O God Our Help in Ages Past
Our Hope for Years to Come!
With thanksgiving to God we erect this monument in honor of our ancestors sleeping here. They predominantly came to Silver Lake from Southern and Eastern Bohemia and Western Moravia, along with neighboring Poles, French and Germans. With wisdom and love they passed on their Catholic faith to us, as it had been passed on to them, by forming St. Joseph's Parish incorporated in 1895. The first Czech parish was The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Bear Creek, 4 miles south of here, built in 1873, it's cemetery was founded in 1867. Assumption Church was a mission parish to St. Adalbert's in Silver Lake 1877 - 1896. As size and needs changed, it was replaced by St. Joseph's in Silver Lake in 1896 and was a mission of St. Joseph's until it was dismantled in 1930. The children of the parish attended St. Adalbert's School until St. Joseph's School was opened in 1931. This school consolidated with St. Adalbert's in 1967 to form Silver Lake Catholic Schools. The School Sisters of Notre Dame taught from 1931 to 1992. The church was enlarged in 1930. The priests helped serve the Czech Catholics of Glencoe, Stewart, Olivia, Bechyn, and Renville. 7 priests and 12 sisters came from this parish. Parish Societies included the CCW, St. Martha's Society, the Men's Recreational Club, the Rosary Society, the St. Aloysius Society for young men, the St. Cecilia Young Ladies Society, the Holy Name Society, the Knights of St. George, the Mother Cabrini Knights of Columbus Council, the Western Bohemian Catholic Union, the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Workmen (Katolicky Delnik) Society, and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Our story of faith continues into the future as St. Joseph's united with St. Adalbert's in 1993 to form a new Holy Family.
Dedicated 1997
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