May 27, 2015 // Local
May Procession marks St. Mary’s 175th anniversary

Parishioners of St. Mary of the Assumption Church held a May Procession through downtown Decatur following the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 17, led by the 4th Degree Knights of Columbus Msgr. J. J. Siemetz Assembly No. 257 Color Guard, St. Mary Choir, Father David Voors, pastor, and Deacon Jerry Kohrman.
DECATUR — Parishioners of St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Decatur, held a May Procession through downtown Decatur following the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 17.
The faithful were led by the 4th Degree Knights of Columbus Msgr. J. J. Siemetz Assembly No. 257 Color Guard, St. Mary Choir, Father David Voors, pastor, and Deacon Jerry Kohrman. Vincent Faurote and Ben Spannan carried a portrait of the parish patron saint, Blessed Virgin Mary.
The group held a May Crowning by Sharlene Bauman with the restored statue of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary from the 1874 brick church in the parish hall. Then parishioners visited the sites of the Fetick home, Closs tavern and frame Court House. At each stop, Father Voors or Deacon Kohrman offered a prayer of Thanksgiving for the first families who struggled and sacrificed to establish Decatur Catholic Mission and St. Mary Catholic Church. Max Miller, local historian and parishioner, shared the history of each place where Mass was offered from 1838 until 1847.
The first stop was the Century Link building where the Fetick log home stood and where Father Louis Mueller celebrated the first Mass in the spring of 1838. The Fetick family included Nicholas, 39, Anna Maria, 34, Johann, 12, Nicholas, 8, Ann Marie, 8, Leon, 5, and George 3. The second stop was Niblick’s Downtown Bistro, formerly the Closs Tavern. John Closs and Anthony Kohne walked to Cincinnati, Ohio, to raise $200 to build the first frame church. Finally the procession stopped at the Collier Insurance Building. On this corner stood the frame Adams County Court House from October 1839 until 1873, and Mass was offered every other week sharing the building with the Protestant churches until 1847.
Upon return to St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Father Voors led a decade of the rosary to honor Mary.
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