,000 project. But in the post-war days of rapid expansion and construction, along with unforeseen expenses, the cost ballooned to $75,000. The figure seemed “ridiculous for a parish the size of St. Mary’s, yet with confidence in God’s providence and a good-sized loan of $40,000 the project was undertaken,” according to “The New St. Mary’s.”

Ground was broken Sept. 14, 1947. Margaret Gouger Langan, who would be one of the school’s first graduates, attended the ceremony.

“My parents were excited about this endeavor as four of their youngest children would be attending the school — Michael, John, Julie and Margaret,” she said. “We watched the progress weekly as we walked by the construction on our way to Sunday Mass.”

Rose Wessling addresses the crowd at the dedication of the school and convent in 1948. She had been instrumental in raising funds for the building project.

Cold weather and other difficulties interrupted construction. And then shortly after the basement for the school was dug, Northwestern Mutual Insurance Co. of St. Paul, Minnesota, informed Fr. Garvey that it was holding up payment on the loan because of “restrictive covenants” on the school property.

Although the Sarpy County abstractor, Joseph Strawn, investigated and felt there was no need for concern, Northwestern still would not release the money. It was discovered that the Abstractor of Titles made a mistake when the legal documents were filled out. Because of the error, St. Mary’s needed to obtain waivers of the building restrictions from 75 homeowners on McLaughlin Circle, Bert Murphy Drive and O’Malley Circle in the Rushart Addition. In lengthy notes Fr. Garvey wrote: “The agent of Northwest Mutual confided to me that he didn’t think frankly that releases could be obtained from 100 (percent) of the 75 homeowners. The question to be posed to property owners: Do you want a Catholic School built across the street — roughly speaking — from your property? Now, mind

you, one saying no could prevent the project by preventing the loan. The abstractor … replied that ‘his typewriter had made an error’ by omitting a whole line of lot numbers.’’ Fr. Garvey retorted that every abstract has as its bottom line — “We hereby certify and swear that this is an authentic and true copy.” Strawn’s response was that he would go to each house and get a release. Fr. Garvey rejected the idea, writing that “his attitude was objectionable and would turn many away.” Fr. Garvey called a meeting of parish standbys, including Ed Wessling, Dale McCarty, Jay Krajicek and Jerry Ianacone and they “set out on our ‘mission impossible.’” Fr. Garvey and Wessling approached the 10 property owners nearest to the school, expecting they would potentially be the ones most opposed.

Fr. Garvey wrote: “We were a month into this work — hard to find people at home, etc., and matters were progressing nicely until — we hit a ‘tough customer’ on O’Malley Circle. He stated flat out — ‘I’m not signing anything for anybody!’ And without his signature we were literally stymied.”

The northeast view of St. Mary’s School, 1948, looking southwest. The alcove at far right was designed to hold a statue of the Virgin Mary.

Perpetual Adoration: ‘Spiritual

Alert’

Eucharistic Adoration is the act of worshipping God in the consecrated Eucharist. Perpetual Adoration is continuous adoration to the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle.

Fr. Robert Garvey first heard about Perpetual Adoration in 1944 as associate pastor at Holy Angels Catholic Church in Omaha. He was attending a meeting in Strawberry Point, Iowa, on the atrocities of World War II when Fr. Theodore Roessler of Belfield, North Dakota, told of his parish’s adoration program. Fr. Garvey was intrigued but something else would initiate the holy movement at his parish that year.

According to a newspaper article, Fr. Garvey was at the Holy Angels rectory one hot summer day when the doorbell rang. A man in a gray tweed suit with a large wooden crucifix around his neck had an urgent message: “Jesus told me to come to tell you that he wanted Perpetual Adoration started in all his churches.” The stranger, who introduced himself as Michael Crowe, lingered several days until he had convinced Fr. Garvey’s pastor, Msgr. P.A. Flanagan, to bless the idea. “The trouble with you priests is that you do not have trust in Jesus,” Crowe said. “All you have to do is give it a chance.”

Fr. Garvey’s move in June 1945 to St. Mary’s parish was bittersweet. He left Holy Angels convinced his new parish would be too small to sustain an adoration program.

A 1950 trip to Paray-le-Monial, France, home of St. Margaret Mary, changed his mind. Jesus had asked Margaret Mary to observe the special hour of 11 to midnight on Thursday before the First Friday. Fr. Garvey did just that at Margaret Mary’s convent in Paray. “I came home from that Holy Year trip determined to begin Perpetual Adoration in St. Mary’s parish,” he said.

