St. Patrick's History

In 1884 the village of Paxton was known as Alkali and 64 people made up the entire population of Keith County. In 1887, the first wooden bridge was built across the South Platte River south of the town now known as Paxton. 

Whenever possible a Mass was offered in homes; the first Mass on record was offered by Rev. J.J. Barrett on February 27, 1887.In 1888, Paxton was a mission of the Sidney parish; with Mass being offered in Paxton once a year and by the late 1890’s once a month on Saturday. The priest often made the trip by freight train.

Rev. Flood encouraged members to build a small frame church in 1902. In May 1904, the first mission was offered by Rev. J.P. Devine.

In 1913, the building was moved to the intended site and an addition was made. In October 1913, Paxton became a mission of Ogallala with Rev. Edward Hynes in charge.

When the Sutherland parish was established in 1922, Saint Patrick’s became a mission of Sutherland, with Rev. Alphonse Gasser as pastor. At that time, with the parish consisting of nearly forty families, a new brick church was erected at the cost of $26,000. Sixteen Thousand dollars of the total cost to build the new church, was raised by subscription and paid at the time the church was completed. The first Mass in the new church was offered Christmas morning 1930. Dedication services were conducted by Bishop James Duffy on May 28, 1931.

After Rev. Gasser’s death in 1931, Rev. Francis Tschida served Saint Patrick’s until 1938; followed by Rev. Joseph Muldoon. Rev. Muldoon, with Rev. Anthony Radziewicz assisting during his last year, served until his death in 1949. Rev. C. J. Shumski served the Paxton parish, for the next 12 years, from 1949 until 1961.

Over the years there were many different priests who served the Paxton Parish including: Rev. Walter Phelan, 1961-1966; Rev. James Kremeier, 1966-1967; Rev. Gerald Harr, 1967-1973; Rev. Gerald Carlson, 1973-1981, Rev. Jacob Bauer, 1981-1990; Rev. Thomas Dillon, 1990-1998; Rev. James Janovec, 1998-2003.

Saint Patrick’s remained a mission of Sutherland until 2003 when it became a mission of Saint Luke’s in Ogallala under Rev. Jack Schlaf. Rev. Bryan Ernest; Rev. Suresh Bandha now presides over both parishes.