St. Augustine

The History of St. Augustine Church

• The first Catholic church in Washington was a small rock building located on West 5th Street, west of the present Baptist church. Services were held there from 1881 to 1886. After the church closed, people met for worship in the home of H. T. Boyd located at 501 B Street. The priest from Greenleaf came by train to minister.

• Later as the automobile came into use, people drove to Greenleaf for mass and religious education. This continued through the years until Monsignor August Koerperich, pastor of Greenleaf, initiated the establishment of a mission church in Washington. Services were held in the Washington city hall until the church was a built.

• The St. Augustine Mission Church was completed in 1947 under the direction of Msgr. Koerperich and was named after his patron saint. The membership of the mission was about 50 families.

• St. Augustine's remained a mission until 1961 when it became a parish with Rev. Alvin Otter as its first resident pastor.

• Pastors to the present date following Rev. Otter in order were: Rev. Loren Werth, Rev. Eugene Stehno, Rev. Raymond Menard, Rev. Melvin Ruh kamp, Rev. John Wolesky, Rev. Basil Torrez, and Rev. Louis Mattas, the present pastor.

• In May 1976, the Parish Council appointed a building committee to develop plans for construction of new facilities. The ground breaking ceremonies were held on Easter Sunday, March 26, 1978. On June 29, 1979 the first Mass was celebrated in the new building.

• Every stone in St. Augustine's Church was laid by one man. Although Dallas Douglas of Wamego had worked on other churches, this was the first one he had completed himself.

• From 14-foot walls at the back of the church, Douglas laid nearly 140 tons of limestone which rose to 36 feet at the front of the building.

• The location of the parish hall is ideal for many uses. Accessible either from the church or from the east side of the building, the 53 by 38 foot parish hall is bright and spacious.

• Like the classrooms, this too has a cathedral ceiling with exposed beams and stained ceiling. Skylights are formed by the roofline which rises to a higher point from the north side.

• Total cost of the project was over $375,000. A group of 12 persons were instrumental in securing donations and pledges to insure construction of the church. Headed by Paul Wilkinson, the group contacted every member of the parish. Making the visits were C. A. Schumacher, Gib Schuessler, Bob Ruegsegger, Larry Sawin, Dick L'Ecuyer, Loretta Hinkle, Carolyn Dusin, Verlin Mayer , Danny Shannon, Carolyn Sorrell and Sharon Schwartz.

• The Altar Society started a thrift shop. as a means of contributing to the building fund. The Parish Council with Francis Linenberger as president held an auction that netted approximately $7,000.

• The Parish Council at the time consisted of Francis Linenberger, Dale Bond, Larry Sawin, Gilbert Schuessler, Maureen Stigge, and Adolph Cumro.