He sought help from the Men’s Club and the

Legion of Mary. Rose Wessling, a mother of four and pregnant with No. 5, along with Lucille Krajicek, would direct the program. Seven Legion of Mary members were recruited to be captains for each day of the week. Each captain saw that adorers were scheduled for each hour and substitutes were readily available.

Rose Wessling and her husband, Ed, lived just a few blocks from the church. Rose was president of the Legion of Mary. She and Ed “snapped it up with the alacrity of a crocodile … and they continued supervision for 20 years,” according to a February 1974 article, “The Story of Perpetual Adoration in Nebraska Part II,” in Immaculata Magazine.

Ed and Rose Wessling at the wedding of their son, Ken, in 1957.

“I bless that wonderful work with all my heart.”

— Pope Pius XII

Monstrance, during First Friday benediction.

Capt. Gerard Ianacone was also instrumental at the start. He lived across the street from the church with his family of eight children. He and Fr. Garvey alternated visits to the church around midnight to be sure all was well.

With these helpers, Fr. Garvey began Perpetual Adoration on a 24-hour-a-day basis in the Spanish-style church. Fr. Garvey would often compare Perpetual Adoration to the Strategic Air Command’s airborne headquarters, the Looking Glass, that was in the air 24/7.

“If the Air Force can keep a round-the-clock vigil to defend our country, why can’t we keep a round-the-clock spiritual alert?” he said.

Fr. Garvey took the 11-to-midnight hour on Thursdays for several months. He invited other parishioners to join him, and they did.

Matthew 26:40

Three of the original adorers, 2018. From left, Ken Wessling, Lorraine Augustyn and Dave Adams, with Fr. Del.

“Could you not watch one hour with me?”

A Welcoming Community

Embracing Multicultural Diversity

St. Mary’s has welcomed many families of different cultures over the years: Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino, Native American, Cuban, Hispanic, Sudanese and more.

In 1975, parishioners Mrs. Ken McCulloch, Ruth Howard, Noelle Plog and Mrs. R.J. Rynders took 11 Vietnamese family members under their wing after the parish community pledged to sponsor them.

Pham Van Bach and his family of seven, plus a married son and his family of four, received assistance with employment, housing, furnishings and clothing. The Bachs made their home in a small house across the street from the church and were active members of the parish for many years. Pham was the church’s custodian.

The Canh Van Tran family received similar assistance. Mr. and Mrs. Tran were regulars at 8:30 a.m. Masses until his death in January 2020.

Marge and Vic Wagar, members of the parish in the 1960s, were legal guardians for Jan and Donna. They also adopted five children, including Andrea and Glenda Wagar, who were Sioux Indians. The girls attended St. Mary’s school in the 1960s.

As the years went on and more families were sponsored, other nationalities came. The 1980s, for example, brought many Sudanese fleeing war. Sylvia Thompson was involved in helping them get settled.

Beppie Aube, a native of Holland, tutored the Sudanese in English while her husband, Mike, helped them get jobs, settle into homes and buy cars. The Sudanese felt so comfortable with the Aubes, they dropped by frequently — often entering their home without knocking — and calling their hosts “Mom and Dad.”

In 2002, St. Mary’s welcomed seven Sudanese families. They came to the United States because of religious persecution and war. There were many barriers for these families upon arrival, so a call went out to the parish for assistance with language, legal documents, employment opportunities, driver’s training and tutoring on American ways.

Sylvia and Deacon John Wacha headed up efforts to welcome these families into the parish. Many became parishioners and got involved in parish life. Their children attended the parish school, where they learned about U.S. history and culture. More importantly, St. Mary’s students readily welcomed them.

Reyna and Emanuel Luna Esquivel, in the Procession of Nationalities at the Centennial Mass.

Mike and Beppie Aube

A patchwork quilt of St. Mary’s surely would be a kaleidoscope of color and symbolism, representative of the vibrant ethnic and cultural diversity of its parishioners. Here, a half-dozen families tell how they came to be part of the fabric of the parish community.

Gloriela’s Christmas Blessing

Gloriela Moore was born in Panama City, Panama, and attended a boarding school run by the Sisters of Charity. It was a lonely time, seeing her mother and father only once a year at Christmas.

