Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 4 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 44

Rev. Mark Pakiz, a representative of the Catholic priesthood in Milwaukee, being now in charge of the church of St. Mary's Help of Christians, was born in 1859, in Sodrazica, Yugoslavia, and after thorough preparatory training was ordained to the priesthood at Ljubljana in Yugoslavia, in 1885. He came to America in 1892, going first to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he was assistant priest at St. Francis church for a period of seven months. In 1893 he went to Calumet, Michigan, becoming connected with the Marquette diocese and continued his labors therewith for eleven years.

Subsequently Rev. Father Pakiz was confined to the hospital through illness for a period of sixteen months. He afterward went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained for three years and in 1908 he came to West Allis, where he took charge as pastor of St. Mary's Help of Christians Catholic church. He also has charge of the church of St. John's Evangelist at Fourth avenue and Mineral street, the congregation having purchased the church edifice there from the Jews. There are about six hundred families in the parish. The church was organized under the leadership of Rev. John Smolej and the Catholics of the community began to solicit funds and located the site for their new place of worship on Fifty-second and Sherman avenues. On the 6th of March, 1908, the corner stone was laid and on the 27th of May, 1908, the church was dedicated by the Most Rev. Archbishop Messmer of Milwaukee. A parsonage also was built and under the leadership of the Rev. Mark Pakiz the work of the parish has been very successful.