History of St. Vincent Pallotti Parish

St. Vincent Pallotti Parish was created on July 1, 1998, when two former parishes, Holy Cross and St. Anthony of Padua, by direction of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, merged. The name was taken from the founder of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, the Pallottines, the order that served both parishes before the merger and continues to serve our parish today. Now for a little history.

Bluemound Road became the first road constructed by the Wisconsin territory. It was cleared of timber in an effort to join the two great landmarks of southern Wisconsin – Lake Michigan and the beautiful, grassy mounds, miles west, that often appeared blue from a distance and were called Blue Mound.

It was on the border of this then rough, dirt road that land was purchased for a Catholic cemetery. In 1858, the first body was buried in Calvary Cemetery. The cemetery was situated in a very sparsely populated territory and the journey from the city was a tedious one.

Local pastors of the city parishes were often unable to perform the religious ceremonies at the grave and the Catholic population near the cemetery was increasing rapidly. In 1879, the Calvary province of the Capuchin Fathers accepted three acres of land donated by Bishop Henni to create a new parish, Holy Cross, and to care for the existing Catholic cemetery. A church and monastery were built. Fr. Anthony Rottensteiner was the founder of Holy Cross Parish and Monastery. A parish school opened a year later.

First Mass Held at Holy Cross

In 1880, Fr. Kilian Haas, first pastor of Holy Cross, was able to offer the first Mass in the completed church. The building was constructed of Cream City brick in basilica style. The interior was divided into two main spaces by a wall behind the main altar, and in 1902, it was enlarged to include a chapel for the Capuchin friars in the north wing.

In 1921, the Capuchin Fathers transferred the parish to the Pallottine Fathers. Fr. Peter Schroeder was the first Pallottine pastor of Holy Cross.

Mission Church Created

In 1923, Fr. Schroeder suggested in a meeting of the trustees to build a new mission church and school. In August, work began on the construction of this new building. The mission church was dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua because of Fr. Schroeder’s devotion to the saint. St. Anthony’s Mission was taken care of from Holy Cross until 1925 when Archbishop Messmer decided to make the mission a parish and appointed Fr. Schroeder as the first pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish.

The Great Depression of the 1930s hurt the growth of the parish. Still, Fr. Schroeder wanted to provide a Catholic high school education for the graduates of the two Pallottine parish schools. With the blessing of Archbishop Messmer, he began a two-year commercial course, enlarging it to full academic status in a short time. This high school became Pius XI High School, which was first housed in our current grade school building.

In 1937, Fr. Schroeder left for Europe and he died in Rome in 1939. Fr. Joseph De Maria, a man of great vision and charisma, served St. Anthony of Padua as pastor from 1939 until 1968. During his tenure as pastor, the new church was built and dedicated in 1967, Pius XI High School was enlarged, and a new mission was established as St. Therese, the Little Flower, also on Bluemound Road.