She was studying at the University of Panama when there was a drastic change in Panama’s government and the U.S. sent troops into Panama. It was then that Gloriela met her future husband, Joel Moore, a U.S. military policeman. A shelling of the Panama Airport made her fearful for her own life and that of her boyfriend. The harrowing experience brought the couple closer.

Months later, Joel proposed. Gloriela needed more time. Joel was being reassigned and proposed again just before leaving Panama. They were married Feb. 12, 1990, in Panama.

Joel reported for duty in Texas and was joined six months later by his bride. As a military family, they were stationed in Indiana for a year, and then in Texas again, and eventually to Offutt Air Force Base.

The couple had a son, Diego, but soon divorced. Gloriela remained in Bellevue, working first at the Offutt Base Exchange, then at an insurance agency and later at Bellevue University, where she earned a degree and eventually worked in guidance counseling. She found her spiritual and social haven at St. Mary’s at Christmas. She remembers walking into the church for Midnight Mass, baby Diego in her arms. The church was softly lit and filled with carols. It was all very soothing as her infant slept in her arms. However, when the lights came up and the music swelled, Diego awoke with lungs joining in! Gloriela was mortified.

In the midst of loneliness and depression she found comfort in the church. Diego grew up in the parish and became an Eagle Scout.

Mother and son, now 24, still attend Mass together. Diego’s girlfriend, from Puerto Rico, was sponsored by Diego as she was welcomed into the Church in 2021.

Though far from her homeland of Panama, Gloriela still goes home occasionally to visit her mother.

Gloriela and Diego, just before the Procession of Nationalities at the Centennial Mass.

Parish Memories

“In retrospect, it seems the parish and parishioners were filled with a sense of pride, optimism, and faith. The Greatest Generation had survived the Great Depression and World War II and were eager to get on with the business of living. Pride in their Catholic identity and heritage would manifest in many ways. First was the establishment of Perpetual Adoration at St. Mary’s on April 26, 1953. My parents were charter members and had adoration hours until their deaths. Two of us still have a weekly hour. Another example of pride in our faith and country was the creation of the Our Lady of the Runways shrine. As Catholics, we had an enormous desire to ‘prove’ that we were genuine Americans.” - Kevin Duffy

Dave Adams was one of the original adorers in 1953.

Martin Bomber Plant

St. Mary’s parishioner Margy Dietz worked at the Martin Bomber Plant from August 1942 until July or August 1946. She wasn’t looking for a job, she told The Bellevue Leader in 2015. She had accompanied her father to the plant and was waiting in the car while he applied. A man approached the car and suggested she apply as well. Her ability to use a typewriter nabbed her a 90-cent-per-hour job as a secretary. Working double-time raised her hourly rate to $1.80 — an unheard-of amount, particularly for a woman. “It was excellent money that I enjoyed spending,” she told the newspaper. Her father and her sister were also hired, making the manufacturing of bombers for the war effort a family affair.

Alice Craney, mother of parishioners Mike Craney and Barb Van Wassenhoven, also worked at the plant. Alice commuted from North 33rd Street in Omaha, and recalls being picked up in a truck each workday. She was a “Rosie the Riveter,” working on the assembly line.

Trolley

Parishioner Bob Sullivan would ride the trolley to work. The final stop was on the northeast corner of the Fort Crook parade grounds, now Offutt Air Force Base.

Parishioner Ruth Helen Gonnion Collins recalls the routine at the end of the line. “The conductor would stop, pick up his tools and walk to the front of the car, put his tools in the proper place, and open the door for his passengers before putting the trolley in reverse.”

The end of the trolley line at the northeast corner of the Fort Crook parade grounds, now Offutt Air Force Base.

