St. Francis Xavier celebration held in December

Written by Mary Ann Lambert

Our St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church had a humble beginning at the original townsite of Lambert 1 ½ miles south of Oklee. Fr. Pierre Champagne chose the name for this parish. He chose the French saint, St. Francis Xavier, who was born in the Kingdom of Navarre -- now known as Spain. He was considered to be one of the greatest missionaries since St. Paul and was responsible for more than 30,000 converts to Christianity and also for many miracles. He, along with 7 others founded the Jesuits. His feast day is December 3rd which is also my birthday.

In 1879, Fr. Pierre Champagne was the first missionary priest to offer Mass every 2 weeks in the home of Francois Lambert, before the Chapel was built at the Lambert Townsite. The township was so named because of the many French Canadian Lambert families living there. Other early pioneers were John and Pierre Belland, Francois Juneau and Pierre Paquin. All of the 8 families of the little mission originally came from the Province of Quebec, Canada.

Under the leadership of Fr. Champagne  - a mission chapel was built on land donated by Pierre Belland. A larger church was erected in 1893 but this church was completely demolished by a violent windstorm during its construction. Mass was held in the little Mission again. A new church was built in 1899 at a cost of $3,800 - 2/3  of which was donated by Canadian benefactors. The parish was part of the Duluth Diocese until 1910 when the Diocese of Crookston was formed. In 1917, the parish was divided into 2 sections - the East half - about 80 families, became the Oklee Parish of St. Francis Xavier and the West half - about 90 families, became the Brooks Parish of St. Joseph. 

One of the many Lambert families living there was Antoine and Matilda Paquin Lambert who were my husband Richard’s Great-Great Grandparents and were also related to Al and Joyce Paquin’s family.  Richard’s family’s home was right where the church stood. Darrell and Delores Grimm live there now. Rich talked about playing in the cemetery with his brother, sisters and the neighbors and of Fr. Paul Cardin coming in his white T-shirt and sailor cap to work in the cemetery. He usually brought Dennis Bachand’s sons along to help and they would all have lunch with his family. At that time, it was very unusual to see a priest without his white collar or wearing any casual clothing.  Whenever a woman rode in Fr. Cardin’s car - she had to sit in the backseat, even if no one else was there.   He was strict about that and also about how he was addressed - he taught high school release-time catechism and it had to be “Yes Father” or “No Father”  - no one said yeah to Fr. Cardin. 

He would wait at the school and organize the town kids to help him rake and clean up the church yard and they remembered him in his T shirt and sailor hat too.  After they were done, they enjoyed a fire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows together. They helped him chop Palms for Palm Sunday too.

Also in 1917, the church and the rectory were moved to Oklee by Ole Ihle of Thief River Falls. They were moved across the field during the winter with horses pulling the buildings on beams that were slowly slid over logs laid on the frozen ground.  Many parishioners vividly remember that when the church was on blocks before the cement foundation was ready - a violent wind vibrated the building enough to cause the bell to ring. 

Now, only the cemetery remains at Lambert as a landmark of the original parish. 

This cemetery was used until 1915, when Joseph Bergeron donated land south of Oklee for a new and larger cemetery which is still in use today.  Fr. Charles Trudeau was here from 1929 to 1932 and he directed  many improvements. Beautiful stained glass windows were installed at the presently unbelievable  cost of $75 each! It was necessary  to ask 3 families to contribute jointly for one window because the national depression of the 30’s had affected local parishioners so very much. As you can see - they are still incredibly beautiful today!

In 1948 the parish was one of the first to respond to the diocesan request to establish a local board of charity to help keep parishioners off  of county welfare. 

Fr. Keough Patnode was here from 1932 to 1952 and then again in 1972 to 1984. During that time, excavations were made for a parish kitchen with a winter chapel built directly above, which is now the Sacristy. Other major improvements were the tiling of all the floors, new pews, oak paneling in the sanctuary, painting and decorating of the church interior and the installation of a pipe organ which is so enjoyed by everyone. In 1972, a large addition was added to the front of the church building, enclosing the steps and the basement entrance and adding 2 bathrooms and a meeting room which is now used for people who cannot manage the steps. They can enjoy attending Mass by close-circuit TV and receive the Blessed Sacrament. Funds for such projects came from events like the day-long bazaars in the summer that served over 1000 people. (dinner - bingo AND supper) The Annual Fall bazaars are a good memory too and later a Mardi Gras supper with Bingo, Country Store, Cake Walk, Fish Pond and other games for the kids, also a Couples Night Out, a Valentine Supper, the Annual Bake Sale and recently the Palm Sunday Breakfast have been popular and successful.  

We serve a Thanksgiving dinner for anyone who is alone for the holiday and also have a  yearly Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service, which we alternate every year with Zion for hosting. This event was begun by Fr. Keough and Pastor Gunderson. 

There was a Men’s Club who served pancake breakfasts and had Bingo Parties. These events are a lot of work but there is an enjoyment in working with your friends and pride in your parish family. 

The younger teens were a big help at the dinners and my girls and their friends thought it was fun going around pushing the cart to pick up dishes and filling water pitchers.  The Society of the Ladies of St. Anne started in 1949 and we had an active Christian Mothers group too. Whist card parties were also very popular and enjoyed on a Sunday evening. We had a CYO (Catholic Youth Group) with dances and games in the rectory basement. 

We have had 25 priests serve us since 1881 including 3 priests  who were here twice. Fr. Keough Patnode was here for a total of 32 years. He was loved for his generosity, visiting the sick of every Faith and his love for his parishioners and he was known for his long sermons, hunting on the reservation, and driving fast. The River Valley Road was affectionately called “Father’s Speedway.”    When Fr. Keough was here the first time - he said his sermons in French for those who didn’t speak English and then repeated it in English for those who didn’t speak French, - which made for a long Mass.   

