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2206 Main Street is the rectory for St. Peter Church, but it wasn’t always a rectory. When St. Peter Church was built in 1900 a rectory was built at the same time for the first priest, Farther Clement Duerr. It was a wood-frame house that stood next to the church to the west. He lived there with his niece and housekeeper, Margaret Sugg.
In 1909, at age 72, Father Duerr retired and a new priest moved into the rectory. But Fr. Duerr wanted to live out his life in Spring Grove, so that year Margaret purchased the land at 2206 Main Street from the Andrews/Waspi family for $2,800 and an all-brick home - unusual for Spring Grove - was built for them. The house stood just west of the church rectory. When Fr. Duerr died twelve years later in 1921, he was buried with an “impressive requiem high mass” in Benton Harbor, MI where he spent a lot of time visiting his brother who lived there. After his death Margaret moved to Chicago to live with a cousin.
Then in 1927, the church purchased two acres of land, which included the home at 2206 Main Street, from Margaret Sugg for six thousand dollars. The house was turned into the new rectory and the catholic school that had been located in the church moved into the old rectory (which was later moved to 1905 North Street and is now a residence).
Fast forward 21 years and in 1948, the pastor, Fr. Daleiden, oversaw the remodeling of the rectory, convent, and church and a large two-story clapboard addition was added to the front of the brick rectory, which includes a nice bedroom/bathroom area and other space upstairs and an office for the pastor where the old front porch once was. Forty years later, Rev. Andrew Plesa became the new pastor in 1988. He also made improvements to the church and rectory, including adding a one-story addition to the back of the rectory for use as an informal room for visiting, recreation or reading. The original exterior brick wall, including glass window, make up the south wall of the room.
Since 2009, Msgr. Jarmoluk, “Father Joe”, has served as pastor of St. Peter Church. He loves his parishioners and has been a great caretaker of his congregation and rectory, overseeing updates to the interior while preserving important historic and architectural features. There are exposed brick walls, which add texture and warmth, old radiators and the original staircase and banister, reminders of the building’s historic past.
There seems to be no old photo of the front of 2206 Main Street, except for the one with Father Daleiden standing in front of the porch with his cigar and whippet dog. But the brick sides of the original building can still be seen along with the original window openings. Surrounded by lush gardens, lawns, and towering old trees, the setting could not be more beautiful or peaceful for the old rectory.
Story by Laura Frumet
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