New St. Mary Church Has Long History

Editor's note: This column originally ran in June 2011.

Although a relatively new St. Mary Catholic Church stands along Dundee Road at Kreutzer Road, the parish community is more than 140 years old.

The new church, dedicated on Nov. 18, 2001, is the third church building to serve Huntley’s Catholic population.

Before 1870, Huntley-area Catholics attended Mass either at the Little Church of the Woods in the North Barrens, about 4 ½ miles northeast of Huntley, or at a church near Gilberts, known as the South Barrens.

But by 1870, the need for a Catholic parish in Huntley was becoming apparent.

Town founder Thomas Stillwell Huntley had donated land for the village, including acreage for three churches, Lutheran, Congregational and Catholic.

In November 1870, a group of the faithful held a meeting in the John G. Kelley blacksmith shop on the north side of the town square to discuss building a Catholic church in the town then known as Huntley Grove.

Among those present at this first meeting were John Kreutzer, Paul Kreutzer, John Coyle, John G. Kelley, Phillip Sheehan, Daniel Donahue, Michael Fitzgerald, John Zenk, George Hemmer, John Clinnin and Henry Mountain. A number of their descendants remain in the parish today.

On April 29, 1871, a second meeting was held, and at that time, each of the men present subscribed toward the building fund. A committee was elected to collect pledges, purchase materials and supervise the building of a church on the ground donated by Thomas Huntley.

The church was located south of town along what today is known as Dean Street. It was situated next to the town cemetery, to the northeast.

Work continued on the new structure, and on July 20, 1873, the Rev. Clement Duerr arrived as the first pastor.

In 1874, a rectory was built next to the church. Later, during the tenure of the Rev. Desire Miller (1909-17), a second rectory was built across the street. Both of those rectory structures still stand along Dean Street and are occupied as private residences.

By the late 1920s, the need for a larger church was again evident. A more centrally located site on Woodstock Street near Second Street was chosen, and construction began in 1930. The church and adjoining rectory were completed in 1931 at a cost of $75,000.

Although the cost of the church put the parish in debt during the economically difficult Depression, the Rev. Dudley Day, who was appointed pastor of St. Mary church in 1938, took an aggressive approach to liquidating the remaining $70,000 debt. Father Day, along with an aggressive program of chicken dinners by parishioners, was able to eliminate the obligation in seven years.

St. Mary Parish Huntley consisted of 56 families in 1870, grew to 98 families in the 1920s and approximately 400 families in 1995.

By that time, the Woodstock Street facility, which could hold only about 250 worshipers, was becoming overcrowded at Masses.

Anticipating the need for a larger church, 30 acres of land was purchased east of town from the Kreutzer family.

Building and fundraising committees were appointed and groundbreaking for the new church took place on a rainy Sunday, Dec. 5, 1999, with Rockford Diocese Bishop Thomas Doran officiating.

The first Mass in the new church on Dundee Road was celebrated Nov. 10, 2001, with the dedication taking place the next week, again with Bishop Doran as celebrant.

Several elements of the very first St. Mary Church can be seen in today’s facility, including the statue of St. Joseph holding the child Jesus and the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These are located at the front of the church, in the far-right alcove. Both were early gifts of the Paul Kreutzer family.

Today’s church features many religious artifacts salvaged from older, demolished facilities, such as the restored, 100-year-old hand-carved walnut-framed Stations of the Cross from Germany and the many windows from a Franciscan girls’ school in New Jersey.

The church’s 26 stained-glass windows that line the side walls were purchased with donations from parishioners. All these windows feature female saints.

The second church building still stands on Woodstock Street, where the attached rectory continues to be used by priests in service to St. Mary parish.

Today, St. Mary parish in Huntley has more than 5,000 registered families.