Good Shepherd Parish History

On June 16, 1934, Father Ferdinand G. Wiberg was sent to minister to the needs of the Catholics of the Hillsboro community. Father Weiberg celebrated the first Parish Mass on July 8, 1934, in the then Boughtere (Marsden’s) barber shop, on Main Street, across from the Court House. That same afternoon the Sacrament of Baptism was conferred on Donald Lassing, the first person baptized as part of the new Good Shepherd. The first persons baptized in the new church were Walter “Buck” Buerger (former sheriff of Jefferson County) and Marie Buerger on December 24, 1934. The first marriage in the parish was Frank and Kathryn Hood on August 18, 1934.

Father Weiberg arrived on June 23rd, and met with Father Rogers from St. Rose in De Soto. Father Rogers took Father Wieberg out to Cottage Farm where he could bunk for a few weeks so he could survey the area. His temporary “quarters” were eight miles southwest of Hillsboro. It was during this time that he also served two missions, which were then served by Good Shepherd Parish; the privately owned Cottage Farm mission known as St. Bernadette, located at Morse Mill. The Chapel at Cottage Farms was once listed in Ripley’s Believe It or Not as “the only Catholic Church on property owned by a Mason.”

As to the naming of the new parish, Father Wieberg has stated in writing, “I suggested to Archbishop Lennon, the name St. Bernadette. The Archbishop wrote me and said he would like the title to be Good Shepherd, for this was what he asked me to do, namely, go out and find the lost sheep in the hills of Jefferson County, hence the title Good Shepherd.” Construction of the church and rectory began immediately. The men of the parish had to halt excavation on the foundation of the church when one of the horses died while pulling the plow used to dig the basement of the new church. The pioneering efforts of the parishioners resulted in the foundation being completed on September 15, 1934. The first Mass was celebrated in the basement on November 1st of the same year. On November 18, the first Mass in the church itself took place. The Rectory was built by parish members from a Sears Catalogue, and Father moved in on Washington’s Birthday in 1935. When the Old Spanish Club Chapel on Virginia Avenue in St. Louis closed, Archbishop Lennon ordered all chalices, vestments, etc., be given to Good Shepherd Parish. Father Wieberg was told to “take everything – leave nothing”. Pews were donated by Monsignor White, Pastor of St. Paul Church in Pine Lawn. On Thanksgiving Day, 1934, the church was dedicated by his Excellency Most Reverend Christian Winkleman. Good Shepherd Cemetery was begun soon afterwards, with the first burial of Antoinette Pieta on May 15, 1938.

On February 22, 1940, Father William J. Merkel was appointed pastor. It was during Father Berkel’s time in 1947 that our first school located on Highway 21 was dedicated on September 19, 1947, by Fr. John Cody. In response to a request by Father Merkel, Sister Marie Bernadette, and Sister Mary de Sales, Ursuline Sisters of Kentucky, opened an elementary school with an enrollment of about 40 children.

The stained glass windows along the outside walls of the church, were installed sometime during the early 50’s

The school-convent combination building was erected in 1953. The Ursuline nuns were recalled to Owensboro, Kentucky and were replaced by Sister Monica, Sister Bernadine, and Sister Agnes Ann, Sisters of the Loretta order from Hawesville, Kentucky. Improvements were made to the parish grounds and school. It was in the 1970’s that the Cafeteria was added and the offices to the Rectory.

Good Shepherd Parish saw its first priest ordained in December 1964. Father Donald Bergen said his first Mass at Good Shepherd on December 19, 1964. Joan Stoverink was the first nun to come from our parish.

In May of 1979, the departure of the Loretta nuns marked the first time the school was run by an all lay faculty. Mrs. Anna Chance became the first lay principal. A kindergarten was started in 1982. The school would go on to be a Pre-K through 8th grade schoolhouse for 75 years until May 26, 2023. The K-8 grade closed however the Pre-K remains open and is housed in the school building. Mrs. Mariann Jones, a very dedicated principal, was the last lay principal for the school at its closure. Mrs. Jones remains the Pre-K Director.