In Grand Island, Neb.
By Sister Bernadine Pachta
(Published Oct. 10, 2008) Although most of the 125-year history of the Sisters of St. Joseph is rooted in the Salina diocese, the community has been in ministry reaching far and wide. This article features a look back in time and our mission in Grand Island, NE.
The Sisters of St. Joseph had been ministering in Kansas for ten years when they opened their eighteenth mission in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1893.
In 1857 settlers headed west into what would eventually become the state of Nebraska, to establish a frontier post in an area known by French traders as LaGrande Isle. It was so named because Grand Island was located on the largest inland island in the world, formed by the Wood and North Platte Rivers.
A fire destroyed the first settlement and the people moved north of the Platte River, no longer on the island; but they kept the name of Grand Island.
Even before this time, Catholicism in this territory had longer roots dating back to 1838 and the work of the Jesuit missionary, Reverend Peter De Smet, S.J. It wasn’t until 1861 that Catholics were given an occasional opportunity for Mass by visiting priests from Omaha or Columbus. In a few years a church was built which was soon too small.
Finally Reverend W. Wolf became a resident priest in Grand Island and led the parish for nearly thirty years. After building a larger St. Mary’s Church, he erected a parochial school, and in 1893 requested the Sisters of St. Joseph to staff the school. Four Sisters were sent from Concordia, Kansas with Sister Eugenie Gravelle as superior.
St. Mary’s School opened its doors to the first students on September 9, 1893 with 120 students. A high school was opened in 1908. Up to this time Grand Island was in the Omaha Diocese, but with the creation of the Diocese of Grand Island in 1917, the school received the status of St. Mary’s Cathedral School. In 1920, a new school was built that continued to serve as both the grade and high school.
As enrollments increased, Central Catholic High School was founded in 1956 as a four-year high school with 180 students enrolled the first year. The upper grades were added at Central Catholic; it now consists of a middle school and high school. In 1975 St. Mary’s School closed as a grade school, but was used for religious education classes. In order to provide space for a new parish center, the building was demolished in 2001. The former St. Mary’s Convent is now Hope Harbor, a homeless shelter.
Sister Mary Eugenie Gravelle died of tuberculosis on May 25, 1895 at the age of 31 and was the first person to be buried in Nazareth Cemetery in Concordia.
