Construction of a Catholic Church in Bloomington was approved by the Archbishop Frederick Xavier Katzer of Milwaukee in 1898. A meeting of Catholics in the vicinity was called. The newly formed congregation voted to erect their church under the title of “The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. Construction began in the spring of 1899, with the site of our first church being located where our present gym stands. On July 14, 1899, Father Nicholas Hanert arrived to serve as the first resident pastor of St. Mary’s. The first Mass celebrated in the newly erected church was on December 10, 1899.
In 1913, the first effort to establish a school was made by Father Ruppechter. The congregation purchased a house across from the church to serve as temporary rectory. The original Rectory was converted for our first school. Two rooms downstairs were used for schooling, with living quarters provided for the teaching Sisters on the second floor.
Father Adam Arentz came to Bloomington in 1918 and immediately began planning the erection of a new Parochial School. Construction began in the spring of 1919. In the spring of 1920, Bishop Schwebach came to dedicate the school. The building contained three classrooms and living quarters for Sister and facilities for boarding pupils.
In October 1928, Father Gray arrived and was instrumental in securing the Convent home, with its spacious grounds and pine grove. St. Mary’s was fortunate to have Sisters serve the Parish for many years. Due to shortages of teaching Sisters, the nuns left St. Mary’s in 1985. The convent was later sold to a parishioner. We have had lay teachers since that time.
In May 1936, Father William Braun became pastor. The parish was growing so rapidly that expansion was in order. In 1941, a committee was appointed to work on plans for a new church. On Thanksgiving Day November 26, 1942, the new church was dedicated. The cost of the new church was $70,000. Thousands of hours of labor were donated by parishioners.
In 1954, Father Braun moved to Lancaster after serving St. Mary’s Parish for eighteen years. He was succeeded by Father Dwyer. Student enrollment was increasing. With instructions from Bishop O’Conner, Father Dwyer took preliminary steps toward constructing a new addition to St. Mary’s School.
In 1956, demolition of the old church took place. Construction soon began, with plans for four classrooms, lobby, kitchen, lunch room and auditorium. On April 19 1958, the teachers and students moved to the new classrooms.
In 1979, Father Laverne Meier had the responsibility of overseeing the redecoration and reroofing of the church. While this work was being done, services were held in the church basement. Father David Timmerman arrived in December of 1995 to serve our Parish. In 1996, air conditioning was installed in the church, and the church basement was redecorated. In honor of the 100th
Anniversary of our Parish, the main floor of church was redecorated in 1998. The 100th Anniversary was celebrated in 1999 and St. Mary’s School’s was celebrated in 2013.