Father Bernard Laukemper was only pastor for 5 years - 1927-1932 but he made a great impact. His sermons were in English instead of German. He had many improvements made in the church and with the addition of a basement hall many social activities were now possible. For several years St. Mary's Business college enabled those who could not otherwise attend college to at least further their education.

Fr. Laukemper is also remembered as one of the early pioneers in liturgical renewal in the United States. He was actively involved in the renewal of the liturgy on a national level. He was instrumental in organizing the first National Liturgical Conference in the USA which was held in Chicago in 1940. St. Mary profited from Fr. Laukemper's passion for the liturgy as he organized a choir and taught the congregation to sing parts of the Mass.		 click to turn page
Business College 1930

1936 First Communion Class

In this photo there are 3 Hertels, 3 Jannetts,
2 Meyers, 2 Mc Neils, and 1 of each: Deinlein, Behm, Obenauf, Wirtz, and Lenzen.

1930 - The first graduating class of St. Mary's Business College

Front row: Loretta Kuhagen, Fr. Laukemper, Sara Kuhagen, Ann Obenauf
Back: Robert Wagner, Gene Dietz, Leo Dorfler, Sr. Engratia