History Timeline

Parish History Timeline

1887: Construction of St. Mary’s Church at the corner of Third Street & Johnson
 was completed.
 
1896: Fr. William Hovestadt is appointed first resident pastor.
 
1917: Fr. John Whelan is appointed pastor. The parish now has 40 families.
 
1939: Fr. Francis Hagedorn is appointed pastor. A school is established in the parish  and the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth serve as teachers.
 
1947: Fr. Francis J. Sullivan is appointed pastor. A committee was formed to build a  new school building which was completed in 1948.
 
1958: Fr. Richard Pilsl is appointed pastor and serves the parish for 20 years.
 
1959: Bishop John Cody officially changes the name of the parish from St. Mary’s to  Our Lady of the Presentation following the merger of the Diocese of Kansas City  and the Diocese of St. Joseph. The name was chosen in honor of the feast of the  Presentation of the Virgin Mary which is commemorated on the Church’s  calendar on November 21.
 
1963: Presentation Parish outgrows the old white church and construction of a new  parish and school on the present site begins. The new facility is dedicated on  August 4.
 
1965: A parish rectory is built which now serves as the Parish Office. Fr. James Hart is
 appointed associate pastor until 1967.
 
1971: Fr. James Hart is reassigned to Presentation Parish and serves until 1975.
 
1978: Fr. Pilsl retires. Fr. Donald Powers is appointed Pastor.

1985: The present church is built to accommodate the growing number of families in  the parish. The old church was converted into classroom space for the school.
 
1986:  In February, Bishop John J. Sullivan dedicates the new church. Fr. Michael Rice  is appointed Pastor.
 
1988: The Presentation/Mary Kirn Early Childhood Center is established in the Sisters  of Charity convent (yellow house). The parish purchases the O’Brien farmstead  consisting of the white house and log house. The white house is converted to a  preschool facility for two-year olds, the yellow house for children ages three to  five years, and the log house becomes the priests’ residence.
 
1995: A fund drive is conducted for major expansion of the facilities to include a three- story addition to the school, a new gymnasium and adult meeting rooms.
 
1999: The number of parish families reaches 2,500. Fr. James Hart returns to  Presentation to serve as pastor until 2001. Fr. Charles Rowe is appointed  associate pastor. A new, larger rectory is purchased and the log house is used  for additional meeting space.
 
2001: Fr. Michael Clary is appointed pastor. Continued expansion of facilities leads to  the construction of a new Early Childhood Center. 
 
2002: The new Early Childhood Center opens. Fr. Paw Lwin is appointed associate  pastor until 2004.
 
2009: Parish membership is now 2,100 families.  
 
2010:  Presentation Parish celebrates its 125th Anniversary Year. A $1.5 million Capital
           Campaign begins to raise funds to renovate the worship space and build a
           classroom addition to the school.

2011: Fr. Thomas Holder is appointed pastor.