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This account of the history of our Parish was written by parishioner Roger Drayna, on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of St. Matthew Parish in the summer of 1983. |
Twenty-five years, viewed against the inexorable rise and fall of mountains, the birth of civilization, the glory of our ancient Faith, or even the lives of the eldest among us, does not seem like a very long time. Historians would want the perspective of another decade or so before assessing the significance of so brief a span. For them, it is still the chapter called “Current Events.”
Perhaps that is so. But in those intensely human dimensions wherein we build our lives - sons and daughters grown now and making homes of their own, a graduation, a marriage, the maturing of a vocation - a quarter century means much indeed. And, so it is with this fundamental structure of the Christian community - the parish. So it is with us, the People of St. Matthew's, looking at the challenges and accomplishments of this special quarter century which began in the summer of 1958.
Like cities everywhere, Wausau had begun to spread out. And, much of that new development was to western suburban enclaves like Stettin and Rib Mountain which offered suitable home sites. As the process went on, the two parishes west of the Wisconsin River , St. Anne's and Holy Name, became spread out and unwieldy. Bishop Treacy decided that the city needed a new parish to serve the outlying area. To this end, a thirty acre parcel was acquired at 28th Avenue and two blocks north of Stewart Avenue , a part of the Deichsel farm.
His choice for pastor of this phantom parish was a dynamic, thirty-three year old teacher at Regis High School in Eau Claire , Fr. Bernard McGarty. Fr. McGarty was given his new responsibilities in July of 1958, promptly purchased a camping trailer, loaded in his books and other possessions, and headed his Chevrolet eastward on Highway 29. He was not exactly a stranger to Wausau ; he had earlier served as the associate pastor of Holy Name Parish from 1949-1951.
After moving into a spare room at St. Mary's Hospital on the city's northeast side, the new pastor went out to look over the property.
What he saw, he described as “raw farm land.” North of where the Central National Bank is today stood the Aaron Miller farm, its barn outlined prominently against the mass of Sunset Ridge cloaked in pine and northern hardwood. To the east was the Henry Sloan farm. Abandoned gravel pits occupied the area which a few years later would become the corporate headquarters of Employers Mutuals, the name locals still favor when talking about the Wausau Insurance Companies. There was, of course, no Wausau Hospital , no Wausau Medical Center , and, most of all, no St. Matthew's.
To the west, across 28th Avenue from his prospective parish, Fr. McGarty saw a scattering of new homes tucked here and there among the pines and maples of what was known as the Pinecrest Addition.
As he hiked around the parish property, the ragged grass came well above his knees and was liberally mingled with ragweed and ripening milkweed pods. A marshy ditch wandered across the place from the northeast. Mallards raised their broods in its secluded reaches, and kids picked up a few dollars each fall by trapping muskrats along it. When he turned his face to the south, there stood Rib Mountain , the dominant landform in the entire state of Wisconsin .
To one of less faith, less energy, and less optimism than Bernard McGarty, it was a scene likely to create doubt and intimidation. For him it was love at first sight! He was pleased that the Bishop had chosen to name it the Parish of St. Matthew, first of the gospel writers. In his words, “It was the best assignment I could imagine; I never doubted that we could build a parish.” |