Martin Bomber Plant

St Mary’s Church

“First Confession and First Holy Communion were the highlights of second grade. At that time the church had enclosed booths for Reconciliation with little red and green lights outside to indicate if it was vacant. It would be dark inside and you would kneel down and wait for Father to slide open a screen before you would begin. For First Eucharist girls all wore white dresses with white veils and the boys wore suits. We would practice and then the nuns would direct us by using little clickers. Click, click, stop. Click, click, genuflect. Click, click file into the pews. There was a Communion rail around the altar and we would kneel to receive. And we could never, ever touch the host or let it fall.”- Maureen Duffy Losee

Confirmation was in third grade. “We wore white robes with little red beanies. Picking the Confirmation name was such a big event and we all wondered if it would hurt when the archbishop ‘slapped’ us to make us ‘soldiers of Christ’.” - Maureen Duffy Losee

“We went to Mass daily and the church was packed. Girls had to have their heads covered. If you had no head covering, the nuns would give you a Kleenex to wear. You had to fast before Communion so if we received Communion we would bring a breakfast and eat it at our desks.” - Maureen Duffy Losee

“I have memories of playing the organ in church for school Masses, starting around second grade. I remember having to stretch my legs to reach the pedals! And I can still play almost all those church hymns by heart. We took piano lessons from Grandma (Anne) Kouba who lived up the street from us.” - Jolene Wright Hotovy

“A powerful moment occurred when our daughter and husband who lived in Atlanta asked to have their child baptized at St. Mary’s. Father Denny graciously agreed. After baptizing Ivy, Father held her up high and introduced her to the congregation as a newly baptized child of God! It was a beautiful and powerful moment!”

- Gary and Mary Huliska

Mary Younkers recalls bringing bread to the Thanksgiving table at Mass to be blessed.

“I think something important to note is that our parish is such a beautiful melting pot of generational/legacy families; Air Force families/ military; immigrants/refugees. Just thinking of all those who have found, currently find or will find spiritual fulfillment in the parish is amazing.” - Hannah Clark

“Jon was transferred to Offutt AFB in August 1990. We were living in temporary housing. We decided to go looking for a parish.” They tried the base chapel, Our Lady of Peace, and St. Bernadette’s before coming to St. Mary’s. “At this Mass, everyone was greeting each other with a handshake and greeting. We decided right then this was our parish. Several weeks later we found out that that was the first Sunday they had done this.” - Gale Stevens

Adorer Gloriela Moore said her most powerful moment is at night when “I have been in a turmoil, and I am able to walk in and sit and pray and cry and I walk out feeling much better.”

Winnie Kouba led the rosary for years before the 8:30 a.m. weekday Mass. When she was ill and about to have surgery, Fr. Del visited her. She told him, “Father, don’t let the rosary go away.” She died in July 2020.

Warren Davee said his most powerful moment as a member of St. Mary’s was during the Easter Vigil of 1986 when he became a full member of the Church and was able to receive Holy Communion with his wife, Elaine. Also powerful was a men’s retreat in St. Mark’s led by Fr. Arkfeld, now deceased.

Rich Carey, a teacher from 1971 to 1976, lived in the parish house across the street from the church. He walked to school every day and would go to Mass every day. He could see from his front window Fr. Allen Martin enter the church from the sacristy to start Mass and then he’d run over to church and by the time Fr. Martin turned around on the altar, Carey was in a pew.

The cornerstone.

CENTENNIAL 1921-2021

Bringing Christianity to the wild, uncharted lands west of the American Colonies took more than courage. It took unwavering faith. Bellevue, the “Plymouth Rock of Nebraska,” saw Catholicism take root in 1823 with the arrival of fur trader Peter Sarpy. Three years later, he was joined in settling the region by another devout Catholic, Lucien Fontenelle. Jesuit missionary Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet’s arrival in 1838 was an added boon, as the Catholic population grew across the wide-open prairie. Bellevue, an important trading post on the Missouri River, would have the first organized Catholic Church in the area — St. Mark’s parish — on April 25, 1921. Later, its name would change to St. Mary’s to honor the Queen of Heaven, and Perpetual Adoration would demonstrate the parish’s devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. With this book, the parish celebrates those dauntless pioneer priests, Columban Fathers and Dominican Sisters who followed in the 1930s and ‘40s as St. Mary’s came into its own.

Centennial Prayer Praise to You Creator God in gratitude for the spirit that led Archbishop Harty in the founding of our Parish and naming the Parish St. Mary’s on April 25, 1921.

Faithful and merciful God thank you for the help and support of many dedicated persons who enable St. Mary’s to continue to provide in meeting all needs of the parish. Praise and thank you God for all the people who carry on the spirit of St. Mary’s parish. may faith, hope and charity continue to abound in this year 2021 and in generations to come. Amen.

— By Sr. Joan Miriam Glaser, O.P. In honor of St. Mary’s Church of Bellevue On the occasion of its centennial, 1921-2021