Eris (Bruggeman) Super's and Therese (Fortier) Radniecki's  parents. They did this when the altar boys were not there.  Fr. Keough also encouraged vocations for the young men and women. My friend, Sister Doreen Charest told me that one summer, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Crookston opened their boarding school for a weekend silent retreat for girls. It was directed by priests from various orders.  Fr. Keough offered a ride for anyone who wanted to go but no one said anything.  A few days later, Father drove into the Charest farmyard, unannounced. He asked her mother if Doreen was going to the Retreat. 

Her Mother, wise woman that she was, said “I don’t know - ask her.”  He did and Doreen went to the retreat, where she realized her vocation as a Sister of St. Joseph.  She thanks Father Keough for her happy life as a Sister.  She also told me a funny story about him - He was shopping in the local grocery owned by his friend Ole Sovde.  Ole told a funny story and Father laughed.  He had a very loud whooping, sort of barking kind of laugh and they heard a little boy say “Mommy, where is that dog?”  and Father laughed even louder. 

He was a dear friend to our family, especially to my father-in-law, Walter.   

There were no vocations to the priesthood from our parish; but there are many vocations to religious life coming from the Charest, Lessard, Bergeron, Fortier, Paquin, Asselin, Bachand, Tousignant and Lambert families.    

There were several neighboring parishes that were closed due to the shortage of priests. Some of those members joined this parish - namely from St. Charles Borremeo of Trail, which was open from (1908 - 1984) and St. Gertrudes of Rhoda, where I grew up, which was open from 1915 - 1965.  St. Francis has also been the center of operations to several Mission Parishes. This included St. Charles Borremeo of Trail, St. Gertrudes of Rhoda, St. Vincent de Paul of Plummer, St. Joseph’s of Brooks and our present Missions of St. Clement of Grygla and St. Ann’s of Goodridge.  I became the first parish secretary in 1992. The bell and its tower were taken down in 1999 for safety under the leadership of  Fr. Joe Richards, when it was discovered that the wood was so deteriorated that it was unsafe to support the 800 pound steel bell. This bell was brought here in the steeple with the church.  In 2003, under the leadership of Fr. John Kleinwachter, the original bell was put in a new bell tower constructed by a parishioner, Leroy Lynch.  Leroy proposed his own design and volunteered his labor along with several parish volunteers. There were some recent problems that have been fixed and it is so nice to hear the bell ringing again.  Many years ago, the Hince family was assigned the task of ringing the bell at 7:00 AM, Noon and 6:00 PM. Their daughter, Marie said that usually the kids did it.   

An elevator/lift was installed under the leadership of Fr. John Kleinwachter.      

I didn’t grow up in this parish and I spoke to several parishioners, asking them about happy, sad and just any memories of their parish.  All of the memories shared here are from parishioners and former parishioners.   Assigned pews in the church and pew rent was mentioned. They loved playing, running and hiding in the oval cut outs in the cement of the outside steps. They all mentioned loving the summer catechism classes with the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Sisters of St. Benedict in Crookston coming here to teach them.  The nuns stayed upstairs in the rectory and families took turns providing meals. 

It was so good to get acquainted and to learn and play together.  The Sisters would play ball with the kids and they loved that. Summer catechism continued for many more years with us parents volunteering to teach -  - until there were no more volunteer teachers. My children and their friends loved it too; especially bringing their lunch to eat outside together and getting to know and to be friends with the nuns. Some of the kids happily remembered getting to ring the bell by pulling the rope and getting a short ride when it went back up. Several had good memories of playing under the inside steps, getting to help with Bingo, running on the benches in the basement even though they knew they would be in trouble for it and they all were always excited to get to sit in the balcony. 

There are lots of happy memories and thoughts of the music part of the parish. Joe Dufault was the Director of the choir and they sang at the High Mass. He started a children’s choir with the help of Marie Simmons. Carols were sung for 15 minutes before Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. He had the children singing in the stairwell and the adults in the balcony. This made it echo and the sound was beautiful!  They would open the belfry and then they could be heard uptown!  Mrs. Joan Bronken took over the Choir when Joe retired. She had a good voice and would sing and lead the whole congregation. She started a children’s choir again and would bring them to the area Nursing Homes to sing for the residents. The Ladies Guild brought homemade treats and it was like a party for them. 

She continued the singing of Christmas Carols before Midnight Mass. The kids especially loved getting to sing from the balcony again!  It made them feel so special and important at Mass. Joan could “talk” anyone into doing what she wanted when she knew they were able.   She was  always positive, encouraging and helpful. She was the person who got several young girls, including my daughters, to try playing the organ. Dennis Bachand was sort of a song leader from the pew and he is fondly remembered, sometimes singing the wrong verse.   Dennis was always there to help the priest and the parish with anything needed and he was the Sacristan who set up the Altar before Mass every Sunday.   

Midnight Mass was always special and popular in this Church. The Church would be full upstairs and down with chairs being set up in the back. One year there was a terrible snowstorm so there were very few attending and Fr. Joe Richards invited all of us to come up on the altar for the whole Mass which was so memorable, especially for the kids. Mine still remember it. 

We became a Mission out of Red Lake Falls when Fr. Chuck Huck came and the 3 parishes became Red Lake County Catholic. He closed the parish office, sold most everything and all the records went to Red Lake Falls. Fr. Chuck also updated the sound system in the church, which was really needed.       

Now we are happy to have Fr. Adam Hamness, and the rectory and the parish office have been re-opened and refurnished for him. Ann Peterson is our secretary now. The main basement has been redone under his leadership along with Rick Dulka, who did the work. It is very nice, warm and welcoming.